Although the investigation into potential criminal conduct by the Montgomery County Commissioners returned no indictments, the grand jury took county commissioners to task for, among other things, ethical violations, mismanagement and lack of financial oversight. In a scathing letter to the commissioners (minus James Noack, who was elected after the investigations began), the grand jury strongly urges them to immediately adopt ethical guidelines, and concludes the letter by declaring, "our county officials should not profit on the backs of their constituents."
On Monday, April 8 District Attorney Brett Ligon will read the following letter to the commissioners at Commissioners Court at a public hearing, where the public will be able to speak before the court. Commissioner James Noack has been instrumental in arranging for this public hearing.
GRAND JURY LETTER
March 28, 2013To the Commissioners Court and fellow Montgomery County citizens:
This Grand Jury of Montgomery County, Texas, having completed its term would like to relay the following information:
Over the last several months, the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office presented volumes of testimony, numerous witnesses, thousands of documents and evidence concerning potential criminal conduct in the development, construction and financing of the Joe Corley facility and the Mental Health facility. Our sole job as the Grand Jury was to review this evidence and determine whether probable cause existed to indict for criminal conduct. After reviewing the evidence and applicable law, it has become apparent that although there were no actionable criminal charges, ethical violations, mismanagement and lack of financial oversight was present.
As 12 citizens of Montgomery County, Texas, the best way for us to express our sincere disappointment in the conduct of the Commissioners Court and to try to change your dealings was to author this letter to you to be presented in a public forum so that our community would know that this matter was given every attention. The lack of ethics in decision making, failure to disclose personal relationships, and pure disregard for best practices and above board dealing was very upsetting to each of us. We expect more from our elected county officials and hope that major changes in how the court functions and how individual commissioners handle personal relationships are made immediately. The County Judge and Commissioners Court should continuously train in ethics and best practices to ensure that these violations do not reoccur.
We strongly challenge our Commissioners Court to immediately consider and adopt ethical guidelines that prohibit members of this Court and other county employees from conducting personal business with vendors, developers, architects and engineers currently engaged in the pursuit of county business. This simple ethical practice avoids the appearance of impropriety and the easy lure of inappropriate financial dealings.
Our county officials should not profit on the backs of their constituents.
Sincerely,
Grand Jury of the 410th District Court
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