Billy Hall (Texas politician)

William Nesbit "Billy" Hall, Jr.​
Texas State Representative for District 57 (Webb County)​
In office January 1973​ – January 1987​
Preceded by	Honoré Ligarde ​
Succeeded by	Henry Roberto Cuellar​
Treasurer of Webb County, Texas​
In office January 1995​ – February 19, 2002​
Preceded by	Mike Urdiales​
Succeeded by	Delia Perales​
Born	August 20, 1940​ Laredo Texas​
Died	February 19, 2002 (aged 61)​ Laredo, Texas​
Resting place	Calvary Catholic Cemetery in Laredo​
Nationality	Hispanic-American​
Political party	Democrat ​
Spouse(s)	Annabelle Uribe Hall​
Children	William N. Hall, III​
Residence	Laredo, Texas​
Alma mater	Martin High School (Laredo, Texas)​ Laredo Junior College ​ University of Texas at Austin​
Occupation	Journalist; Educator; Banker​
Religion	Roman Catholic​

​ William Nesbit "Billy" Hall, Jr. (August 20, 1940 – February 19, 2002), was a Democratic state representative from Laredo, Texas, who served in District 57 from 1973 to 1987.^[1] He was subsequently the treasurer for Webb County from 1995 until his death in office seven years later.​ ​

​ In 1959, Hall graduated from Martin High School in Laredo. The Martin football team on which Hall played won the district championship in 1958. In 1963, Hall graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a degree in journalism. He was the former publisher of The South Texas Citizen, a newspaper started by his father, William Hall, Sr. (1912-1976). Hall's Hispanic heritage is through his mother, Alice Bruni Hall (1909-1986).^[2]

Hall sold The South Texas Citizen to a businessman in Nuevo Laredo, the Mexican city across the Rio Grande from Laredo. A former educator, Hall was later like his House predecessor Honoré Ligarde (1920-1986), an officer with the International Bank of Commerce ^[3] owned by former gubernatorial candidate Tony Sanchez of Laredo.​

Hall's House tenure corresponded with the administrations of Governors Dolph Briscoe, Bill Clements, and Mark White. He did not seek an eighth two-year term in 1986 but instead contested the Democratic primary for the Texas State Senate. He lost the race to another Democrat Judith Pappas Zaffirini, a public relations specialist from Laredo, seven years Hall's junior. In the legislature, Hall was a strong advocate of Laredo State University (subsequently Texas A&M International University and relocated on a new campus off the Bob Bullock Expressway in east Laredo. Hall was a senior member of the House Appropriations Committee, chaired the Law Enforcement and Liquor Regulation committees, and served on the Revenue and Taxation Committee.​^[2]

In 1987, Republican Governor Bill Clements named the Democrat Hall to the National Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission.^[2]​

In January 1995, Hall was appointed Webb County treasurer by the commissioners court after the previous treasurer,^[3] Mike Urdiales, resigned to become one of the four precinct commissioners. Hall was elected to a full term in 1998, but he died of congestive heart failure during the primary campaign of 2002, when he was a candidate for a second term. Hall's maternal great-grandfather, Antonio Mateo "A. M." Bruni (1856-1931), was also a Webb County treasurer, with service from 1896 until his death.^[4] Hall was succeeded as treasurer by another Laredo Democrat, Delia Perales, who in the general election defeated a Republican candidate, Joe A. Guerra, a former five-term member of the Laredo City Council.^[5]​ ​ In 2007, the Webb County Commissioners Court named the county administrative building after Hall. There is a bronze bust of Hall in the lobby of the building.^[6] Hall is also honored through the William N. "Billy" Hall Student Center on the Laredo College South Campus, located off U.S. Highway 83 in southeastern Laredo.​

Hall was married to the former Annabelle Uribe (born 1947). The couple had one son, William Hall, III.​^[3]

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