The duties of the Purchasing Department include overseeing the activities involved in procuring and processing the purchases of all services, supplies, materials and equipment used by the County.

The Purchasing Agent is appointed for a two-year term by the Purchasing Board, which consist of three district judges, the county judge and one commissioner. The Nueces County Purchasing agent is Elsa N. Saenz. Ms. Saenz as the purchasing agent coordinates activities involved in procuring goods and services and carries out the functions prescribed by law in regard to county purchases and contracts. The purchasing agent advertises, receives and reviews all competitive sealed bids, issues and approves purchase orders and direct the sales of surplus materials, supplies and equipment sold at the county's public auction.

The Purchasing department is responsible for:

Supply Room
orders, stocks and issues office supplies. An average of $30,000.00 per month is issued to county departments. The Supply Room has an inventory of approximately $120,000.00 stock items that consist of paper, pens, ribbons, calendars, staplers, envelopes, etc. One employee stocks shelves, issues supplies, invoices all departments for supplies, and provides a re-order list to the buyer.

Inventory Control
consists of the physical inventories of fixed and moveable assets assigned to all county departments. Fixed and moveable assets include vehicles, heavy equipment, the radio system, telephonic equipment, furniture, office equipment and computers. Inventory control also assists in preparing inventory cards, providing maintenance and repairs for some equipment and coordinating the sale of surplus materials, supplies and equipment for the County auction. The inventory control section consists of two employees, Inventory Control Manager and Inventory Clerk.