Deputy Comptroller Martin Hubert has been named to the State Water Implementation Fund for Texas advisory committee, which will oversee the distribution of $2 billion from the Rainy Day Fund to help implement the state's water plan.

State Rep. Drew Darby, R-San Angelo, has a new gig. The attorney and title company owner is now of counsel in the Real Estate and Energy practice groups of Jackson Walker LLP. A member of the Legislature since 2007, Darby chairs the Texas House energy caucus and he chairs the Appropriations subcommittee on natural resources, business and economic development and regulatory agencies.

David Craig Pearson hired on as the Railroad Commission's new seismologist. A former team leader at the Los Alamos National Laboratory's seismic field team, Pearson will investigate a recent spate of earthquakes in North Texas to determine if they are being caused by oil and gas extraction activity in the area. 

Richard Alpert of North Richland Hills, Jeffrey Barnard of Dallas, Vincent Di Maio of San Antonio, Harvey Kessler of Southlake, Ashraf Mozayani of Houston and Nizam Peerwani of Fort Worth have been appointed to the Forensic Science Commission by Gov. Rick Perry. Kessler and Mozayani's terms expire Sept. 1, 2014, while the rest received terms that expire Sept. 1, 2015.

Tom Rugg Sr. of Beaumont has been appointed as judge of the 58th Judicial District by Perry for a term to expire at the next general election.

Deaths: Elton "Ray" Hutchison, who was a GOP state representative from Dallas and chairman of the Republican Party of Texas before running for governor in 1978. He later carved out a specialty in government bond financing and was a close advisor to his wife, Kay Bailey Hutchison, who served in the U.S. Senate for 20 years. He was 81.

Beryl Milburn, who was a former vice chairwoman of the Republican Party of Texas, the first president of the Austin Republican Women's Club and a founder of Texas Federation of Republican Women. She also ran for the Legislature in 1958. She was 93.