Top Stories Dallas

Archive for the ‘Dallas-TX’ Category

Dallas County commissioners voted this morning to hire the firm of a former FBI agent to investigate “possible illegal employment practices” in two constable offices.

By a 3-2 vote, the commissioners hired Danny Defenbaugh and Associates for no more than $300,000 to conduct the civil investigation. But a contract has yet to be signed.

If Watkins doesn’t let the adviser, Bob Schell, review the contract, Commissioners Court administrator Darryl Martin said he will have to find an outside lawyer to do so as quickly as possible.

County Judge Jim Foster and Commissioners Maurine Dickey and Kenneth Mayfield said they voted for the investigation because it’s not clear whether Watkins’ office has any intention of conducting an objective and thorough investigation of the offices of Constables Jaime Cortes and Derick Evans.

Sources in the district attorney’s office say a criminal investigation is under way.

The commissioners said multiple deputy constables from those precincts have come forward to sign sworn statements complaining about official misconduct — including allegedly firing deputies who have reported abuses such as forcing employees to work for free.

Mayfield said those statements have been sitting on the DA’s desk for months without action.

Foster said potential liability from the constables’ actions will cost the county a lot more than the Defenbaugh investigation. He said he expects the investigation to begin tomorrow.

“The time has come to do what needs to be done,” he said.

Commissioner Mike Cantrell said the contract has a cap that’s too high, and that he still has questions about expenses and who will pay for insurance. He said in a perfect world, the DA would appoint a special prosecutor and haul people before a grand jury to answer questions.

Cantrell said Watkins needs to step up and do so. Otherwise, the civil investigation could cost the county a lot of money and result in nothing.

“The town is burning down while he’s standing by watching,” he said.

Dickey said Defenbaugh is being paid $180 an hour, which is less than the $275 hourly rate the county paid former judge Maryellen Hicks to conduct a similar investigation of a different constable in 2007.

She said the citizens deserve to know what’s going on in the two constables’ offices.

“It’s our job. The buck stops here,” she said.

Commissioner John Wiley Price said he didn’t support the investigation because there’s little the county can do with it.

“I’m not going to relieve the district attorney of his responsibility,” Price said.

Mayfield said a petition can be filed to remove the constables from office if there is evidence of wrongdoing. He said it’s “beyond me” why Watkins did not accept an offer of help from the attorney general’s office last week.

Post Footer automatically generated by Add Post Footer Plugin for wordpress.