The saga over security expenditures for Travis County District Attorney Jose Garza just got longer.
According to a press release from the attorney general’s office, Texas has sued Travis County over an alleged “secret meeting” where more than $100,000 was allocated to cover undisclosed “security improvements” at the District Attorney’s home, following disclosure of his address on social media.
The Office of the Attorney General claimed the Travis County Commissioners Court failed to provide proper notice or allow the public to comment on the proposal, which allocated $115,000 from the general fund for security improvements to Garza’s home.
The OAG wrote:
These actions violated the Texas Open Meetings Act by failing to give adequate notice of the topics that would be discussed during the executive session. Further, State law only permits governing bodies to enter into an executive session to discuss certain issues. The purpose of this session called by Travis County leaders was to divert taxpayer money for enhanced security at the District Attorney’s personal residence. That topic is not eligible for an executive session under the Texas Open Meetings Act.
“Travis County has illegally abused procedure to conceal self-serving decision-making, to hide from scrutiny, and to prevent citizens from knowing exactly what is being done with their money,” said Attorney General Ken Paxton. “After the Travis County DA’s pro-crime policies have created such dangerous conditions for Austin residents, it is especially ironic that he secretly sought taxpayer-funded security measures for his home.”
Paxton’s lawsuit is in response to the latest action by the county commissioners in August that approved supplemental security for Garza.
Meanwhile, earlier this month, in a separate lawsuit, Travis County sued the attorney general to conceal costs related to the county expenditure for the Houston company involved in Garza’s security. Travis County is also exploring the creation of an entirely new agency to oversee security for county officials.
To summarize, Travis County has now taken the following measures related to DA Garza’s security:
- Undisclosed “security improvements” at the DA’s home.
- Deploying county constables at the DA’s home.
- Hiring a private company to provide additional “security services” for the DA.
- Creation of an entirely new law enforcement agency to provide security for all county officials and employees.
At least two of these actions are now the subject of lawsuits with the attorney general’s office.
Concerned Travis County taxpayers can contact County Judge Andy Brown at (512) 854-9555.
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