Present >> Rodrik Miles Jr. Commissioner precinct one. >> Alisa Simmons, commissioner precinct 2, >> here. >> Matt Krauss, commissioner precinct 3. >> Manny RmIrez, commissioner precinct 4, >> here. >> Constitutes four.
>> All right. Thank you. Today's invocation will be led by Pastor Joshua Scarro of Countryside Baptist Church. Please rise for the invocation and pledges to our flags. Let's pray together. God in heaven, we praise you as the only
sovereign ruler of all creation. You alone are God and all authority in heaven and earth is from you. We confess that we are weak, sinful people that deserve only your righteous judgment. And yet, in your great grace and compassion, you have made a way of salvation through your son, Jesus
Christ. We thank you Jesus for sacrificing yourself as the substitute for those who would turn from their sin and trust in you. God, we thank you for your many blessings to us. We thank you for the United States of America, the state of Texas, and for Tarant County. We pray that you would bless the people
of this county, that we would in turn bless and honor you. We pray that you would give the judge and commissioners great wisdom today, that they would carry out your will for the people with integrity, justice, and compassion. We thank you for your love and grace and ask these things in the name of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
>> Amen. >> Thank you, pastor. Please join me in the pledge to our flag. I pledge algiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with
liberty and justice for all. >> And now to the Texas flag. >> Honor flag. I pledge algiance to the Texas one state under God one and indivisible. >> Thank you. You may be seated.
>> All right. Do we have agenda announcements? >> Good morning, judge and commissioners. Just a couple quick announcements here. Uh we have two items that we're going to hold until after closed. Uh those will be items B1
and F-15. And then we have several items which have been pulled from consent. Those items are as follows. C2, F1, G1, K3,
P1, Q4, Q17, and S4. All right. Thank you, sir. Now we come to commissioner's court announcements. Announcements from the
commissioners. Actually let allow me to go first here to make this announcement. Uh Mohamad Hassan was one of our employees in IT. Uh yesterday he was at a park with his family and had a sudden medical
emergency uh and passed away. Uh very very young man there with his family. So please remember the Hassan family in your prayers and remember those folks in uh it that worked with Muhammad. Uh
please remember them as well during this difficult difficult tragic time. Uh next thing we had our national day of prayer lunchon last Thursday. Uh it was our best one yet in terms of attendance and
the amount of money that we raised. We raised $69,000 to go to local charities. So, that was a very good event. Uh, commissioners, other announcements. Yes. So, I'm going to use my time
to address a matter of significant public concern and that involves transparency, accountability, and public trust in county government. So in March, this commissioner's court discussed the
decline in in custody deaths inside the Tarant County Jail after Commissioner Harris placed the item on the agenda and the sheriff uh briefly uh publicly briefed us on those trends.
So another in custody death has since occurred. Yet elected officials and the public still lack answers about what occurred. We just had a public briefing on jail death stats.
However, we cannot publicly discuss declining jail deaths. when statistics improve then discourage public discussion as another death occurs. So that
inconsistency weakens public trust and it raises serious concerns about transparency and oversight. So we need to pick one. Either this court is accountable to the public and public or
it isn't. I intended to bring this issue forward as a public briefing item, but since we changed uh the policy that prevents discussion despite the serious concerns and unresolved questions surrounding this
death. So, I'm going to take this opportunity to announce the following. Mr. John Bar is his name, and he lost his life inside a county facility. Um, this governing body should receive
clear information regarding the facts, circumstances, and conditions surrounding this case. This body carries the responsibility of creating policies that protect residents, support county employees and
detention officers, and ensure safe conditions for every individual housed in our facilities. So, let me be clear. Demanding oversight, answers, and accountability does not undermine law enforcement.
Responsible oversight strengthens public safety, supports detention officers and county employees, and it helps prevent future tragedies in our jail. Ignoring serious concerns does not solve
problems, and silence does not protect this county. The court cannot suppress public discussion and claim to practice responsible governance. So let's say his name today don't know
the circumstances of why Mr. John Bar uh died in our jail. Uh but we should and you should as the public. That is my announcement. >> Anything commissioner? Okay. We will now
move to the proclamations, resolutions and presentations section. Uh first up as we do at this point every year, I mean every month is go to employee recognition. And for those who are with us today, I'm
going to ask you to stand as I call your name. We will do it in groups until we get to 25 years. So we'll start with our five-year employees. We got quite a few today. Uh Emily Aguanaga, uh Jennifer Cardona,
Jonathan Chisson, Reginald Davis II, Sebastian Diaz, John Ek, Josephette Flores, Tanya Garner,
Brittany Hamilton, William Marin, Brittany Marquez, Cole Moody, Edgar Morales, Kai Osawa,
Brittany Paris. Sure, a lot of Britney's born around that time. Uh, Antonio Ruiz, Exomara Sanchez, Laura Torres, Dora Erbina Jimenez,
Diego Valenciana, and Sarrai Vargara. Thank you all for five years. We greatly appreciate you. Now for our tenure employees uh please call as me stand and I call your name. Marvin Brown,
Keshia Cross, Jeremy Duskin, Samantha Fant, Maria Gonzalez, Bethany Hamch, Richard Hernandez, Kim Holly,
Ruth Panel, David Pium, Dusty Pium, Ruben Casada, Lindsay Raymond, James Smith, Willie Walton,
and Terry Watson. Thank you all for a decade of service to Tarant County. We appreciate all. All right. Now, for our 15-year employees, please stand as I call your name. Rachel Crabtree, Kimberly Dixon,
Jeff Farre, Thomas Kirk, Gary Lyens, Ashley McGinty, Jim Pitz, Deputy Todd Typton,
and John Tomkins II. Thank you all very much for 15 years. WE APPRECIATE YOU. ALL RIGHT. NOW, WE have our folks who have given Tarant County 20 years. Please stand as I call your name. Maria Gonzalez,
Zachary Granon, Martin Clam, Joshua Kobayashi, Joseph Mack, Susan Mahia, Michael Meyers,
Sherry Wyn, Rebecca Powell, and Jose Sanchez. Thank you all for 20 years of service Tarant County. WE APPRECIATE ALL RIGHT, WE HAVE TWO 25-YEAR EMPLOYEES. Uh the first is Bill Shelton, who could
not be here today because he is in court. Uh he is the official court reporter for County Criminal Court number two. Born in Memphis, Tennessee, home of some incredible barbecue. Uh went to Christian Temple High School in North Richmond Hills, college at
Arlington Career Institute. uh three kids. Uh fact, no one knows about him. He considers himself to be top five in the world in Irish step dancing and the robot dance.
Uh what does he like to do for fun? Travel the world and take care of his pets. Um other job titles he's had with the county, he's always been a court reporter. He's worked in the criminal courts in Tarant County for 36 years. I guess there was a gap in there. Uh, and
started his career in 1990. Most memorable moment was when the CO 19 pandemic restrictions finally ended and they could have in-person hearings, dockets, and trials again at the courthouse. And what he likes the most, the camaraderie and family atmosphere, working together with fellow employees,
uh, has been wonderful. Tarant County is a remarkable place to work because we all care about each other and he's made lifelong friends at the courthouse for all the years he has served Tarant County. And Bill, we appreciate you and appreciate you working hard today. Thank you for 25 years of service. Let's give
him a round of applause. All right. Next, uh, also 25 years, Katrina Elie. Hi, Katrina. How are you? >> U, she is the revenue cycle administrative assistant. Born in Fort Worth, went to Trimbletech High School, went to Tarant County College, has one
daughter. Uh what she likes to do for fun, travel, go to museums, festivals, hang out with friends. Uh the most memorable moment, uh absolutely the most me her most memorable moment is the birth of her daughter. Um she was five
years old when she started with Tarant County. I'm assuming that's not you. That's your daughter. and now she is turning 30. So, wow, very cool. Uh, the thing that she likes the most is the opportunity to opportunity
to have worked with so many amazing people. Katrina, thank you for 25 years. We appreciate you. Uh, we have four people who have been with Tarant County for 30 years, uh, three decades. And we will start
with Melissa Lee. Uh born in Chicago, went to college at Tuskegee University. Uh two sons and one daughter. What she likes to do for fun is spend time with her four grandsons and two granddaughters, so six grandkids. Uh
she's had several different titles with the county. uh buyer, senior buyer, senior contracts administrator, assistant purchasing agent and purchasing agent. And Melissa, you look far too young to have been here 30 years, but thank you for three decades of service Taran County. Let's give her
a round of applause. All right. Next, we have Donald Coker. How are you, sir? >> Just fine, thank you. >> Good. CSCD court officer, born in Arlington, went to Sam Houston High School, college at UTA, never never strayed far. Um, two daughters,
and uh, you want me to read the fact no one knows about you? My job requires me to multitask and I am terrible at doing two things at the same time. Uh, not sure I'd have made that comment. Um what he likes to do for fun is run uh
cycle and golf and other job titles he has had with the county. Um all within CS uh CD pre-sentence investigation bond unit, sex offender unit and court unit. He
loves working downtown. And we appreciate you Donald for 30 years of service three decades of Taran County. Let's give him a ROUND OF APPLAUSE. ALL RIGHT. NEXT. UH, 30 years of service. Anna Guerrero. Anna. Hi, Anna. Uh, Secretary 4 Tarant
County Juvenile Services Northwest Unit. Uh, born in Los Angeles. Uh, moved to Texas in 1984. Graduated from TrebleTech High School in 19 something. Uh she got her associate degree in parallegal studies from Tarant
County College. Uh four kids uh looks two boys, two girls and two grandchildren. In fact, no one knows about her. She has a deep passion for caring for the elderly. Every Sunday her sister and
her take her mother to listen to live music where many of the regulars are seniors. One day she hopes to start a small business dedicated to helping seniors get out, connect, and enjoy life without the stress of how they'll get there and return home safely. Uh I would
encourage you to go visit if you haven't already with Bobby Arthur who runs the Halum City Senior Center. She is remarkable. Does a fantastic job of it. Uh she likes to spend time with family and friends. Other job titles she's had with the county voter registration clerk
and the elections office. Uh she started as a temporary employee there in 92 before going full-time in 96. A receptionist for Tarant County juvenile services and then now secretary for in juvenile. Her most memorable moment the day she rang the bell marking the end of
her cancer treatment. >> It was a celebration of strength, love, and the unwavering support system received from her loved ones and her work family. That's great news. And what she likes the most is helping others without expecting anything in return. What a servant's
heart you have, Anna. Thank you for your 30 years of service. And uh Clifton Shelton could not be with us today, but uh Clifton is celebrating 30 years also uh with the sheriff's office. Let's give him a big ROUND OF
APPLAUSE. ALL RIGHT, WE uh that's it for the employee recognition. I'll make a motion to receive and file. >> So move. >> Second. Yeah. Okay. Uh we have a motion and a second.
And we have a black screen. >> Well, I'll tell you what. We have a motion and a second. All in favor, please raise your hand. All right. Do we have anybody on this? Okay. Uh, anybody? Well, I can look at it. There's nobody opposed. So, 30
passes unanimously. All of our employees, there's a reception in your honor on the fourth floor. You're welcome to stay, of course, but you may also make your way down to the fourth floor. We'll give you a minute here to clear those who are leaving.
Do we need to take a technology break here? >> Hey, I kind of need this here. Yeah, I was ask Yeah. >> All right, folks. Sorry to do this to you. We're going to have to take about a
5m minute recess to get our technology up and running. Uh, new technology sometimes has issues. So, we'll get it up and get back in here as fast as humanly possible. Court members, don't go far. Soon as they get these things up on the screen, we'll be back. Uh, we are now in recess.
Yes. >> Yes. >> It's too pull out and dark. not here. So I don't know exactly what the butt holds.
That's my song. Y'all didn't know this wasn't working. >> No way. >> Oh, I thought y'all knew. >> Unfortunately, not. >> I was like, I guess they knew. And we're just waiting. >> He said he couldn't see the speakers. You did so well.
Yeah. >> Nothing. Okay. So, I need a list of the speakers. I gota have a list if we're not going to have it on the screen. Are any of those in this room? Uh, do you wish to speak on the proclamations resolutions or did you mean to sign up on the other one?
>> I'm sign up for the proclamation. >> Okay, go ahead. The others are Jimmy Blackwell, Joel Palmer, and Bowman. >> Good morning, Judge O'Hara. Commissioners, the Bible tells us to
encourage and stir one another up, to love, and to do good works. Today, I came to encourage you and to stir you up to adopt the proclamation, bringing awareness to child abuse in Tarant County. Thank you for not getting so bogged down with the hard stuff that we forget about the little things. In God's
eyes, the little things are actually more valuable. I'm grateful for your spiritual leadership in Taran County. The kind of leadership that stands on biblical justice and chooses to govern through the standard of the word of God and what it sets forth. You are the
standard setters. Thank you for setting standards like when you had the ten commandments erected at our courthouse or like in previous years when you declared that June is life month in Tarant County. Just like Nehemiah, you're doing an important work and thank you for not getting distracted. And let
it be written in the volume of heaven in the volumes of heaven that you didn't forget about the least of these and that you stood with the children. Thank you. >> Thank you. All right. Is Jimmy Blackwell here?
Joe Palmer here and Balman here. Are we good in the overflow? Okay, which brings us to our next item on proclamations, which is item 72,
which is congratulatory certificates for Keller ISD Future Business Leaders of America students who placed so high in the state that they're going to the national competition. So, we have
uh with us today uh Christina Benhof, who's the principal of Timber Creek High School. Uh Bodie Carroll, who I believe runs this program for Future Business Leaders of America uh for Keller ISD. Uh Jessica Anderson,
one of the teachers who works on this and Lindseay Gideon, another teacher who works on this project. And then the students we have present. Uh, and I want you three when I call your names to stand. They all finished in the top five in state competition and will be
representing our area in the national competition uh later this summer. Uh, Bayion Hamid, how are you? >> Good. Amal Eljac, hello. And Judy Zu,
hello. So, small business week was last week and I thought this would be a good opportunity to highlight our next generation's business leaders. We wish you all uh luck in your competition in June. We're proud of you for how you
finished uh at the state level. And I would like to ask all of those who are here today, our students, parents, teachers, principles, come forward here. We're going to take some pictures and hand you some certificates. And I will
move to adopt this uh resolution. Second. >> All right. We have a motion and a second. >> All right. Please cast your votes. All right. passes unanimously. All right, come on up here to this little horseshoe we call it.
>> Congrats, guys. right here. >> Let's give them a big round of applause. Well, good morning. Thank you again for having us. Um, what you don't see is their 20 plus classmates that are back at school taking AP test this morning. So, busy time of year. There's actually
just over 20 students that will be making it to the national competition this summer. and we're so excited for those students and to celebrate them and and wish them the best of luck at national competition this summer. Uh but once again, they're the FIS future business leaders of America, FBLA. Uh that is an extracurricular organization
that supports their um their CTE or career and technical education program. Um these students are all in business, marketing, and finance programs hoping to pursue those careers um after high school. And so we're helping them get a head start in that uh while they're in high school with us and they're able to take the things learning in class and
apply those uh outside of school through this competition and leadership organization. And they just do a phenomenal job. As long as I've been around in Keller, we've had a group of FBLA students make to nationals every single year. And I think that speaks to our wonderful adviserss, Miss Anderson and Miss Gideon, and all the hard work
they put into uh these organizations and our students. and uh I'm just so thankful that you guys were able to recognize us this morning and uh and give these students the credit um for their hard work. So, thank you again and wishing the best of luck this summer. >> Thank you. Good luck, ladies.
>> All right. Now, we have a proclamation in recognition of child abuse, child abuse prevention month. Uh let's see, we have several folks with us today. Our CPS board members, we have Charles Brady, Ray Barry, Vanessa Copelan,
Theres Monreef, Melendy Doy, Munoz, Allison Cibby, Joel Starns, and Stephanie Swan. Uh we also have uh Stacy Jordane who's the board leaison supervisor, Janita Thally who's the CPS program administrator, Chelsea Pound
from Our Community Our Kids, Julie Evans for all uh from Alliance for Children, and Charlie Bowware Tarant County DA's T uh from Tarant County District Attorney's Office, Ebony Bryant from Fort Worth PD, Don Bcker from CASA, and Daniel Lester from the Department of
Family Protective Services. So I will read this uh proclamation. Every child is shaped by the hand of God with purpose and intention created in his likeness and it is our responsibility before God to safeguard their lives. Children deserve a nurturing family and a safe caring
environment where they can learn, grow, and reach their fullest potential. In Tarant County, 45,592 children were confirmed as victims of child abuse or neglect in 2025. Effective child abuse prevention, investigation, and treatment programs
succeed because of partnerships among public and private agencies, schools, faith-based organizations, medical services, and the business community. Our communities must work together to increase awareness about child abuse and promote the social and emotional well-being of children and families in
safe and stable stable environments. Now, therefore, be it resolved that we, the Commissioner's Court of Tarant County, do hereby recognize the vital importance of preventing child abuse in Tarant County. Further, we urge all citizens of Tarant County to create a positive, healthy environment to bring about a brighter future for our children and to be aware of the signs of child
abuse and act to protect the children of Tarant County. I will move for adoption. >> Second. >> All right, we have a motion and a second. All right, please cast your votes. All right, passes unanimously. And I would like everyone who I introduced uh
to please come forward. We appreciate everyone with CPS. We appreciate our board members for the work and service you do. It's a very well-run group and we're grateful for what you do. Let's give them a round of applause.
I'm going to move this out of the way. Who gets >> Thank you all very much. Appreciate all you judge commissioners. Thank you so much for um always showing up big on behalf of kids and families. Um today you saw
quite the spectrum of professionals that it takes to ensure children um here in Tarant County are safe from abuse. um from your CPS board to different nonprofits to law enforcement and prosecutors that are here today because
it really is a system of care that our kids need when they are facing um situations of abuse all the way to children that have been the victim of a crime. And it's an honor to be a part of that system um and know that every
member of this team takes that charge um exceedingly serious. um this collective multidisciplinary teamed approach just last year in 2025 um received over 5,400
years in convictions for crimes against children and an additional 14 life sentences. And that just shows how vast this issue is in addition to the number of um victims confirmed that you read and know that we are equally charged
with how do we take everything we know in services and investigation and flip those towards prevention. And so the month of April we really do focus on how do we prevent children from coming through our doors. So, what I'll leave behind for you is a glimpse of how we
talk to kids and how we talk to adults. Um, even coffee sleeves that that we're now providing around Tarant County to give simple messages to encourage adults and caregivers to think twice about ways that they can prevent abuse and neglect in their lives. So, thank you for always
being our leader and our champion in this issue. It means more than we could say. So, thank you. >> Thank you. We appreciate y'all very much. I I'll just say with all the professionals that showed up today, um it is lost commonly on how tough your
job is. Uh our board members on CPS, the folks that volunteer their time to do this work and and dedicate their lives to doing this, whether it's police officers, detectives, DA's officers, it doesn't really matter. Um it's very impactful what you do. Uh and we need
you. Uh our kids need you. And so thank you for what you do. Thanks. >> Thank you, Julie. All right. Next, we have a resolution in honor of the 150th anniversary of the city of Arlington. Uh for 150 years, the city of Arlington has
been a key part of what makes Tarant County so great. And we wanted to recognize Arlington and what a special role it plays. uh not just in Tarant County, but in in North Texas, Texas and America being the home of the Dallas Cowboys, the 2023 World Series champion
Texas Rangers, and the upcoming host for so many games for FIFA World Cup. uh with us here today uh Mayor Jim Ross new and reelected I think officially uh sometime this afternoon. Mayor Jim Ross, Council Member Mauricio Galante, Council
Member Barbara Odum Wesley, Council Member O Gonzalez, Council Member Long, Fam, City Manager Trey Yelbertton, uh, city attorney deputy city manager Molly Shortall, uh, Jay Warren, the director of communication and legislative
affairs, Mike Serest, the digital media editor, and Fred Odul, web designer. Uh so as I read this resolution, I will ask all of you to come forward and mayor to say a few words about Arlington and all that's going on there. Uh the city of
Arlington, Texas celebrates a historic milestone in 2026, marking the 150th anniversary of its founding in 1876. From a small rural farming community beginning, Arlington has grown into the seventh largest city in Texas and 50th largest in America. Home to more than
400,000 residents in the heart of the Dallas Fort Worth or should I say Fort Worth Dallas metroplex. Known proudly as the American dream city, Arlington has long been rep has long represented opportunity, growth, and the promise of a vibrant future for generations of families, businesses, and community
leaders. Arlington is recognized as the entertainment capital of Texas, featuring iconic attractions such as Six Flags over Texas, AT&T Stadium, Global Life Field, Chalkaw Stadium, Hurricane Harbor, and the National Medal of Honor Museum, to name a few. The city is served by five independent school
districts and is home to respected institutions of higher education, including the University of Texas at Arlington, helping prepare future leaders and strengthen the region's workforce. Today, Arlington remains a dynamic city where neighbors, businesses, schools, and civic leaders work together to preserve its hometown character while embracing growth. Now,
therefore, be it resolved that we, the Commissioner Court of Tarant County, to hereby recognize and celebrate the 150th anniversary of the city of Arlington and commend its many contributions to Tarant County and the state of Texas. I move to adopt this resolution. >> Second.
>> We have a motion and a second. Please cast your votes. All right, passes unanimously. How about a big round of applause for City of Arlington today? Slide in here. Well, thank you, judge, and
commissioners for this honor. It's uh it's great to have two of the country's top 50 cities uh right here in Tarant County. It's also great to have the two safest cities
in the state of Texas with Fort Worth and Arlington being right here in Tarant County. Arlington is the most diverse city in the entire state and a couple of months ago we became the third most diverse
city in the country. I like to say that we're the most diverse because we're the most welcoming. We don't care about what you look like or where you're from or who you worship or who you love. We care about how we
treat one another. and I'm proud to say that that is a current t county trait that we share here across the county. Um we're truly honored to have this resolution today and just to answer any questions this court may have or people
in the gallery may have. I was not here 150 years ago. But thank y'all. We appreciate you. >> Thank you. And we do understand y'all are very busy. So it may be another 15 20 minutes before there's any kind of break. So if
you choose to leave, we certainly understand. Uh all right. Next we have a resolution uh recognizing the Tarant County Public Health Department. Uh last month we celebrated National Public Health Week. This seemed like a great opportunity to
highlight the work of our public health department. On the same day, Dr. Bird is also up for reappoint as the public health director. So, folks that we have here today from public health in addition to, of course, the leader, Dr. uh William Bird. Is that what that is?
That >> is that right? Is that right? I didn't know that. Uh we have Sabrina Vidari, Russ Jones, Dr. Kinton Murthy and Amanda Campbell. And the resolution reads as follows. The Tarant County Public Health
Department employs more than 300 dedicated professionals who work each day, often behind the scenes, to serve the public, and whose success is often measured by the crises that never occur. The department leads mosquito surveillance efforts throughout Tarant County by providing traps to municipalities, collecting specimens,
and testing for viruses that may threaten the public. The department administers women, infants, and children wick benefits to more than 40,000 mothers and children, including many expectant mothers, ensuring access to nutrition and support during crucial stages of life. Tarant County is home to
seven public health laboratories, providing critical laboratory testing services for 36 counties and supplying essential reporting relied upon by health care systems, universities, and public institutions across North Texas. Tarant County Public Health is designated the public health department
of record for the 2026 FIFA World Cup matches to be held in Arlington with responsibilities including wastewater collection and testing for infectious diseases. Dr. Brian Bird will serve as Tarant County's local health authority for this international event. Now
therefore, be it resolved that in light of National Public Health Week, the Commissioner Court of Tarant County do hereby recognize and commend the Tarant County Public Health Department for its tireless service, professionalism, and commitment to protecting the health of all who live, work, and visit Tarant County. I will move for adoption.
>> Second. >> We have a motion and a second. Please cast your votes. And do we now have a fourth uh joining us? >> Yes.
>> Okay. >> Commissioner Krauss, are you there? >> All right. Well, we're going to we're going to say it passes 300 with one not present or abstaining. So, it passes 300. And come on up, uh, folks. We I'll
be done. This is last last trip down for me, I believe. One Last one. So, thank you, Judge. I was going to speak for about 30 minutes. However, I am up for reappoint later today, and I didn't want that to uh affect anybody's
vote. We're honored and thankful that you on recognized Taran County Public Health today. I assure you uh that it is these wonderful people here, Sabrina, Dr. Dr. Murthy and Amanda, Dr. Javana Marryman, Dr. Kate Kquit, and Alma
Espinosa who really run this Taran County Public Health Department. And I'm so thankful to them. We're honored to serve under you all's leadership. Uh so, thank you very much for your support. >> Thank you'all for what you do. We appreciate you. >> All right. Next is a resolution
recognizing the 97th annual Fort Worth Memorial Day service at Mount Ollette Cemetery. This is for adoption only. There's no one here to present it to, but I will read it. Since 1929, various Tarant County veterans, civic, and patriotic groups have gathered at the
Doughboy and American GI statutes in Mount Ollette Cemetery to honor the brave men and women of all wars who have given their lives and made the ultimate sacrifice to preserve our nation's liberty and freedom. These solemn
ceremonies are held on Memorial Day to pay tribute to such veterans and their heroic efforts. The bravery and unwavering selflessness of those we remember shall remain forever engraved in our hearts and in the memories of future generations. On this Memorial Day, we honor all our fallen soldiers,
their commitment to our country and their legacy of patriotism and sacrifice who by giving their lives in the cause of freedom have protected and inspired all Americans. Now therefore, be it resolved that we, the Commissioner's Court of Tarant County, do hereby call the attention of all citizens to recognize this Memorial Day as a day of
remembrance and to pay our respects to all that have died in service while protecting our nation, our freedom, and our people. And further, we also request that each of us pause and reflect on the awesome magnitude of these past sacrifices. I'll move for adoption.
>> Second. >> We have a motion and a second. Please cast your votes. And we have a yes from Commissioner Krauss. So it passes four to zero. You gotta probably take him off this thing
so he can vote from there because or y'all can do it. Got it. Thank you very much. Passes unanimously. Okay. Next. Next, we have a congratulatory resolution recognizing the North Crowley
Panthers of Crowley ISD for the 2026 UIL Class 6A Division 1 Boys Basketball State Championship in Commissioner Miles absence. This will be handled by Commissioner Simmons. >> Thank you, sir. Are the Are they here?
>> Okay. the champion. >> Hey, there they are. Awesome. >> Come up here. They're going to cover you. >> Oh, I may have to stand up to read this. Hey, a state championship 6A division
one deserves a bigger round of applause than that. Let's hear it. >> Let's see. So, do we have Dr. our superintendent with us today, Dr. McFarland. >> Okay. I know we have um Crowley
Independent School District Trustees, Dr. Latana Woodson Mayfield. I saw you somewhere. There you go. I can't see past your boys. Uh Dr. Nedra Robinson. Where is Nedra? Hey, girl.
And um is North Crowley principal Dr. Mario Lane here? Hey, how are you? Thank you all for being here. Congratulations, guys. Aren't they cute? I'm a boy mom. They are adorable. Whereas North Crowley High School of the
Crowley Independent School District under the leadership of Dr. Michael McFarland has demonstrated a sustained commitment to excellence in academics, athletics, and student leadership. And whereas the North Crowley High School boys basketball team achieved the
pinnacle of success by winning the UIL class 6A division 1 state championship in March 2026, bringing distinction and honor to their school and to the broader Tarant County community. And whereas the
achievements of the North Crowley Panthers are supported by the leadership and commitment of head coach Tommy Brel. Hope I said that right. Assistant coaches, school administrators, faculty, parents, and fans who have fostered a culture of
dedication that inspires and shapes future leaders. And whereas the team was led by 6A division one championship MVP Isaac Hayes, supported by Tyler Hastings, GL clutch gamewinning
three-pointer, Jonathan Fox's electrifying dunks, Trey Hills timely performances, and Alex Barther's the second steady leadership. And whereas throughout the season and postseason, the North Crowley Panthers have
exemplified sportsmanship, perseverance, unity, and represents the culmination of a remarkable season defined by discipline, teamwork, resilience, and an unwavering commitment to excellence.
Now therefore, be it resolved that we, the Commissioner's Court of Taran County, do hereby recognize and commend the North Crowley High School boys basketball team for winning the 2026 UIL 6A Division One State Championship and
expresses its pride in the team's representation of our Tarant County and their role in inspiring future generations of student athletes. In witness whereof we have here unto set our hands and caused the seal of Taran County to be affixed as 12th day of May
2026. I move approval. >> Second. All right. We have a motion and a second. Please cast your votes. We have a yes from Commissioner Krauss. Passes unanimously.
>> Let's give them a big round of applause. CONGRATULATIONS. OUTSTANDING. Thank you all. Hey, how are you? Great job. Coach me. Yeah. All right,
we've had quite a few state champions come through here the last couple of years. It's uh good stuff going on in Tarant County Public High Schools. All right, next we have a proclamation for mental health awareness month. Uh this was from Commissioner Miles.
Commissioner Simmons will be handling that. I am not sure who's joining us today. Uh y'all can text me that in a few minutes. >> So um who do we have with us? Jamal >> Christina Judge. I'm the executive
director of Mental Health Connection. >> Well, glad to have you here. Who else? >> Kim Brennan, strategic initiatives director, Mental Health Connection. >> Hi, Kim. >> Good morning. Francis Wampler from the Coke Children's Center for Community Health. >> Good to see you. and and Riley Shaw. I'm on member of the
board of directors and I'm also the director of juveninal services for Ter. >> Is that who you are? Riley. Okay. Good to see you. All right. Thank you all for coming. Uh whereas during mental health awareness month, we honor the absolute courage of tens of millions of Americans
living with mental health conditions and we celebrate the loved ones and mental health professionals who support them every day. Whereas all Americans face challenges in life that can impact their mental health, whereas millions of adults and
children are disabled by mental illnesses every year. And only one out of two people with a serious form of mental illness seek treatment for his or her mental illness. And whereas stigma and fear of discrimination keep many who
would benefit from mental health services from seeking help. And whereas there are practical tools that all people can use to improve their mental health and increase resiliency. And whereas with effective treatment, those individuals with mental health
conditions can recover and lead full and productive lives if given the necessary services and support in their communities. whereas each community shares the burden of addressing mental health and has a responsibility to promote mental wellness and support
prevention efforts. Now therefore, be it resolved that we, the Commissioner's Court of Taran County, do hereby proclaim May 2026 as mental health awareness month in Taran County and call upon the citizens, governmental agencies, public and private
institutions to increase awareness and understanding of mental health and join in activities to take action to strengthen mental health in our communities and our nation. and witness whereof we have hearing to set our hands and cause the seal of Taran County to be
a fix this 12th day of May 2026 I move approval >> second we have a motion and a second please cast your vote we have a yes from commissioner Krauss passes unanimously >> okay if you all would come down for a
photo let's give them a round of applause Oh, >> hi. We're good. Thank you uh very much. Um Tarant County was one of our founding members of Mental Health Connection 27
years ago. So we're very grateful to you, Judge O'Hare, and the commissioners for all the support and advocacy that you've given us over the years. And for those of you who don't know what Mental Health Connection is, we're a membership umbrella of 70 mental health agencies here in Tarant County. Um also
individual practitioners as well. And so the platform that we were built on 27 years ago um was so that all of us could work together to partner and collaborate in an effort to streamline access to mental health services in our county. Um just as of recently we are getting ready
to complete a mental health workforce initiative where we're providing special training CEUs educational opportunities to our mental health service providers in our community. So today we wear green and green is a sign of growth and so
when you take care of your mental health you are growing as an individual. Um so we are grateful to be here and thank you very much. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. >> All right. Next we have a proclamation recognizing ALS awareness month. This is Commissioner Miles will also be handled
by Commissioner Simmons. >> Thank you. Let's see. All right. We have joining us today Michael Higgins. Hello, Carla Strausser. Is Carla here?
Carla, is that you? >> Oh my god, I've not seen her forever. >> Haven't changed that much. >> Johnny Spruel. Thank you all for being here. I'm going to read this, but first I'm going to ask
you for the uh correct pronunciation. Is it amnotrophic? >> Close. >> Okay, say it for me. >> Amnotrophic. This that's why we go by ALS or why they go by ALS. >> Okay. Well, Commissioner Miles spelled
it out throughout this proclamation. All right. Um whereas amotrophic lateral sclerosis ALS also commonly known as Luke Garrick's disease is a progressive fatal neurodeenerative disease in which
a person's brain loses connection with their muscles slowly reducing a person's ability to walk, talk, eat, and eventually breathe. And whereas thousands of new ALS cases are reported
every year and estimates show that every 90 minutes someone is diagnosed and someone passes away from ALS. Whereas the exact causes of ALS are unknown and on average patients diagnosed with ALS survive only two to
five years from the time of diagnosis. And whereas people who have served in the military are more likely to develop ALS and die from the disease than those with no history of military service. And whereas securing access to new therapies, durable medical equipment,
communication technologies, and clinical trials play a pivotal pivotal role in evaluating new treatments and enhancing quality of life for those living with ALS. Whereas the ALS Association is the largest philanthropic funer of ALS
research globally and has committed more than 154 million to support more than 550 projects across these United States and 18 other countries. And whereas ALS awareness month provides an opportunity to increase public awareness surrounding
ALS and the impact this disease has on individuals and their families. Now therefore, be it resolved that we, the Commissioner's Court of Taran County, do hereby proclaim the month of May 2026 as ALS awareness month, and call upon all
Americans to join in supporting ALS research, advocating for increased funding and standing in solidarity with those affected by this relentless disease. and witness whereof, we have here unto set
our hands and cause the seal of Taran County to be affixed this 12th day of May, 2026. I move approval. >> Second. >> All right, we have a motion and a second. Please cast your votes. Yes from Krauss.
Passes unanimously. Thank you all for your work. If you'll come down, I'll make the presentation. Let's give him a hand. Okay. Thank you, Jojo O'Hare and commissioners for uh this proclamation. Um, my name is Mike Higgins. I'm a
retired police officer of 45 years. Uh, 28 years at Arlington PD. Worked with Mayor Jim Ross there for a little while. U retired there from there in 2006 and then came over here to the Car County Sheriff's Office as a deputy in 2007 and
retire retired back in June 2024 after 17 years. Okay, take a left. >> Anyway, when I worked at Arlington Police Department, um I was friends with some officers there. Uh Officer Dan Poe,
Officer Don King, and Officer Lisa Mayo. Um and then over the years, they all three eventually passed away from ALS. Uh Dan Poe was a runner, ran every day, five miles a day, and then in 2011 he
was diagnosed with ALS and passed away in 2013. Um, Don Kingan I worked with, uh, he was in the school resource office, got his pilot, private pilot's license, retired from Arlington, went to work as a
private pilot and, um, was diagnosed and then he passed away in 2020 2023 from ALS. Um, Lisa Male, she uh passed away in
2020 after two years of fighting ALS. And then Johnny Spruel, here's here today. I worked with him at Arlington Police Department. He's also retired. >> His dad passed away when Johnny was 18 years old from ALS. ALS is kind of a
silent thing. Um, there's no rhyme or reason on who can get it. Anyone in this room can get it. You'll never know. It's It's like cancer. you don't know if you're going to get cancer or not. There's no way to tell. There is some of little bit of hereditary stuff, but most
of the time it's just um you know, like we said, the military people seem to get it. Also, police officers seem to get it. So, um we just uh and I don't work for ALS organization, but ever since Dan
passed away, he's a good friend of mine. Uh I've supported ALS donating, going out and helping out with volunteer things and uh just uh this proclamation is to make sure that everyone's aware of it. Uh we need to continue funding for
it and find some cures and get this stopped because it's just u after three three to five years, you know, it's not like cancer, you might be able to live longer. >> Three to five years. I mean, there's just no no way to stop it right
now. So, we just need to keep it funding, make sure the federal government keeps funding research and do that. So, thank you very much for this. >> Thank you. >> All right. Next, we have >> It was good to see my old Arlington
Police um former colleague. So that's good to see you guys. >> Next we have a resolution celebrating and honoring the life of Jill Darden, Commissioner Simmons. >> So this is a difficult moment both for me and for many in our Tarant County
communities. Jill Darden was the visionary publisher of the Fort Worth Black News which she and her mother founded in 1997. She was an outstanding uh reporter, journalist, community supporter
um showing up and reporting on many many many community activities and events um that the mainstream media would not capture. Um very close to her titles as publisher and uh community leader, Jill
was most importantly an amazing dedicated mother to her son Giles. And Giles is Jill suddenly passed away um just suddenly and Giles is a graduating
senior in just a few weeks uh from the I am Terrell Academy for Visual and Performing Arts. He reflects his mother's excellence. He's been awarded a full tuition scholarship at the renowned Berkeley College of Music. And Berkeley is one of the most prestigious
contemporary colleges of music in the world. and she we were all shocked by her her passing on April 25th and uh we will be here to support Giles through the rest of his
life. I attended her wake and it was uh a beautiful ceremony. So, um, we have this, Commissioner Miles and I are jointly sponsoring this resolution, uh, celebrating and honoring the life of
Jill Darden. Whereas, the black press has served as the vanguard of reform for 199 years, providing a vital platform for stories often ignored or distorted by mainstream media. And whereas Jill Darden, a visionary journalist and
entrepreneur, recognized a critical void in the local media landscape and founded Fort Worth Black News in 1997. And whereas through her leadership, Miss Darden filled a desperate need for solutionoriented journalism,
moving beyond reporting on community deficits to highlighting the good news, the entrepreneurs, educators, and families who form the backbone of our community. And whereas Jill Darden created a dedicated space for aspirational representation
with Fort Worth Black News, she provided a platform where local black voices weren't just the subject of the news, but the authors of it, ensuring that the community's history is told by those who lived it. Whereas her work has ensured that the diverse narrative of Southeast
Taran County is preserved for future generations, countering singular stereotypes with a rich multifaceted portrait of black life. Now therefore, be it resolved that the Taran County Commissioner's Court hereby recognizes the profound
journalistic influence of Jill Darden and expresses sincere condolence to her son Giles, her sister Ginger, and brother Daniel, and the entire family, the journalism community, and all who appreciated Miss Darden's commitment to
truth and community representation in the media. and witness whereof we have here unto set our hands and cause the seal of Taran County to be affixed this 12th day of May 2026. I move approval. >> Second. >> All right, we have a motion and a
second. Please cast your vote. A yes from Krauss and passes unanimously. >> Okay. And I don't think we have anybody here from the family. So we've read that into the record and approved it. Thank you. >> Thank you. Uh well,
it should have hit me before as to why our Arlington folks would want to stay here. And we come to that moment now, which is a resolution uh celebrating and honoring the life and legacy of Dr. Robert Cluck, former mayor of Arlington, who recently passed away. Commissioner
Simmons. >> Thank you. Thank you all for sticking around. Uh so Robert Dance Cluck um lived a remarkable life both both privately and publicly and he passed away April 14th.
And today I want to recognize and honor Dr. Clark's private work as a celebrated clinical leader and noted obstitrician and gynecologist. Um some of you may be aware Dr. Clark gained his earliest clinical experiences
in 1960 in the 60s as a general practice resident at Taran County's John Peter Smith Hospital. He went on to work in private practice and served in a clinical leadership role as vice president of medical affairs and medical
director Arlington Memorial Hospital and and then he got elected to council and got elected to the mayor's role and I worked very closely with Mayor Clark as president of the Arlington NAACP.
Um, I we aligned on most everything. It was rare that we disagreed. I made him see my way and he he just like I make Mayor
Ross see my way and um he was open to it and he um began to embrace and celebrate the diversity of Arlington. And so I've always appreciated his friendship and uh
his support. So I have this resolution um and uh the city will come and accept it um on behalf of the city and and the um the family. Whereas Dr. Robert Clark served with
distinction as mayor of Arlington, Texas from 2023 uh to 2015, providing steady leadership during a period of significant growth and transformation. And whereas during this tenure, Dr. Clark played a pivot pivotal role in advancing major economic
development initiatives, including the expansion of Arlington's entertainment district, strengthening partnerships that enhance the city's national profile and its tourism economy. And whereas he championed improvements to public health initiatives, public infrastructure,
including transportation, roadway enhancements, and supported long range planning efforts that positioned Arlington for sustainable growth. And he was instrumental in fostering strong relationships between the city, its regional partners, and educational
institutions, helping to promote collaboration that benefited residents and businesses alike. whereas his administration emphasized fiscal responsibility, public safety, and responsive local government, ensuring that Arlington remained a vibrant,
well-managed community. And whereas his leadership style was marked by approachability, consensus building, and a deep respect for civic engagement, and it earned him the trust and admiration of colleagues and constituents throughout Tarant County. Now for now,
therefore, be it resolved that we, the Tarant County Commissioner's Court, on behalf of all the residents of Tarant County, do hereby recognize and celebrate the lasting contributions of Dr. Robert Cluck to the city of Arlington and Tarant County. And we commit to carrying forward his example
of dedicated public service. In witness whereof, we have here unto set our hands and cause the seal of Tarant County to be affixed this 12th day of May, 2026. If you all would join me, I I move approval.
>> Second. >> We have a motion and a second. Please cast your votes. All right. It's unanimous soon as I hit that. All right. Thank you. >> Thank you. Thank you.
Hey man. >> Yes sir. I won't be there. >> Hey man, that means I get paid. Thank y'all so much for this resolution and honoring Dr. Cluck. He was truly instrumental in where Arlington is
today, particularly and attracting the Dallas Cowboys to come to Arlington and leave Irving. I had very few occasions where I'd appear in a place just like this and not have someone say, "Dr.
Cluck delivered X number of my kids," or "Dr. Clark delivered me. He literally touched the hearts and soul of everybody in Arlington for decades. We will be sure to get this resolution to his widow, Linda. And thank y'all again for
this. Appreciate >> Thank you. And our last uh item on this section is a proclamation for National Police Week and Peace Officers Memorial Day. Commissioner Ramirez. >> Yes, we have the um the privilege of
presenting this proclamation today for National Police Week 2026. You know, this is the first time probably in a decade that I haven't been in DC uh during this week because during this week every year um thousands and thousands of police officers gather in
Washington DC on the National Mall uh for a candlelight vigil and for a national memorial ceremony where they inscribe the names of those fallen uh the previous year on the wall. Um and we do those ceremonies here. We do those ceremonies in Fort Worth, but that's one
uh if you're a police officer or if you're a family member or someone who supports law enforcement, uh look it up and if you just go one time in your life, might be one of the most powerful experiences that you have. Uh but now we have the honor of recognizing our amazing officers here uh that do
incredible work every single day. Uh with us, we've got representatives from Eagle Mountain Sageno ISD police. We have TC TCSO honor guard members uh Tuan Tree and Charardai Jameson. Thank you for flanking our uh dis today. Uh we've
got Taran County precinct for constipables uh TCSO warrant division representatives from Lakew Worth PD and TRWD police as well. Um I'll read this proclamation and whereas in 1962 President John John F. Kennedy
proclaimed May 15th as National Peace Officers Memorial Day and the calendar week in which May 15th falls as National Police Week. Whereas Tarant County would like to honor the service and sacrifice of law enforcement officers and especially officers killed in the line of duty while protecting our
communities. Whereas there are more than 83,000 law enforcement officers serving in communities across the state of Texas, including the dedicated members of the Tarant County Sheriff's Department, Tarant County constables, local school district police officers, Texas game wardens, Texas Rangers, Texas
State Troopers, Texas regional water district law enforcement officers, and the municipal police departments across our 41 partner cities. And whereas we should pause to remember the more than 24,000 officers in the United States that have made the ultimate sacrifice
and been killed in the line of duty. The names of these devoted public servants are permanently engraved on the walls of the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial in Washington DC. And whereas it's important that each of us take a moment this week to publicly honor these courageous individuals. And so today we
offer our deepest thanks to those who serve and our everlasting respect to the fallen heroes who made the ultimate sacrifice. Now therefore, be it resolved that we, the Commissioner's Court of Tarant County, do hereby issue this proclamation to proclaim Friday, May 15,
2026, National Peace Officers Memorial Day, and the week of May 10th through the 16th, 2026, as National Police Week in Taran County in recognition of the men and women of law enforcement who stand ready to protect our loved ones, property, and freedoms, even at the risk
of their own lives. and witness whereof, we have here unto set our hands and cause the great seal of Tarant County to be affixed this 12th day of May, 2026. And I'd move for approval. >> All right. Second. We have a motion and a second.
Please cast your votes. All right. It's unanimous. >> And if you are one of the officers from one of the agencies that I listed, please come down and accept this proclamation. Sorry. That looks good. Thank you all very much.
And typ typically we have uh a lot more folks when we do this proclamation. Um but as I mentioned that we have about 20 Tarant County Sheriff's officers up in DC right now and a lot of the contingents are so but again thank you folks for everything that y'all do. >> All right. Thank you everyone. All right
that concludes the proclamations resolution section. The time is 11:27. We will go into recess and be back here on the DAS at 11:37. We are now in recess. Why am I so
that >> back from recess. Boom. So, we now go to public comments. First up is Dolores Phillips. Following Miss Phillips is Chris Wood.
Dolores Phillips, thank you for allowing me to speak. Judge O'Hare, you do have handouts. This is very dangerous. This puts technology more powerful than you as a judge and that's dangerous
times. I went to your records building across the street in the old Tarant County courthouse. They could not print for me what I saw part of my records that I say were falsified. And this is a
ongoing building of records. You have handouts. When you look at the first handout, it's the one that's 18 pages. IT person Tissa Crutcher,
former chief of police for Fort Worth, Joel Fisher. You have these articles I printed for you. William Burchett and Ronald Burke. They are one of your own. They spoke of injustices and they were subjected to
inevitable retaliation. I'm not even a citizen of Fort Worth. So or Teran County. So you understand the position that I'm in. Speaking of injustices, you build files and it's been going on for over a decade. There is a young lady
and I want I'm speaking to you, but I've observed Miss Harrison to be very thorough in her investigations. I want her to study and research the name of Gabrielle Little. I could be her. Her
complexion is almost identical to me and Miss Harrison's. And it's very important. I'mma say that again. I could be her. I could be Sheriff Adam King in Johnson County. I could be law enforcement in Godley County because
what I'm subjected to is criminal a criminal conspiracy. A tri county tri city criminal conspiracy. >> Thank you, Miss Phillips. >> Judge O'Hare. Thank you, >> Judge O'Hare. DF9211850.
>> Thank you, Miss Phillips. Your your time is up. >> Thank you so much. >> All right. Following Miss Phillips, we have Miss Wood, and then we have Lynn Roth. >> I'm Chris Wood. I'm here to say thank you and to ask you to continue funding programs like the treatment alternative
to incarceration program TIP and Tarant County's My Health My Resources, MHMR, substance use services. TIP helps people get connected to assessment and treatment they otherwise could not afford. And MHMR provides care that
includes sliding scale options. I used to assume people use drugs for fun. I was not trying to judge anyone. I did not understand how often addiction addiction begins as an attempt to escape pain. In 2016, I became severely
depressed. I needed psychiatric care, therapy, and psychiatric medication. In 2018, I was introduced to drugs. After one hit, my mental anguish disappeared for a couple of minutes. The pain, self-hatred, and grief were gone. The
relief was so powerful it felt like nothing else mattered. For the next few years, my life narrowed to two things. Using or finding money to use again. Even the waiting became a distraction. As my mental health improved, I finally had enough stability to start breaking
away. I wish I could say once I quit, I never looked back. I cannot. I relapsed, but I kept getting back up. Over time, I was able to leave drugs behind. People told me, "You have to cut off everyone who still uses." But some of
those people were there for me at my lowest. I needed help learning how to support them without risking my own recovery, and that took guidance. I'm asking you keep investing in TIP and MHMR's substance use services. These
programs reduce repeat offenses, stabilize families, and make Tarant County safer. Please continue funding them so more people can help get help before they lose everything. Thank you. >> Thank you. Lyn Roth
is Lyn Roth present. >> Following Miss Roth, we have Bailey Funk and Byron Funk. Hi, my name is Lynn Roth and I'm here today regarding concerns surrounding the investigation and manner of death determination for my son Walker. I want
to be very clear. I am not asking this court to change his death certificate. What I am asking for is oversight, transparency, accountability, and a serious ex look at whether the current policies
and standards within the Tarant County Medical Examiner's Office are sufficient to protect the public. During a recorded call with Dr. Stacy Murthy, she stated, quote, "It is a con contact gunshot wound to the abdomen, and the same photo
shows him laying over a bed and not having to traverse the house." that is like indicative of a suicide. End quote. She also stated, quote, "From just looking at the body," end quote. And regarding trajectory, she stated, quote,
"There is an exit gunshot wound, so I have not gotten the trajectory wrong." End quote. These statements are significant because there appears to be no photographic documentation supporting her trajectory analysis, positioning assumptions, or
the exclusion of alternate manners of death, like accidental or undetermined. If a conclusion is important enough to be written in the narrative of a death investigation, then the evidence supporting that conclusion should also be documented. Over the past year and a
half, our family has spent an extraordinary amount of time reviewing reports, photographs, public records, body cam footage, policies, timelines, and medical examiner records dealing uh connected to Walker's death investigation. What we found were
repeated inconsistencies, investigative concerns, missing documentation, and a system with very little meaningful external review. The Denton County investigative report contained numerous factual inaccuracies. Only one error. >> Miss Roth, I'm sorry. Your time is up.
>> Okay. Thank you. >> Thank you. Um, are you Mrs. Funk? >> Yes. Okay. Where is it? Good morning. My name is Bailey and I am Walker's sister. I appreciate the
opportunity. I want to emphasize that this is not simply about one family disagreeing with a conclusion. This is about whether the public can trust that death investigations in this county are being conducted thoroughly, independently, transparently, and with sufficient documentation to support lifealtering determinations.
When a medical examiner rules a death, a suicide, homicide, accident, or undetermined, that conclusion carries enormous weight. It affects families, insurance matters, public records, criminal investigations, and the permanent historical record of a person's life. Because of that, the public should expect that conclusions are supported by clear evidence,
complete investigations, and transparent documentation. The Dallas Office of Community Police Oversight reviewed complaints related to the police investigation tied to Walker's case. The board agreed with our assertation that the Dallas Police Department did not conduct a complete or proper investigation. During those proceedings,
board members, Judge Lander stated, quote, "Had he done a proper investigation, then the conclusion, I believe, would have been different from suicide." Additional concerns were raised by OCPO board member Brandon Freriedman, who stated during deliberations that he had formal firearms training and professional
weapons experience. After reviewing the information, Mr. Freriedman stated, quote, "It doesn't look like a suicide." He further stated, "If you're going to shoot yourself intentionally, you don't drop the mag." And additionally, that is what it looks like to me very, very clearly. The people who have weapons
experience are saying that this was unlikely to have been intentional. Those statements matter because they came from an independent oversight board members reviewing concerns surrounding the investigation itself. That can that should concern every citizen in the county.
A death investigation should not rely on assumptions unsupported by documentation. Alternative explanations should not be dismissed without showing how they were ruled out. If accidental death or undetermined death are excluded, there should be document evidence showing why. If trajectory is referenced, there should be photographic
and analytical document documentation supporting it. >> Thank you. >> Next, we have Mr. Funk. Following Mr. Funk, we have Bob Willoughby. Walker was my son, but today I'm speaking not only as his dad, but as a
member of the public, asking this court to seriously examine transparency and accountability within the Tarant County Medical Examiner's Office. Over the last year and a half, our family has reviewed reports, timelines, public records, and investigative materials connected to Walker's death.
What we found were inconsistencies, unanswered questions, and a process with very meaningful, very little meaningful independent review available to families once concerns are raised. Most people assume there is a clear pathway to address inaccuracies or request outside review when substantial
concerns exist regarding a death investigation. What we learned is that families are often directed back into the same system they are questioning. This is not meaningful independent oversight. The public places enormous trust in the medical examiner's office. These offices
are responsible for determining the official banner and cause of death and those determinations become permanent legal records. Because of that, transparency and professional accountability matter. Our family also currently has multiple public
information act requests pending before the Texas Attorney General involving records connected to this office. The public also has a right to know who is entrusted with handling their loved ones after death. A forensic pathologist currently employed at the Tarant County medical examiner's office previously
took home a portion of a descendant's body. These remains were handled by the pathologist children and photographed by the pathologist spouse. This matters especially considering that this office was already subject to significant public scrutiny and professional conduct
concerns raised before this court in 2021. When the questions or differing opinions were raised regarding investigative conclusions, our family encountered responses that reinforced how difficult it is to meaning challenge or independently review those conclusions.
Our family consulted an independent for a pathologist with extensive medical. >> Thank you, sir. >> Thank you. >> I want to say thank you to the >> for taking being courageous enough to come down here and tell us about this.
Thank you so much. >> Okay. Thank you. >> Thank you, sir. >> All right. Mr. Willoughby. Following Mr. Willoughby is Paul David Williams. Hi. Um, I guess my main thing is going to be about the citizens and the uh our
rights and the council here school. Um, it looks like we're always two minutes. I guess I would suggest put it back to three minutes. I tried to explain that last time how important it would be to give back to the people. I mean, as a campaign manager, taking away from the people, I don't think that helps you and
it doesn't net you anything at all, Tim. But giving does help you, you know. So, and also by cutting us down before I got a chance to criticize your opponent, I was going to criticize. I ran out of time. You cut me down. But, uh, that's all right. But what I want to make a point is if you don't understand what
I'm trying to say, ask your wife because wives are good about that. At least mine was. 35 years of marriage and she never missed one opportunity to point out where I was wrong. I grant you. So, if you don't understand me, ask her. Okay. Now, the other thing I was going to try
to say to um Lisa was that I asked her to ask our DA just to ask him why is he not answering? And I don't understand this. I've called the uh the state DA too, uh Phil S, the main
office with Paxton and uh they say DA has all kind of power here. If he wants to act on a criminal case, he can. if he doesn't because he's got documents 100% undisputable misinpration of money funds in Fort Worth that involves Mayor Parker and he will not act on them. He says he
will not dispute them and he will not act on them and he not answer. We don't have a DA when they can do that. There ought to be a rule against that period not on this case but any case there should be. So I'm asking people to ask the DA why will you not act on these rules? I mean, it is 100% proof there is
uh money from the CCP funds and he can invoke the Texas Rangers to do a audit, but he won't do it. He won't even talk. That's where I got a problem right there. Anyway, thank you for your time. I'm running out of time. Give us three minutes. I can't talk that quick. Thank you.
>> Thank you. Uh, is Mr. Williams present? Paul David Williams. All right. Next, we go to Buff Kaiser. Is Buff Kaiser present? Mr. Kaiser. Paul, Mr. Kaiser as Bishop Kirkland. >> I'm Buff Kaiser, resident of Fort Worth
and um for many months I have been speaking to you about a mystery we have with these duplicates in our uh voter roles. And this month I can tell you we have solved the mystery. And what we found, this is coming from the Secretary
of State Team 2.0 system down in Austin. It's generating the duplicates and not removing them. And we've got this conclusively proven by working with a um an election administrator in another county who has
verified this is the case on using their oncount data. It's absolutely rock solid that this has happened. And we've also applied artificial intelligence to uh these duplicates and it has ascertained that they were they are coming from the
secretary of state and the solution is to use driver's license number to help do the matching and 35 states in our country already use driver's license. Another 12 use it as a backup. Texas is one of the very few larger
states not using driver's license number for statewide matching. We do have driver's license B numbers for residents of Tarant County with our voter roles and we have provided copies to Clint and Troy of the Tarant County records that
have the duplicates. There are about right now 8,000 records in in the Tarant County registration database today that are duplicated. many of them with other counties in the state. So, um, we I've got copies of all this for you. I'll
I'll leave and I've got extra copies, too. So, I'll leave these with Ruth. And that's but it's good news that we know where this is coming from. The mystery has been solved. We're going to be working with the Secretary of State to address this, as well as five state legislators and two Congress people from Texas. Thank you.
>> Thank you. Following Bishop Kirkland, we have Billy Wilson. The question I have for legal today is how can we have a public hearing on an agenda item that we can't talk or comment on? In a short briefing last month, he failed to mention that if
Shawn was his son, he never would have been in jail in the first place. Unlike Shawn, his son was saved from the system. Another manipulation of facts was about releasing videos. The Johnson family has repeatedly asked where he is
to be released. Why is it so convenient for the sheriff to make all these meetings now? Is it because he doesn't have to face us anymore? Our questions. I have a questions for the two of you regarding the bar's death. What time was
he found unresponsive? What time did he leave the jail? And what were his vital signs when he left the jail? What time did he arrive at the hospital? And what time was he pronounced dead? These aren't rhetorical questions. The
answer to these questions will prove that people are dying in that jail and not at JPS. Next, the answer to the question about the juvenile system. Um, the answer is Judge Kim and you people because you
fixed something that wasn't broken in the first place and judge in your words because of too much woke language. Matt, for the record, the NAACP is a nonpartisan organization. You come in
here with all your love about Jesus rhetoric, yet you pose proudly with a pitch of pedophile pastor Robert Morris. Turn to her. I recently saw a flyer that said something about biblical values. With what biblical values do you exhibit
in this room? Y'all post the ten commandments which is the letter of the law but words of compassion from Yeshua. Georgia her and be way please let me know what it takes to be a bronze contributor of the text.
>> Thank you. Your time is up. Uh Mr. Wilson following Mr. Wilson is Nan Terry. >> We stand to speak against those who choose to silence us. Wrongheaded a democracy led by nationalistic ideologies over local
contiguous governance. George Washington in his farewell speech warned about party. He believed that the stability of the republic was threatened by the forces of geographical socialism, political factionalism and interference by foreign powers and nations in domestic affairs. When you choose
national political parties ideals over local governance, you get taxation without representation. You get a city like Arlington who we paid the taxes for, but yet we have people who didn't pay taxes making decisions on what we do with our stadium. You get a TEA takeover of local uh schools despite the obvious
achievements that you celebrate with no accountability to them at all. You get a commission's course with the voice of the people is diminished and ignored. You get a county that denies the use of facilities to NAACP, a non-partisan
group, but yet you allow K Tayaka, a political activist. You divide our contiguous communities like Arlington and Mansfield into political factions. When disaster strikes, it won't be factions or parties, but your contiguous
communities who respond. That's what first responders are, a contiguous people. When your party screw up the economy, it won't be your con your your uh your political party, but our continuous communities like our food banks, our our churches, our civic organizations who come to the needs of
the people when you put when safety is threatened in with your physical or your mental health. It is the contiguous community that is going to respond. You through your actions with your were a catalyst for a national political jury mandate which broke up the
representation and the contiguous communities in favor of political power. You destroyed the pinnacle of the civil rights. You betrayed our founding fathers in calling yourselves patriots. Proverbs, I'll just leave you right there.
>> Thank you, sir. Uh, next we have Nan Terry. Following Miss Terry, we have Harriet Herrell. I urge you to change the format of these meetings. What message are you sending to the students, many whom sit in an overflow room while waiting?
Transparency is lacking. Again, I have spoken on this issue before. You will vote on two purchasing items Q1 and two related to defendant paid items, but nowhere in the backup information online is the cost to the defendant shown. Do you know what it costs the defendants?
There's a fine line between rehabilitation and setting a defendant up to fail. With inflation reported this morning at 3.8%, do you know what you are choosing? Rehabilitation or failure? Next. I fully agree with your ability to
set policies on the use of county space. However, I demand fairness and equality in how that is implemented. Commissioner Krauss, I followed your lead when you recounted how you turned away a group who wanted to use the subcourthouse because they were partisan. C2 requests
Yousef for first responders and spouse for a seminar held by Tayia Kyle. An online search finds Mrs. Kyle, the widow of US Navy Seal Chris. Wikipedia states she's a Republican contributor of Fox News and worked on Sheriff Wayborn's political campaign. Please remember this
group voted to deny NAACP the use of county space because you thought NAACP was considered partisan when you vote on this item. I'm not opposed to supporting our first responders and their spouses. I'm opposed to inequality and how county space is used. Next, Zominer versus
Tarant County. Do the right thing. Look at the memorandum and order from Judge O Connor when he denied the county's request to dismiss last August. And I end with a quote from Fox News on April 22nd, 2025. A 30 26 a
36-year-old inmate, John Bar, died sudden Sunday after being found unresponsive in a cell just days after his arrest for a parole violation. Thank you for your time. >> Uh following Miss Herold, we have Samantha Woodworth.
Last week, the Texas Defender Service reported that although Tarant County has only 7% of Texas population, it has accounted for nearly 25% of the state's death penalty trials since 2020. Since
2014, that figure has risen to 42%. Since 2012, 69% of the people the DA's office has sought to execute have been black. despite black residents making up only about 20%
of the county population. I urge this court to request a public briefing and hearing from the DA's office and to ask the county administrator to convene the criminal justice coordinating council to address discriminatory patterns in
capital prosecutions. on page 1,345 of your agenda regarding the sheriff's office request to use public space for a seminar presented by Tayia Kyle. At this last meeting, this court denied the
nonpartisan NAACP use of a public facility because it might be perceived as partisan. Regardless of topic, Tia Kyle herself is already publicly associated with partisan political activity, including
Fox commentary, endorsements of Republican candidates, and service as treasurer for Bill Wvern's campaign. If perceived partisanship was the standard applied to the NAACP, then consistency requires the same
standard here. Vote no on this request. Thank you. >> Is Miss Woodworth present? Samantha Woodworth. All right. Next, we have Deborah Kratkkey. Following Miss Katr is Linda Hanratty.
>> I'm Debbie Kratkkey. I live in Crowley, Texas. I'm speaking today on the contract renewal for interactive data. When this contract ca first came before you guys last summer, I made a comment that and stated I saw no sense in giving a third party all of our voter
information. In the article, I'm sure you've all read experts stated that they had never heard of another county outsourcing this uh project to someone other than the county. Uh the county was awarded that I mean the company that was awarded that contract interactive data
uses extensive databases that promise a fuller picture of all consumers who have had a footprint anywhere in the United States. Before we talk about what could go wrong, let's talk about who interactive data is. It didn't take me long to figure out that interactive data
is not registered with the Better Business Bureau in Florida, but the BBB do retain negative reviews. One listed comment indicated that there was complete lack of transparency, denials without explanation, and frustrating customer service. Since these comments
were made in 2023 prior to 2025, I'm assuming the information never made it in the the way of people who are going to be voting in Tarant County. To complicate the situation, the contract states they would be billing batch prices for 1.5 million people twice a
year. At that time, I didn't understand exactly what that meant. I read the article and then I did. This is since I don't have the full three minutes, let me cut to the chase. These databases are permanent assets of this company. They
are not created by the county, therefore not deleted when the contract in. So that means approving this contract is about so much more than approving a small contract of less than $50,000. It's about who gets to vote.
Following Miss Hanratty, we have Reed Bills. On the consent agenda, tax assessor S4 property tax waivers. I question the May 26 waiver to CMW Office Services uh LLC of over $165,000.
All the other waiverss in April and May are small amounts, but this stands out. I request that the public be provided with a justification for this high dollar waiver. I also question the lack of information on the cause of death for
the jail inmate who died in December 20 uh December 2025. For some reason, cause of death information on jail deaths always seems to take an inordinate amount of time, which is unsatisfactory. And other people have talked about the
medical examiner. Um, I am saddened by the recent death of an inmate and lack of information about the circumstances surrounding his death, which Judge uh, Reverend Kurland's talked about. I am pleased that there have been no more not so many jails this year. In fact, this
is the first, but the public needs to have more information about each jail jail so we can support the sheriff's efforts to limit them. Thank you. >> Thank you. Following Miss Bills, we have
Si Sayed. >> Three items. One, consent agenda, facilities. Number four, Cold Springs jail renovations. I have asked many times, what specific population will be housed in this facility? My tax money is
funding this project. So I have a right to know the specific intended use and be assured that the jail will not become an ICE detention center. Two reports of business. C purchasing 15
cancellation of jail staffing contract for convenience. I questioned the outsourcing of jail personnel when this contract was approved. The reasons for involving a third party in our county jail, which is the responsibility of our
sheriff, seemed like a bad idea. Since there is no information about paragraph 8 of the contract provided, I would like an explanation of convenience. Does the sheriff now agree with me that this was a bad idea?
Precinct 2. G. Precinct 2. seeking additional funds for transforming lives for community outreach. I support this request from Commissioner Simmons. It has become apparent that the county did not all lot sufficient funds when it
deleted the outreach program from its services to constituents. That error needs to be corrected now and continue in the future. Thank you. >> Following Miss Sed, we have Gibb Portwood. I'm say and Taran County taxpayer
deserves answer from the tarant appraisal district regarding the controversial reappraisal plan and the growing number of overvalued properties in the tax year 2025 and 2026. During TAG's April 30th, 2026 entity meeting, chief appraiser reportedly stated that
nearly 204,000 properties received valuation reduction in 2025 after property owners files protest. These raises serious concern about accuracy and fairness of the original reappraisal plan. If approximately 204,000 protested
properties were reduced in valuation and over 190,000 additional residential properties remain unchanged and overvalued. It suggests that close to 394,000 properties which is more than half of the residential accounts have been
initially overvalued in 2025 tax year. 190,000 properties, especially those with property value is 500,000 or less, may still be over uh paying taxes based on inflated values. This effectively shifted the burden of proof from
appraisal district to the taxpayer, forcing homeowners to spend time and resources collecting valuation error that should not have occurred in the first place. T's decision to freeze residential values while market conditions changed has also created
concerns about unequal and non-uniform appraisal across the Talon County specifically uh colored neighborhood. A frozen value does not automatically mean a fair value. Taxing entities pay appraisal district with taxpayer dollars to perform accurately and equitable
appraisals. Taxpayer deserve transparency, accountability and equal treatment under taxes property tax law. The growing number of protests suggest that the current reappraisal strategy has failed. Many homeowners and
risking pushing tags closer to increase. >> Thank you, Miss Sad. >> Thank you for your time. >> Is is are you Mr. Portwood? >> Yes, sir. >> Okay. Following Mr. Portwood, we have EJ Carryon. >> Hello, my name is Gibb Portwood. I am a
resident of Fort Worth, Texas. I'm also a property tax consultant. I am an expert on the property tax laws and on the property tax system we have here in Texas. I'm commenting on the briefing that you're getting today on the uh appraisal plan and this is a bad plan.
It has failed at providing property tax relief and it should be thrown out. The plan does nothing to limit the tax revenues collecting by the tax entities and it severely distorts the uniformity of appraisals, causing 80%
of all homeowners to pay more than their fair share of tax. In 2024, the last year appraisals were done, uh we saw very uniform appraisals. Most appraisals were between 93 and 95% of their actual
market value. In 2025, the most valuable homes were only tax appraised at 75 to 80% of their actual market value, while the overwhelming majority of homes less than $500,000 in value were tax
appraised at 92% of their value. This created a discount that the most valuable homes received in their property taxes that can be measured in the tens of millions of dollars, if not $50 million or more. And that discount
was paid for by the average homeowner in a home less than $500,000. This is the current state of appraisals, and it's only going to get worse in 2026. Any commentary that tries to say
otherwise is false. Additionally, because of the homestead cap, uh most homeowners in the most valuable homes will continue to receive a discount for the next five to six years while the average homeowner runs out of uh tax
relief, cap relief in a year or two. The chief appraiser needs to be allowed to conduct annual appraisal. Thank you, sir. Thank you. >> Following Mr. Carry on, we have Nidia Cardinus. My name is EJ Kion and uh I'm here to talk about Manny Ramirez recent uh Fort
Worth, Inc. magazine titled Lower the Temperature in Politics and Return to Results. It was posted March 5th. I couldn't speak earlier because I was suspended for two months. Uh but in here you say we will never agree on every issue but we agree on far more than the
loudest voices admit. Safe streets, strong schools, reliable infrastructure, protected rights, and opportunity for every family. In politics, we must lower the temperature. However, over the last year since I've been coming to county commissioner's court, you're literally the person on the thermostat turning up
the temperature. Congratulations on your year anniversary of missing your only precinct 4 meeting uh in AOE ISD for the racial gerrymandering. If you look at our country today, you literally voted on the petri dish that scaled across this country. You voted for state ICE
grants. You you did shady development with data centers in West Texas. You're the Texas Juvenile Justice Board leader and we sended most kids to state prison. Uh you allow TAD to suffocate public schools where even rich suburban areas are closing schools. you allow ten
commandments where first liberty institute was able who was on the board for project 2025 to do ten commandments. A recent example is in city council uh district 10. You endorsed Chris Jameson who is backed by Mercy Culture rather
than the Latina Alicia Ortiz with 10 years of city experience. So I don't know what your obsession is with your proximity to white Christian nationalism rather than a multicultural coalition. you are not fit to lead the Latino
community. I hope that seat is getting hot. >> Uh following Miss Cardinus, we have Joan Jane Collins. >> Um I wanted to speak on consent agenda item under purchasing number four, mosquitoes mosquito control. So I was glad to see the mosquito control
contract on the consent agenda, but I saw in the supporting documents that no expenditures have been made against that in the last 12 months. Um, the World Cup kicks off on June 14th and AT&T Stadium is hosting more matches than any other venue. Uh, officials have projected 3.8
to 4 million visitors through the region. So, how do we welcome these guests with care and responsibility? So, some of our guests are coming from countries where mosquito-born diseases are actively surging right now. Um, and the disease transmission risk doesn't require millions of people. It just requires one infected person and one
mosquito bite. So, an infected traveler gets bitten by a local 80s mosquito, which Taran Countyy's own surveillance program confirms is already abundant throughout this county, then transmits that disease to local residents. I've reviewed our updated Taran County's updated 2025 response guidelines, and
the current plan for the West Nile virus requires both confirmed human cases and multiple mosquito samples before triggering ground spraying. And that threshold is higher than in 2021, which did not require human cases first. The have there been respective updates to the Zika and Denga plan? The American
Mosquito Control Association's best management practices are explicit about adult sightings should be considered even in the absence of human cases because the goal is prevention not reaction. Dallas County has announced that they're doing something special for the World Cup um and will be testing actively testing local mosquitoes for uh
chinka deni and zika diseases directly tied to the international travel. I haven't seen any announcement from Tarant County about this. So, what specific contingencies has Taran County put in place for vectorbor disease introduction during the World Cup? Are we confident we can act before human cases appear? I ask the court to be
proactive on this and to communicate with the public so we can actually celebrate the summer of global connection and do so responsibly. Thank you. >> Thank you. Following Miss Collins, we have Josh Lucas. >> To to that point, Chandler, don't aren't we working with FIFA? Is our public
health working with FIFA? >> Yes, ma'am. They're in the coordination meetings with regards to public health. >> Okay. So to answer her questions about the possibility of vectorbor diseases, what are we on top of it? What what's happening?
>> We are obviously coordinating with the cities, regionally, state, and federal levels on all kinds of areas. Uh Dr. Bird certainly could give more details on that if needed. >> Okay. We'll probably well don't meet until June. I was going to say brief it, but um Okay, >> Miss Collins, go ahead.
Uh hello. Several people have already mentioned uh how the commissioner's court seems to be promoting partisan politics on the question of allowing Taia Kyle to speak
even though she's clearly a Republican. and uh they would would not let you would not let the the NAACP use the facilities uh according to the last vote that I saw
at the last meeting. And so it seems to me there's a discrepancy here that the NAACP is considered partisan despite the fact that I have been to many events that
they've given where they had all the candidates invited and speaking. So I really can't see how anybody would say that NAACP is partisan. But this person, Taia Kyle, uh I think she was the
campaign manager for the sheriff and she had many other activities she seemed to be involved in that were Republican. So I would think that either allow the NAACP to use the facilities or not allow this
person to use the facilities. >> Thank you. Following Mr. Lucas, we have Alexander Montalvo. >> Hello, I'm Josh uh Fort Worth native and um I'm involved in a lot of the groups that are worried about the the deaths in
the jail. And so 600,000 has been spent on attorney fees for Anthony Johnson's murder. Johnson is the veteran who was pepper-sprayed and sat in and sat on in our jail resulting in his homicide as determined by a coroner. John Bar is the
most recent person to die in the jail and his cause of death is still to be determined by our coroner. One point oh excuse me, deaths in the jails have cost the taxpayer 1.2 million for baby Zenora and 1 million for Javvante Meyers. These
are the largest um lawsuits in Taran County history and yet there's still no justice for Anthony Johnson's family. Right now there is not a viable mental health court and on average the mentally ill are spending twice the length of their sentence in jail. The law requires
that the release of low-level nonviolent mentally ill offenders on a personal bond. This is this law has not been complied with. Single party rule for decades is the recipe for dictatorship. It creates a culture of corruption and complacency. Power at the top looks the
other way if it's in their interest or their party's favor. And our jail that leads in our jail that leads to homicide and injustices and deaths. You can find a list of people who have died in the jail under ways watch at stormerforex.com
under the jail jails tab. That's all my Mr. Montalvo present. All right. Next we have Joanna Henahosa. Miss Henahosa present.
Next is Ambika Chararma. Following Miss Chararma we have Lon Burnham. >> Hello. Hi. Thank you for the opportunity to address you. Uh my name is Ambika Chararma and I'm speaking on three topics. So first interactive data LLC. This was the agenda item Q, purchasing
item number 17. Um, I I basically urge you to not vote to renew the contract. The thought of a private company having so much PII data, which is personally identified information. So, the thought of a private company having so much PII data, frightens me. I am from the tech industry. I know what we can do with
data. I have a masters in machine learning. Um, so again, I don't when I chose to register to vote with Taran County or in Taran County, I decided that I own my data and the county owns my data. By registering to vote, I did not give the authority for Taran County
to to give my PII voting data to a third party. Now, what will that third party do? Will they sell my data? Um, what what are the resources? Like what if they have my information incorrect? How do I make my information whole with them? I don't want to go to the voting poll and then find out that I cannot
vote because the information was erroneous. So the lack of accountability for a third party is problematic to me. So I urge you to look into the contract that is up for uh vote today. What are the what are the stipulations, the consequences that there will be for interactive data. I just don't want them
to sell our data. Second, property taxes. I see you're here. Um appraisals have been frozen. I understand that TAD board of directors wanted to provide tax tax relief to taxpayers. I actually appreciate that and I commend the spirit. However, unless you've been
living under a rock, you know that property appraisals have not been stagnant. Quite the opposite. They have gone down. So, if we truly wanted to give our taxpayers property tax relief, we should have sent them notices with lower property appraisals, not the same
year-over-year. So again, we're putting the burden on property taxpayers to go ahead and protest by May 15th and explain why should their property appraisals be lower. So that's not in the intent of being fair to the property taxpayers. And number three,
>> thank you. >> Yeah. >> Following Mr. Burnham, we have John Henahosa. I begin my threeinut prepared statement with accusations that this court is guilty of hubris, arrogance, hypocrisy, and racist actions. We'll see how far we
can get in this three-minute commentary. While the hub, arrogance, and hypocrisy of this court seem boundless, it is in its indifference to the pain and suffering it causes is even worse. Since you have not since you have cut your availability during public meetings to 1/4 of what it was just three years ago
and you don't seem to be working to address the problems of the county have you considered reducing your pay by 1/4 given your to 1/4 given your work record you may have missed the coverage of the two major dailies uh uh but over the
Texas defense service media event the Dallas Morning News headline was Tarant penalty trials. 92% of the sentences since 2012 have been against racial and ethnic minorities. They
these are the planned violations of the sixth commandment. You may have missed the cruelty of the sentence of D uh Dialin Loftton and the headline quote is the Dialin Loftton case shows being mentally ill can sometimes be considered
a crime in this county. I'm pretty certain neither you nor your staff reviewed all 1,770 pages of this month's agenda. I'm wondering again about those outofstate travel budgets to unnamed conferences. Is it because so many of them are
Christian nationalist events? There should be transparency. And what about that uh that oath of special event for first responders and their spouses? The featured speaker is a known partisan Christian nationalist. Shouldn't you apply the same standards there as you
did to the NAACP? Hypocrisy. It's in plain view. How about the emergency management plan? Did any of you know whether or not the probability of high level radioactive waste being hauled through downtown Arlington Fort Worth is addressed? Your time is up. >> And what about
>> Mr. Burnham? Your time is up. >> Mr. Burnham, please take a seat. Is Mr. Henosa present? All right. Next we have Jackie Johnson. Is Miss Johnson present? Next we have Merl Glascock.
Is Miss Glascock present? Following Miss Glascock, we have Robert Van. I've lost it. >> Would you like me to bypass you? >> Pardon? >> May I come after the next person? >> Uh, sure. Is Mr. Van present?
Pursuant to Texas Open Meetings Act public testimony paragraph 551.007, to 007. I continue to voice the complaint of myself and many members of the public, and you've heard some here today, regarding this court's obvious dislike of citizen testimony, reflected in its
continuing and increasing vicelike restriction on that testimony. I look forward to a future courts relaxing those draconian policies and returning to the more lenient and friendly rules of previous courts. This court continues to fund remodeling
of the Cold Springs interment facility, but remains unwilling to inform the public who are bearing the cost of this work just what specific intended use is planned for it. How about loosening up on your information strangle hold and making the intended end use of this
facility public? Jail deaths and the lack of accountability for them continue a pace in Sheriff Wayburn's Tarant County jails. Because of the extreme lack of transparency on the part of the sheriff's department and this court, I'm not sure that anyone has an exact count
of how many souls have met their demise in that facility. But we know that number well exceeds 70 since Wayurn was first elected. John Bar is the latest that we are aware of, having met his end April 19th.
The family of Shante Bratz, who died in Wayburn's custody December 21st, is still waiting for determination of her cause of death. Surely, we can do better. >> All right, Miss Glascock. Following Miss
Glascock is Laura Oakley. >> Thank you, commissioners. Good afternoon. As a concerned Tarant County resident, I want to bring awareness to the findings in the recent Texas Defender Service
report entitled An Extreme Outlier that highlights troubling racial disparities in how the death penalty is pursued in our county. The report found that black residents
were disproportionately charged with capital murder in cases that later resulted in acquitt charges or no jail time at all. These findings raise serious concerns about racial
bias, fairness, and the long-term harm these practices cause to communities of color. I urge the court to examine these disparities closely and support policies that prioritize true public safety,
accountability, and justice for all Tarant County residents. Thank you for your time and your service. >> Is Miss Oakley present? All right. Charles Weedmire
following Mr. form is Mike Oakley. >> Good afternoon. I'm here simply to request that you guys check with the leadership of the ballot board before you award a new annual contract to a company from Minnesota. It's a tailor
print and visual impressions who have a pending contract that's on your consent agenda today for annual printing and mailing absentee ballots. Ballot board members have reported to us that there's been confusion and extra work required
by errors and printing and quality control issues. And so we just ask that you check with ballot board and see if maybe we want to look for somebody in Texas or ideally Tarant County. Thank you. >> Thank you. Is Mr. Oakley present?
Uh next is Nate Balman. Mr. Balman present. Next is Kimberly Edmonds. Miss Edmonds present. And last is Paty Abbott. Miss Abbott present.
All right. Seeing none, we mount now move to our consent agenda. Do we have a motion to approve the consent agenda as amended? >> So move. >> Second. >> We have a motion and a second to approve the amended consent agenda. Any discussion?
All right. Please cast your votes. Commissioner Crosses a yes. Passes unanimously. Now that would bring us to item C2 which cons which is consideration of amended and restated
tax abatement agreement and consent to assignment for the Arlington Commons development phase 1C. Are there questions on this item or a motion? >> I have questions. Um and I'm happy to make the motion. Uh,
Megan, just to be sure I'm understanding this correctly, the owner wants to sell this phase of Arlington Commons to a different entity. Correct. >> Yes, ma'am. >> Okay. And the owner wants Taran County to transfer the abatement on the property to a new owner. >> Yes, ma'am.
>> Right. Uh, who are the current owners, not the LLC's? Were you able to get the names? >> Yes, it is the uh Nehemiah. So, it's U Robert Kimell. >> Okay. And um how long has he owned it?
>> Since the inception of the build. So about 2018. >> 18. >> And who are the future owners? >> The future owners are going to be RPM Living. So it's an assigne that you'll see the name of, but RPM Living is going to be managing the day-to-day operations of it.
>> Okay. All right. Um and this is something that's standard, customary. >> Yes, ma'am. all that good stuff. How many Tarant County active abatements does that Arlington Commons has? >> I believe it's four phases total and
phase 1A will expire I believe this year. Um so it will be become fully taxable. We'll receive the full value after it's expired. This phase phase 1C will be next to come uh online and then offline where we receive the full value again.
>> Okay. Is there four or five? >> I believe it's four or five. I'm not exactly sure. >> Okay. So, I think they have So, the Arlington Commons, that one complex has four or five abatements, >> correct? >> Um, and how many JPS Health Network
active abatements does Arlington Commons have? >> I believe they apply to all of theirs. Yes, ma'am. >> Okay. All right. So, where I'm going here is that this single complex has five county abatements, five hospital district abatements, and several city of Arlington abatements.
Additionally, uh I think it's located in a reinvestment zone. Is that correct? >> I don't know if it's located in the entertainment district zone that we're talking. >> Yeah, I think it's a little bit too far outside of it. >> All right.
Um I I just I want to be in the future very clear on the implications of these abatements. Um I couldn't tell from the communication who the buyers and sellers were. I saw the some company
names um and how many abatements have been issued on any single development. And I think we need to cap tax abatements at somewhere around 30 50% or less. Um, so I'd like to see some policy developed around what kind of projects
receive tax baitments. I think we've discussed it before behind closed doors. So, >> um, okay. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> I move approval. >> All right. We have a motion on this item. Do we have a second? >> We have a second from Commissioner
Krauss. Any further discussion? All right. Please cast your votes. Passes unanimously. takes us to item F1. F1. >> I pulled that but got my questions answered this morning. So y'all can take
a seat. >> F1 is budget and risk management. All right. Do we have a motion? Move >> approval. >> All right. Motion to approve. Do we have a second? >> Second. >> All right. We have a second. Any further discussion? All right, please cast your votes.
Passes unanimously. Takes us to item G1, which is community development consideration to submit the program year 2026 annual action plan to the US Department of Housing and Urban Development. I'll move to approve.
>> Second. >> Have a motion, a second. discussion. >> Yes. Um so clearly I support submitting uh this program here 2026 action annual action plan so Tarant County can continue receiving federal housing and
community development funds. I do have a a few questions regarding the reallocation outlined in the report. The document uh references approximately 284,000 in prior year CDBG funds and
more than 1.3 million in prior year home funds being reallocated. Why were those funds not previously spent and what what projects will they support now? >> Well, as you know, first of all, James Clinton, director of community
development and I believe Susan A who's a department planner. Um, as you know, the mayors, uh, there's a team of mayors who, um, categorize these properties, these, uh, projects, and they, uh,
support which ones they think are important, and so bids come in for those projects. Uh, oftent times those bids come low, money's left over from those projects. Got it. >> And then that builds up over time. So what we do is reallocate those funds
into uh, future projects. Deputy mayors also decide where those funds go. >> Okay. >> Same same with home funds. Uh home funds are we tell HUD how those funds are going going to be used when those funds are not used and we go back to HUD and say we've decided to use these funds in
a different direction. I give you example. Uh we're putting more funds into home buyer assistance programs and so we have to let HUD know that's how we're going to use those funds. >> Okay. Thank you both. >> Okay. All right. Any other questions or
comments? All right, three votes are in. Fourth is a yes. Passes unanimously. Next up is K3, approval of of a professional services contract with Frank Neil and Associates for Structural Engineering Services for the Mansfield
Subcourthouse. I'll move to approve. >> Second. >> We have a motion in a second. Discussion. >> Yes. When Hi there. When was the last time a structural engineering assessment was conducted at
that subcourthouse? >> Uh, it was conducted originally in 2021 and again here um in the spring in February. >> Say again. >> In February there's a new a new assessment done recently.
>> February of 2026. >> Yes, ma'am. And so what are we what are we considering today? >> Yes, ma'am. So what you're considering now is a design contract. So the assessment's done as as you're aware that building is suffering from slab
failure, right? That's why the first floor has a change in elevations that are just no good. Um it's a case of stereotypical Texas clay and and construction back in 2000. Uh the original assessment was done in 2021. In
which case they found that there was heaving and collapsing of the slab. It's non uh it's not the primary structure. So it's not the columns or the foundations. It's just the interior slab of the building. At that time of the assessment, part of that assessment said
we should hold and watch to see if it's going to continue to worsen or if it becomes static. In February, the court approved the reassessment. We completed the reassessment. We have a meeting set up next week to go through those final
reviews. Um, and at this time, this is a request because this contract after the assessment would now go to a structural design to tell us how to remedy it and complete the design process so that we would then go into a bid construction
process. >> Okay. All right. Thank you. Yeah. At some point we have to ask ourselves whether continuing to spend taxpayer dollars repairing that facility with an overwhelming
amount of recurring uh flooding, structural, plumbing, everything uh space uh issues is the best long-term use of public funds. We
there's been a plan in place uh since 2018 is what I was told um for a new Mansville subcourthouse and this uh court continues to say well yeah some
members say yeah we I understand there needs to be a new Mansville subcourthouse. Uh we have long identified property which is probably no longer available. um we've got the money um in reserves. They've been saving it
since 2018. Uh but here we are um you know throwing money at a facility we should not be in. Um and I I've got a buyer who'll take it off our hands as is. Uh but but we continue to play games
up here. Um and and it's a money pit. Um, so I'm I'm not supportive of it. Thank you though for coming. >> All right. Any other questions or comments on this item? >> All right. In favor or opposed? >> I sorry.
>> All right. So, it passes 3 to one. Takes us to P1, which is consideration to reappoint Dr. William Brian Bird as Tarant County Public Health Director and Health Authority. I will make that motion. >> Second. >> Second. >> We have a motion and a second on that
item. Is there any discussion? >> Yes. Hello, Dr. Bird. >> Good morning. >> So, um I want to make sure do let me ask you this. >> Yes, ma'am. >> Who do you receive an evaluation? Who
who says? Yeah, >> I do that evaluation, man. >> Okay. Okay. Um I want to make sure our public health employees that work for you feel heard and essential services are protected. We cannot afford to lose the purpose and
the spirit of public health in Tarant County. And looking ahead over the next year, I would like to know what your vision is for Tarant County public health. >> Yes, Commissioner. Thank you for the question. Um, I like where we are in
public health right now. uh we have put together a series of priorities that we worked through a process to put this together and it's bubbled up uh starting with the people on the front lines um and these priorities allow us to put
metrics and KPIs in place so that uh we can answer the questions how are we doing how are we doing on HIV prevention uh for instance how are we doing on prevention of tuberculosis spread in Tarant County right Now based on the the
team that we have and the strategies that we are implementing, I feel good about our ability to execute on these. >> What kind of to break it down, what uh should employees and the community expect to see
in the way of improvements? >> Uh yes, ma'am. We have a lot of work to do. For example, when it comes to the spread of HIV infection in Tarant County for about the last six years, really since COVID, the rate of spread has been going up and the absolute number of
cases has been going up. >> Uh so we are employing some new strategies um so that we can get a hold of that because you know the old saying if you if it's not working and you keep doing the same thing it's still not going to work you know for instance. So, so we we
will keep working on the HIV issue and a number of our other priorities. >> Okay. Um, you've mentioned before about doing more with less. What does that actually mean?
>> Yes, ma'am. Thank you for the question. We we're able to do that through a number of strategies. The first would be partnerships and we have a fantastic partnerships partnership with our friends from Arlington and the Arlington Fire Department. Um, and you know, we'll
know about August or September just how well that's working. However, it's a fantastic example of us being able to leverage local dollars uh with Arlington dollars and make a big difference. Um we also are able to do more because of some
uh internal training and internal assessments uh internal management shifts uh that we've been able to make. Um and uh thirdly with the help of our friends in in IT we've been able to u streamline our process for disease
reporting for instance. Um, so we can do that with fewer people because we like I like I like to say, if a computer can do it, let's let the computer do it and figure out how to do it and let's let a human being do it. Only a human being can do. >> That's what I was about to ask. Are we talking about fewer staff uh fewer
services, fewer programs? >> Uh we we do not uh plan on any fewer services uh at this point and we we are looking forward to expanding our footprint as we move forward with our strategies. So, what programs have been cut since
you've been here? You've been here what? No. >> Uh, I've been here one year and 10 and a half months. Okay. Is >> Yes, ma'am. >> So, what what programs or services have been cut from public health? >> So, the the two signific Thank you for the question. The two significant ones
are our refugee program. We had a refugee clinic. Um and the other significant program was one of our immunization outreach teams. Both of those were uh grant related uh and we lost those grants.
>> And so what do you see as long-term impacts um regarding those two losses >> regard Thank you. Regarding refugee, we are able to handle a lot of those services through our immunization clinics and we've seen a lot of folks
with refugee status instead of coming to the old refugee clinic going to our immunization clinics. We also have some other friends and partners here in Taran County, mostly at JPS who have been able to pick up some of that work. On the on the immunization front, u we we have a
lot of work to do there. Um and um there's just uh lots going on with immunizations uh generally speaking. Uh but it is a place where uh our teams are working very hard uh to make sure that we're getting as many people through
that want to vaccinate their children that we are getting as many people through as we possibly can. >> Okay. So who's monitoring who monitors the public health impact? Um well primarily u I and my team do and
so we have a a number of KPIs and a dashboard and we're continuing to monitor that dashboard. We're continuing to develop a new dashboard that and and refine these metrics. >> And so with regard to your uh staffing plan, you you had a good number of cuts
last year, didn't you? >> Uh yes, ma'am, we did. We had a lot of COVID era funding that went away. Okay. Now I am aware that there were two managerial positions under budget. One
of which is held by a senior budget analyst with a doctorate in finance. Um is that position eliminated? >> Um those people report up to the budget office. I prefer to let budget respond to that one. >> Okay. Are they being eliminated?
>> Yes, the uh there are two positions in the business side of it that will be eliminated and one position will be created to combine those two duties. So, we didn't need the the they weren't they didn't have the work to do or I'm trying to figure out why we're getting
where >> one of the positions was created that uh so that is currently filled for disrep uh and those funds are no longer uh available and the other was the business manager and we can combine the two
things that they were doing outside of the disrep >> and the business manager's position is vacant at this Okay. Well, given how complicated public health funding can be, I'm it I'm just curious as um curious as to why we would get rid of
those two. >> Well, the dis the district funds are no longer there, so there is no need for anyone to do that function. >> Okay. Um All right. >> Any other questions? I've got a statement. Dr. Bird, you've
done an incredible job over the last year and a half or longer than a year and a half. Um, I think every time that we have a conversation about your resources, my question is, what do you need to operate your efficient office and you tell me uh bluntly exactly what you need? Um, your your folks seem to be
very very uh high morale and it's because of the work that y'all do every single day. You actually make an impact. um you had a very very successful career prior to lending us your services and I appreciate your willingness to continue to serve in this capacity. So hap happy to support your reappointment.
>> Thank you, Commissioner. >> And I had an additional question um speaking to the morale in the department. um what have you done specifically to improve
trust, communication, morale, um employee retention, that type of thing? >> Uh yes, ma'am. >> If I'm honest, I get complaints about what's going over there. What's going on over there? So, um this seems a good time to
I guess ask you about it. >> Absolutely. Uh so we focus um very closely on how we are communicating um and we have a number of uh systems in place for that. For example, every two months u I do what's called a fireside
chat and this is where um everybody can log in on a team's call. It's recorded and I update everybody on okay here's the big rocks in public health right now. not just as I'm seeing them, but the entire leadership team in public health is seeing them. And then we'll
usually have somebody else in a leadership position talk about something that's coming up. For example, uh we had one of our folks talk about how we're preparing for World Cup coming up. Um we have uh quarterly meetings with all of
our folks who are managers and supervisors. Had one yesterday. Um uh we have instituted uh a new training on customer service and we're about halfway through that. That's a two-year long training uh that we're putting in place
allowing people to get certifications in this and that. Um I given the number of staff that had to leave uh of no fault of their own uh but because of budget cuts uh it's created a a challenge for leadership when it comes
to morale for sure because everyone looks around and goes gee whiz am I next? >> Um and that's completely understandable and so we feel like it's from a leadership standpoint very important to communicate often and directly just as directly as we can. >> Okay. So that's the commitment you make
to the employees. >> Uh I I I certainly commit to not only regular communication but always looking at that system and seeing where we can improve it. Yes ma'am. We have 11 wick clinics and uh seven excuse me six
vaccine clinics. >> I personally make it to each of those clinics at least twice a year. Um and it it's more like three times a year or so. And uh I learn a lot. I get to meet people. We get to have great conversations. Um and so that's another
just arrow in the quiver, if you will, uh for communication on things. >> All right. Thank you for taking my questions. >> Thank you, Commissioner. >> Anything else for Dr. Bird? >> All right, Dr. Bird, I just want to tell you I think you're doing a fantastic job. Your calm demeanor, your positive
outlook, the way you communicate, the way you're open. I just I appreciate you and Taran County is fortunate to have you uh in this role representing our public health department. So, thank you. >> Thank you, Judge. >> Please cast your votes.
We have a yes from Krauss. We have four yeses and an abstension. So, it passes. No, I'm sorry. We have three yeses and an abstension. So, it passes. Uh, next up we have Q4, which is an annual contract for groundbased mosquito
control and surveillance activities. Questions, comments, or motion? Move approval. >> Second. >> All right, we have a motion, a second to approve Q4. Any questions or comments? >> So, yes, I do have questions.
So, what specific contingencies has Taran County put in place for vectorbor disease introduction during the World Cup? I didn't think Melissa would answer that. >> Yeah. Thank you. And and Commissioner, I have um one of our associate directors,
Sabrina Vidari. Yeah. >> Here. And if it's okay, >> I like to hear from experts and I know you would too. So, I'm going to let her answer these questions if okay with you. >> Absolutely. She is our expert. >> Good afternoon. >> Hey, Sabrina. So for World Cup, we are
continuing to survey just how we normally have. We do have 36 cities who participate in our surveillance activity in Tarant County. Those individual cities are responsible for their own abatement within their
city limits. But what they do is we provide traps. We provide the identification of the mosquitoes that they bring in. And our lab actually identifies whether or not wnol virus or St. Louis encphilitis is present. So other illnesses that may come from
mosquitoes are ones for the 80s mosquito which are human to human transmissions. They could be dung chinken um or zika. So those actually people come in they are ill with these disease
and they infect our mosquito population. So what happens is these are reportable diseases and our epidemiology department will let us know. They will reach out to the people. We will ask them if we can set a specific trap in that area to see if those mosquitoes happen to have any
of those illnesses in the population. um and then we will identify how the best debatement will happen based on what that trap is. We have switched to heavy larviciding within the last year. So West Nile virus is endemic in our
area that came out in about 2012. So the best way to predict to protect yourself from mosquitoes is to reduce the breeding sites and that's heavily larviting. So we instituted that last year. We also purchased $20,000 worth of mosquito
dunks to give out to the participating cities so they could give out to their citizens as well in part of this initiative. It was wildly successful. We had a reduced number of positive mosquito pools in the unincorporated and in the cities we did see it go down. So
we do track it's called the MLE and the VI. So the MLE tells us what the infectivity is of the mosquitoes in the area. That has gone down. It has not gone away as we don't expect it to go away in Westnile virus since it's endemic in the area. And the VI is the
vector index which is the amount of mosquitoes that are around. So with the heavy larviciding we have reduced the amount of mosquitoes to go down. We do have in our arbor viral plan a way to adulticide if needed. So the trip
trigger point for that is if one trap has over 200 mosquitoes that was collected. They are collected overnight and or if that trap is positive and that happens three consecutive times. They're set weekly for three times. We have not
seen that in the last season at all. We did see it before um when we were heavily spraying and not heavily larviting. So with respon uh with respect to the uh the games, yes ma'am, >> are we going to be proactive and put the
larvae sites? >> The larvae sighting. Yes. So we have already purchased some dunks to give out to the cities so they can help with this initiative as well. So you give it out to citizens. All mosquitoes need is about a capful of water in order to breed. So that's a very small amount. So
the dunks you can spread around your lot if you happen to see where areas of water um tend to pull to put it in that. So it reduces the incident to mosquitoes. We do have staff that drive around the unincorporated regularly in
order to set traps and to look for scouting events. So those scouting events is to put down the larverside and we have larverside over 500 last mosquito season and so far this mosquito season we've already done over 150.
>> Okay. So are we are we doing this around the hotels that the teams are staying in? >> So those are in individual cities and those cities set those traps and they do decide where they want to set their traps at. They do have stagnant traps and we need that for our data so we can
tell how the m the population of the mosquitoes and the virus happens to be around the county. But they do have ability to set temporary traps and it is up to them if they want to set them near those areas or not. >> So now that this contract is being uh
renewed, what is the county's plan to ensure municipalities are actually utilizing it? So this contract is on a cooperative agreement and there are quite a few of the cities that actually do use it as part of the cooperative agreement. Part
of the contract is for adult society which is spraying out of a truck or backpack spraying and the other part is for what we provide which is um they set the traps and then we identify them. But it is in part of that contract that if they wanted to set more and we could not
have that capacity to identify them, they could do that within this contract. >> Do we have any criteria uh or is there any that this court or the public health department uh could
use to evaluate whether to to keep doing this >> to keep doing the contract >> with the cities? Yes. Mhm. >> to keep the groundbased contract or to keep with the activities that we do. So a little too So I would always recommend
yes that we continue with the trapping and identification of mosquitoes within the county. It lets us know where some potential spots may be where things that need to be looked at and identified. Sometimes you'll find consecutive traps because there's stagnant water around
that nobody knew was there before. We've seen them before in areas that a water purifier went out either in the backyard pool or it was at a county park and you see the the water stagnation, you know how the jets come up that that actually
broke and we saw a couple of positives come from that area and we asked the city to go and kind of scout around to see what it was and that's what it was. So once they got that going, they larited a little bit. It did cut down on those traps and cut down on the abundance and the fact that they no longer came up positive for Westnile
virus. >> Okay. Thank you, dear. Thanks. >> All right. Any other questions or comments on this item? All right. Commissioner Krauss, are you a yay? That's a yay. Passes unanimously. Goes to Q17, annual contract for
communication skip tracing software and maintenance. I will move to approve. >> Second. >> We have a motion and a second. discussion. Any discussion on this item? >> Yes. >> All right. So, um, if interactive data is being paid the
taxpayer dollars to provide data that affects voter registration status, then this court has a responsibility to know whether that data is accurate, whether the methodology is defensible, and whether the error rate is acceptable. Right now, I don't believe this court
has been given enough information to answer those questions. When a vendor's data produces false positives, such as living voters being flagged as deceased, the burden should not first fall on the voter to prove that they are alive. The
vendor should explain what match criteria are used before a voter is flagged as possibly deceased. My fiduciary concern is this. We're being asked to renew a contract with
interactive data, but we should not do so before they come before us to answer basic accountability questions. So, Clint, let let's talk about election integrity. Taran County has a responsibility to maintain accurate
voter roles. If a voter has died, moved out of the county, or is otherwise no longer eligible, the county has a legal and administrative responsibility to follow the proper process. Uh, but accuracy
cuts both ways. Election integrity also means protecting eligible voters from being wrongly flagged, um, wrongly burdened or wrongly removed. So, has the data from interactive data
helped trigger a deceased letter to legitimate Tarant County voters? >> Yes. >> Yes. What data sources are being used before your office sends the your dead
letter to county constituents? >> So, we get data sources from the county clerk. We get them from the secretary of state. We get them from other counties, other cities. other states. There's several places that this data comes in. IDI just happens to be one of them. For
example, the Secretary of State gave us a list of over 5,000 potential deceased voters after the November election that we were processing. Um, and those also sometimes have false positives in them. So, it's it's there. We have 1.3 million
voters and a 100% just isn't achievable. >> So, if if we have access to all those databases, why are we employing an outside vendor >> because even with that we still were carrying deceased people on our voter roles that was not able to keep our
voter roles clean. >> And then what are the metrics of what's a clean voter role? And we we discussed this the other day. >> Somebody dying right now. Somebody So your voter ro somebody died five minutes
ago. So, >> how'd it be? >> Well, it's I I I equate it to your house. You clean your house even though it's going to get dusty the next day. You still got to maintain the cleanliness and keep it the upkeep. You know, the the question here is is the
statutory minimum. Is that good enough for the commissioner court or is it go above and beyond and do some extra things to keep our house extra clean? Um, in sense a spring cleaning. This isn't a list that is we generate monthly. We pull it once a year. It's
just kind of a spring cleaning. Now, we can do the bare minimum if that's what the court wishes or I will, if you approve, then I will go forth and use the data to get our voter roles more clean. >> So, you're you're getting data. First of
all, we have a a clerk's office, right, that maintains our our death records, our our death records. Uh you mentioned Secretary of State's office and some others. Uh I I just I don't I don't see a need to hire the
this continue to pay this um interactive data. Um let's go back to the deceased people. How many voters have been flagged as deceased and then later confirmed to be alive since the contract with interactive data? And did you have this
problem before? >> Yes, it it happens. That's why that's why the examination letter exists. Um because there are is such a thing as a false positive. So we send that to ensure that the right person is being cancelled. You know in a county as large as we are, we have lots of people that
have the same names, same name, same birth month, same birth year. Some of them have it's so it's the voter roles are are difficult to maintain because we have so much in common because we are so large. >> All right. So, how many
>> two with I don't have with all of our data sources that we use, we've had 214 >> they've been flagged as deceased. >> They were they were sent an examination letter and responded saying they were still alive. >> Wow. 214
>> out of 1.3 million. Yes, ma'am. >> Okay. How many did you have last year before we employed data, interactive data? Uh, I don't I don't have that off the top of my head. >> Well, I'll Yeah, I'll ask you for it.
Um, what happens if a voter does not contest the deceased letter within 30 days after your office sends sends it? >> Then the voter registration is canled. >> Okay.
Um, so that person could have moved from their apartment complex and moved somewhere else. Um, and the letter went to the apartment complex mailbox. If if they didn't get it, they don't respond in 30 days, they're removed from the ROS.
>> Yes. But that letter is also affordable. So, as long as they did what most people do when you move and you give it the post office and your your mail gets forwarded. >> Some people do, some people don't. Um, so does your office ever get a letter
that is returned undeliverable? And if that occurs, what how do you handle that? >> Yes, we have. If it's undeliverable without a forwarding address, then that that person is removed from the voter roles.
>> Wow. Okay. So, if a voter who unfortunately doesn't know they've been removed goes to a polling place to vote, um they won't be able to vote, right? >> No, they will be able to vote. They can
vote a provisional ballot in which we would do the research, see that their record was canceled because it said they were deceased. Clearly, they're not deceased. So then we recommend that the provisional ballot be approved or if the judge calls us and says, "Hey, I've got a voter here. We have a problem." We can go in, reinstate their record, push it
to the poll pad, and they can check in to vote right there. >> Can you tell me how often that's happened? >> A handful of times. >> They're given a provisional ballot and their ballot was counted.
I don't know the number of that were just because they were deceased. Um >> U okay that that's okay. Um so you get the provisional ballot. What are the steps to curing
a provisional ballot? Who does the research to accept the provisional ballot? Who does all that? >> So curing it depends on what the issue is. Um if it was no ID, then the voter has to come to my office within after
the election, show their ID, that will cure it. >> I'm dead, not dead. >> Dead, not dead. If we would get that, our staff researches the record. They find the record, they see that it was canceled because it was diseased. Clearly, the individual existed. They showed in. they checked up, all their
information matches, then we will re we will reinstate the voter record and send the provisional ballot to the ballot board recommending that it be accepted. >> Okay. What role does the district clerk's office play in this? Is there cross collaboration between the two
departments to confirm the deceased data from interactive data? >> The district clerk No. >> No. Okay. Um, all right. >> All right. Anything else from anyone,
>> judge? >> Oh, are you you have a question, Mr. Commissioner Cross? >> Oh, no. >> No. I was just voting. >> You were voting. Okay. All right. Go ahead and cast your votes. >> All right. It passes three to one. Takes
us to item S4. which is consideration of property tax waiverss of penalty and interest. I'll move to approve. >> Second. >> We have a second from Commissioner Krauss. Any discussion?
Yeah, I have a I have a quick um so when you say there's no fiscal impact associated with this item, I'm trying to understand how this can be true because there's a cancellation or foregone collection
here. So now for account the one that ends in 6943 CMW office services I see 165,000 um and then for tax years 2021 through 2024
including 90,900 in attorney's fees. Can you explain that timeline? >> Sure. So, a little history to it. Also, the if you've been around the Commissioner's Court long enough, the Commissioner's Court used to have to approve all refunds.
>> That law changed. You no longer have to approve refunds. What you have to approve is penalty and interest. And that's what you're approving here. You're not the refund is not the issue. The issue, this was a three-year-old case. This is a commercial property. And I could go through the whole litany of why it got where it got, and I'll do that if you'd like. But what we're That
money is not our It's not county money. That is money that they paid to us and at the end of the day it was all squared. We're simply refunding their money back. The attorney fees are actually our attorneys. >> Well, what controls failed before this
I'll go through the whole thing then >> fee levels. >> So, this started a year and a half before I was in office. It's a three-year old deal. Uh TAD assessed the property at full value even though the improvement was not fully developed at the time. It was only a frame. In addition, TAD had an incorrect mailing
address on the file on file for the property owner. Taxes for the tax year 2021 2024 were build in March of 2025. TAD issued a March 2025 NCD, which is a new change and de deleted list. So, we get the new changes and deleted list
regularly that say that something changed with the process. So, just use your property as an example. you can pay your your taxes on your property and then still go uh appeal the reality of that legally or however you choose to do it and whenever you get in your favor
then we go back and refund that back to you. So they paid in 2025 the corrected amount. However, our tax client software did not rec categorize this account as omitted because we had an incorrect address given to us by TAD. Because of
this miscalc uh classification penalty and interest were assessed for a 21-day period allowed by law. So once the whole process starts, the law gives us a certain amount of time to do what we do and it's usually a 21 or 28 days process. On November the 10th, 2025, we
received a request from the property owner representative asking for a waiver of penalty and interest, which is what comes to you guys. By December of 2025, the account was paid in full, including attorney fees, penalty as interest. And it's important to note that in order for
them to res request a waiver of all of that, they have to pay it in advance and then we go through the waiver process back. It's a it's a pay pay to you basically pay to ask your questions. TAD issued an additional correction in the January 2026 NCD which included this
account. We've only had three meetings of this body since then. After extensive research and ongoing communication with TAD, we concluded that a waiver is justified and this forms our basis of the waiver request today. So, we're simply saying just refund them their money. We we we agree with what their
waiver request is and think that they owed the money back. >> Sure. So, what corrective actions are in place for TAD and the your office to ensure that issues like this no longer have a happen? Well,
we deal with this every single week as it goes through issues of dealing with the legal side of it all. In this case, what the reality is would really be on the TAD question of why did we get an incorrect address which started the whole process. >> Okay. Thank you, sir.
>> Yep. All right. Any other questions or comments on this item? All right. Please cast your votes. It passes unanimously. Now we go to the regular portion of the meeting.
First item is public hearing uh 101 to consider the application to the Texas General Land Office 2021 Wintertorm Housing and Urban Development most impacted and distressed counties program. Do we have a motion on this item? >> Move approval. >> Second. >> All right. Do we have to announce a
public hearing which we have no one signed up to speak to it? So this is a public hearing. There's no one signed up to speak to this item. So, we will now uh entertain the motion and second. Any discussion on this item?
>> Do I need to close the public hearing? >> No. Or is this all part of one thing? >> You can do it as one action if you'd like. Close and approve. >> Okay. Is your motion to close the public hearing and approve? >> Yes. >> Is your That's your second. Okay. All right. We have a motion and a second.
With no discussion, please cast your vote. Yes. >> All right. It passes four to zero. Next up is item two, a public hearing to consider establishing to consider establishing a Bentley Bridge Drive in
Precinct 2. There's no one signed to speak on this item. So, I will make a motion to close the public hearing and establish Bentley Bridge Drive in Precinct 2. >> Second. >> All right. We have a motion and a second on that item. Any discussion?
All right, please cast your votes. All right, that one passes unanimously. Next up is a public hearing to consider authorizing the place the placement of stop signs in the Pyramid Acres Subdivision in precinct 2. No one signed up to speak on this item.
Uh I'll move to close the public hearing and authorize the placement of stop signs in the pyramid acres subdivision of precinct 2. All right, we have a motion, a second on that item. Any discussion? All right, we have a yes there. So,
passes four to zero. >> All right, next up, uh 11 A1, consideration of out of state travel requests. Do we have a motion on this item? >> Move approval. Second. >> Have a motion to approve and a second. Any discussion?
All right, please cast your vote. All right, that passes four to zero. Next up is item C1 from facilities management consideration of a property use and fee waiver request from the Tarant County Historical Commission to conduct new member training at the Tarant County Plaza building. Move
>> approval. Uh >> I'll second that. Uh we have a motion and a second on that item. Any discussion? All right, please cast your vote. All right, passes unanimously. Next up is consideration of a property use and
fee waiver request from the Tarant County Sheriff's Office to use the Cornfield room at the Tarant County Plaza Building for a first responders couples seminar presented by Tea Kal. Who >> for approval? >> Um, I'll second it. Discussion.
Yeah, I I'll say, you know, I heard a few of the uh public comments talking about how if you approved this but didn't allow the NAACP to use the facilities, then you'd be inconsistent or contradictory. Um, and I just reject that reasoning. I think the entire
purpose was the NAACP was using it for a public town hall where it was going to be political in nature. here with what Tea Kyle is doing. I never said and I don't think anybody ever said that a person who is known as a Republican or someone who's known as a Democrat could never use county facilities. It all
depends on what that actual event is. And so, uh, here we have a a thing for couples and first responders. It's not political in nature at all. there was somebody from the NAACP who wanted to do marriage training or couples therapy or uh trauma training
as Commissioner Miles has talked about. That's not an issue. It's the nature of the event. So, I don't know if people were just uh arguing in bad faith there in the public comments. We're really not understanding the different nature of the two. Nobody was ever arguing that you can't be known as somebody from a
political party and use facilities. It's the nature of the event itself. So, I feel very comfortable in in approving this just like I would uh any other function that would take place here whether it's a Republican or a Democrat.
>> All right, any other comments? All right, votes are in. Passes 3 to one. Next up is item D1, human resources consideration of a change to the table of organization in the medical examiner's office. I'll move to approve
this. >> Second. >> Second. We have a motion and a second. Any discussion? All right. Seeing none, please cast your vote. All right. It passes 30 with one abstension.
Next, E1 medical examiner consideration of first amendment to the interlocal agreement between Tarant County and the city of Fort Worth for the provision of forensic laboratory services. We have a motion here. Move approval. Approval. >> We have a motion from Commissioner Mirez, second from Commissioner Krauss.
Any discussion on this? >> All right. Please cast your vote. All right. That passes unanimously. Next up, we have purchasing. Does anyone have any questions on purchasing items
F1 through 14? I've got 64 and 15 questions. >> 64 and 15. Six. 14 and 15. Okay. I will make a motion to approve purchasing
items 1 through 5 and 7 through 13. >> Second. >> We have a motion, a second on that. Any discussion? All right. Please cast your votes. All right, that passes unanimously. Now
we come to item F6, annual contract for guardian forensics in the DA's office. >> Just a quick question, who will use these forensic services? What need is driving this contract? >> This is for the district attorney's
office. Mhm. >> Um I think Ann may be here. >> Oh, there she is. >> Thank you. >> Hi there. Hey. >> Sorry. Our DEFATS team is the one who will utilize these services. I did bring a few members here for any technical
questions. I can speak the budget, but they they speak technical better than I do. >> What's it called again? >> Um our DEFATs team. Our digital forensics and technology team. >> Okay. Uh, will any outside entities or municipalities have access to this system?
>> I'm going to let them speak more intelligently on that. >> Just us. >> No, ma'am. Uh, our lab is secure and we will be the only ones accessing this this uh system. >> Okay, that's all I have. Now, the the one thing I do want to put out, this
system does allow outside lab or outside agencies to actually access their phone extractions from the cloud rather than having to rely on antiquated USB drives and things like that. >> Ah, okay. >> All right. Thank you so much. >> You're welcome.
>> All right. I'll move to approve item F6. >> Second. >> All right. We have a motion to second on F6. Any discussion? Please cast your votes. Is Commissioner Krauss in? Yes.
Passes unanimously. Next, we go to item F14, consideration of agreement security guard services countywide. Uh, I will move to approve. >> Second. >> Second. >> We have a motion, a second. Discussion on this item.
>> Yes. All right. So it is my understanding that the current vendor is Deltaccon Global. Correct? >> That's correct. >> And we entered into the contract with them for a term of contract of 12 months
effective July 12th, 2025. Right. Mhm. >> With two options for renewal periods of 12 months each, why are we not exercising exercising the renewal periods with Delta Con?
>> So, what we're doing is we are um going to bring this company in um and put them in place out out of resource connection and the mental health facility. >> So, they're in addition to Delta.
Okay, got it. Um, and did we not use the secondary vendor? Wasn't there a secondary vendor? The Michaelelsson group. >> I don't remember. >> We went back and >> did we go back and look? >> Yeah, there was a secondary. >> Okay.
So, we're going to get US APD and we're not using the Michaelelsson group at all. >> Yes. So, we um reached out to um Dallas County and um found some strengths in
their contract with USA and so we we um had them come in and and analyze and thought it would be a good idea to bring them on board. They do a great job for Dallas County. Okay. But why aren't we exercising the
right to use our secondary vendor? >> I don't have the answer to that. >> Okay. >> May I jump in there? >> Yeah. >> With you. So, uh, we actually have had some performance issues with Delta Con. That's one of the reasons we're not looking to renew that agreement. uh we
were able to go and view Dallas County's uh agreement with USAPD uh who handles a lot of their facility security. Uh so and in addition to that, the way that we originally had bid this, it was very tightly controlled with how, who, when, and things like that. This contract is
more open, which uh allows us an hourly rate, and then we can staff uh much more uh efficiently than than we are right now with a with a tightly controlled uh staffing contract that we have. >> Okay. So, we're getting rid of Delta Con
and we're using US >> APD. Yes, ma'am. That's correct. >> Okay. And we did not go out for bid because this is a a cooperative. >> Correct. We brought off the Dallas County contract. Yes, ma'am. >> Okay. In July 2025, the fiscal impact was
stated as 3.3 million, almost 3.4 million for the prior 12 months. And now the fiscal impact for the prior 12 months is 3.7 almost 3.8 million. So the fiscal impact says funding
for FY27 portion of the contract will be requested through the budget process. Can someone uh please explain why we are already in contract with Delta Con and entering into another contract with US APD that overlaps seems like it overlaps
in time. unless >> so I'll let Helen speak to the funding piece, but as you mentioned the the uh current Delta Con contract ends in uh July and we need a ramp up period to actually transition all the all the positions we have whether it be resource
connection uh the diversion center uh obviously the uh the doors to a lot of our our court buildings and things like that. So part of this is to have a smooth transition to ensure security uh between transitioning between the two vendors. >> Okay. But so in July 2025 that fiscal
impact the fiscal impact was stated as 3.375 almost 3.4 million for the prior 12 months. And now the fiscal impact for the prior 12 months is 3.7 almost 3.8.
Um is can you explain that we just spent more? >> That's correct. They used more uh security at various locations in the sheriff's office. >> Okay. >> All right. >> I'll point out one other thing on this
that I think is important to note. Uh we've been working closely with the sheriff's office with regards to this. We believe that we'll be able to actually using this caliber of a company be able to actually staff more individuals from this company for certain posts that will free up deputies
that we currently have and our intent is actually to move those deputies with the sheriff's permission of course over into jail operations so we can hire in custody dockets in order to actually lower the jail population. >> Okay. Well, let me tell you um now I do have an issue. I don't know if my
colleagues uh uh might see the same issue. Um in this agenda item, there are two two deals here. Uh the other is
um asking for an exception to the current vehicle policy. I think those should be two separate items. I think this contract should be one thing and then um seeking an exception to the current vehicle policy should be separate. That's that's
what I think. >> Understood. So we we very uh narrowly tailored the the specific exemption we were asking for. The reason being is because the resource connection is such a vast 275 acre campus. We usually allow a vehicle to be driven uh by it. Uh
typically it's a third-party vehicle. In this case, USP APD does not have those vehicles like um Delta Con does. So the intent was is to just very narrowly tailor the exemption for now on the fleet policy. So one of those individuals could drive that um u that
car around resource connection. >> I get it. I just think there's >> these two should be separated. totally understand that. The other reason here is we're actually working on a rework of the fleet policy anyways. So, we wanted to nar we and we didn't have it in time
to get this done before the July contract ended with um DeltaCon. So, the intent is to bring back a a much larger fleet policy uh review in the future. So, this is only meant as a as a stop gap measure, if you will, to transition the security company and then ultimately
bring back a uh a new fleet policy to the court at a later date. Is this urgent? Not not the first part of it, but the the fleet policy. >> No, it's not urgent to bring back the fully renewed, but in order for USAPD to
be able to operate at the resource connection, we need the court's um approval to exempt them from the current fleet policy, which states that contractors may not drive fleet vehicles that are owned by the county. Does it remind me does it talk about all
the liabilities in this in the contract? >> So it um the same that would apply to any other employee would apply to them as the only exception we're asking is for this particular vendor to be able to drive down into the wilderness area so
that they can uh secure that uh throughout the day. And we'll be bringing the policy back with this with this one and several other things. >> Okay. But what you want us to approve today, does it account for does it
protect us uh from liability in any way with these security guards driving our vehicles >> only on that campus? They're only allowed to drive on that I understand what your question is, Sam, but they're only allowed to drive on that campus. And it is the same policy with anything
else with every other employee. So, we're self-insured. Uh, and again, we'll write the policy uh and bring back to you for multiple things. All right. So,
okay. Um, I want to approve this again. And I just think those two should be separate and you come back once you come back with that comprehensive vehicle policy then we approve it there. Um you've kind of smooshed it in here
and it doesn't doesn't go to me. It doesn't fit. >> All right. Any other questions or comments on this item? All right. We have a motion and a second. Please cast your votes. All right. It's three to zero with an
abstension. Now we go to permission to take bids and RFPs number 16. Any discussion or a motion on granting permission to take bids or issue RFPs? >> Move approval. >> Second. >> We have a motion and a second. Any
discussion? >> Absolutely. So with this action, it looks like we're cancelling an agreement. >> That's number 15. >> It was never a contract. >> That's number 15. >> What are we talking about in the wrong number? Sorry,
>> we're taking that one after closed. >> That's after closed. >> Which one? >> Are you talking about 15 right now? >> Yeah, I was talking about >> We're on 16. >> Oh, 16. Oh, >> yeah. 15's after legal. >> I do want to talk speak to 15. >> We're taking that one after close. >> We're taking after close, >> but I want to speak to it uh before
close and then we can do it after close. >> We have already we already unanimously agreed to the agenda. Isn't that the way that works >> when he makes the announcement? >> If it's agenda, I can still speak to it. Correct.
>> Uh yes, that is correct. But if the uh court made adjustments to the orders of the day uh early on and there was no objection to it, uh then it's proceeding based on that adjustment to either way.
I'll make a motion to postpone item 15 until after closed. Second. >> We have a motion and a second. Any discussion on the motion? >> Yes. I'm still going to say >> I call the question >> what I have to say about >> I'll second the call the question.
>> So now we have a vote on whether or not to end debate on this item. >> There is no discussion on ending the debate. So by show of hands if you approve calling the question raise your hand.
All right. So that's three if you're opposed. All right. So that's three to one. The question is called the motion that exists that must be voted on without discussion is motion to postpone until after closed. Uh all in favor raise your hand.
All right. All opposed. Are you opposed? >> All right. So it's 3 to one. So now we're on item 16, permission to take bids and RFPs. Then we have a motion and a second on that. >> All right, we have a motion to approve. Do we have a second?
>> Second. >> Second. All right, any discussion on item 16. All right, seeing none, cast your votes. All right, passes unanimously. brings us to item G1,
Commissioner Precinct 2, discussion and possible action regarding a proposed amendment to the contract between Tarant County and the Center for Transforming Lives to appropriate additional funds to the 2026 Community Outreach Fund discussion or motion.
>> Yes. I move to amend the contract between Taran County and the Center for Transforming Lives in order to appropriate additional funds to the 2026 Community Outreach Fund in the amount of $338,000. $338,370.
These funds are currently labeled as undesated. All right, we have a motion to amend the contract with the Center for Transforming Lives to appropriate additional funds. Do we have a second?
We have a motion. Do we have a second? All right, motion fails due to lack of second. Now we go to appointments to boards and commissions. I'd like to make a motion to appoint Deborah Johnson to the CPS board to fill a vacancy left by the resignation of
Taylor Hardman. >> Second. >> We have a motion and a second. Any discussion on that item? >> All right. Please uh do we do we do this? I guess we do it that way. All right. Cast your vote. All right, that passes unanimously. Any
other appointments to any boards, commissions, committees, or tiff boards? >> I have one. I have to appoint myself to the NAS JRB Regional Coordination Committee. >> All right, I'll second that. Any discussion on that one?
All right, please cast your votes. All right, passes unanimously. Any other appointments to boards or commissions? All right, seeing none, we go to a briefing item. Briefing on the Tarant appraisal district 2025 2026 reappraisal plan.
>> Good afternoon. >> Good afternoon. >> My name is John Bobby. I'm the chief appraiser for Tarant Appraisal District. Uh I was invited here, I guess, to speak about the the 2025 2026 reappraisal plan. Just a brief summary of what it is. 2024 was the last year that we
reappraised as of TAD. For TAD, um we've the current plan is for 25 and 26 not be reappraised. That really only affects residential properties unless they have sold or if there's been a change to the acreage amount, but otherwise residential values have stayed the same.
The appraised value can increase. U the market value has stayed the same, but the appraised value is what is limited by the homestead cap. And so if there was a large uh homestead cap prior from prior years, then the market value stayed the same since 2024, but the appraised value has increased up to 10%
per year plus any new construction. Um commercial, business, personal property, those have not been they those are reappraised every year and it's uh continues as normal. Um beyond that, I guess what are your questions?
>> Okay, who has questions for Jodon? So, >> your time is up. Jodon, thank you for being here. >> Um, all right. Questions for our chief appraiser. >> Yeah. Um, does the um
the chief appraiser um can you decide when these this freeze can end? >> Not to my understanding. I serve with the pleasure of the board as long as it's along with the constitution. So, as
long as I have to be constitutional, I have to follow the laws and the tax code and the regulations, but also have to follow the the reappraisal plan. >> Okay? Because I mean, you've you've heard this before. Um, this this is a
bad policy implemented by the board of directors of Tarant appraisal district. Um the experts say roughly 80% of homeowners in this county paid too much
property tax in 2025. 80% of homeowners paid more than half their fair share. And our property tax system is designed so that property owners are taxed according to their property's
values. Each person pays their fair share according to how much their home is worth. If my home is worth a million and your home is worth $500,000, but we each pay the same amount of property tax,
then that's not fair. And if your half million dollar home is appraised at 90% of its value, uh 450,000, that may seem like a good deal, but compared to a million-doll home tax appraised at 800,000 or 80% of its value, it's not so
good. So, um, you know, I keep as I look into this and and learn and talk to the experts, I keep hearing equal and uniform a lot and
this is a key component of ensuring everyone pays their fair share. Um, have you reviewed the current Texas property value study ratio study results by school district, city, neighborhood, and property class?
>> There the property value study is only broken up by school districts. And so yes, ma'am, we did review that. Uh, the two schools that were outside the tolerance are CarolD and and Ail. >> Okay. Um, and do you know what their dollar
exposure is? >> Right now, there's no uh potential loss of funding. >> Okay. >> They have a grace period for two years. >> Can you tell me how many residential accounts would be above the current
market value if the 2024 value is carried forward? We there's the market value uh would probably there's probably 190,000 that probably would go down if
we reappraised. Uh but that doesn't necessarily mean that the appraised value would actually decrease due to the homestead caps. There's roughly 30% of homesteads that even if you lower the value wouldn't get below their cap.
>> So hang on one second. Was your question? How can you say that question again? How many how many of the values would be above the 24 value? Was that your question? >> Can you tell me how many residential accounts would be above the current
market value if the 2024 value is carried forward? >> I don't know if I've run the number on that. Um, >> okay. So, what happened to cause the problem that so many people were not fairly taxed in
early 2025 is that we have four newly elected board members led by the tax assessor um and board president along with board members uh Rigy, Morris, and Bryant.
They pushed through a new appraisal plan whose main tenant was to freeze 2025 appraised residential property values at their 2024 level and to not reappraise those homes again until 2027.
And this this plan was done under the pretense of property tax relief. Now, people could still protest their values and get a reduction, but values would not increase except for a limited exception
applicable to less than 3% of homes. Um, and the belief was that by keeping values flat that runaway property taxes would be held in check. And this plan has failed pretty miserably in
accomplishing those goals because the plan disrupts uniform taxation of each homeowner and caused most people to pay disproportionately too much tax. So it it also caused the tax rate to be
artificially high while it did nothing to keep the taxing entities from collecting their needed tax revenues in order to prove that um 80% of homeowners are paying more than their fair share of property taxes.
Uh and so I wanted you to come here and explain this. It's it's that time of year where people can protest. Um, how do we get here? How did we get here? Well, I just mentioned that. How do we get out of it? And I guess you said you Hey, it's not up to you. It's up to the
TAD board. But really, it's it's up to uh voters to pay attention to who they put on this TAD board um and who they put up here. uh because what is
occurring is benefiting the wealthy more than those who need the assistance or the the break or the relief. Um and so what can people do right now
um to contest or protest >> their values? We would recommend people go on our website. We have the online value negotiator. And so right now we're resolving 80 to 90% of the people that that file a protest or that reach out to
us. And so we're we're trying to resolve the ones that we can uh based on either market or equity evidence. U we we'd recommend they start there. They have until May 15th this this Friday to uh discuss with us informally. They can also come into the building and and talk with my staff. Right now we're averaging
about 8 minutes uh to get somebody in and talk to them. Uh if that doesn't work, if we can't come to an agreement, then they still can proceed with a formal protest and go before the the Tarant appraisal review board, which is an independent body that's made up of taxpayers and and people that that are
volunteering the time. They get paid, but they they volunteer their time to come up and resolve disputes regarding values. >> So, but how is TAB preventing unequal appraisal claims caused by freezing old inequities into the ROS? like
>> it every year when the ARB or when we resolve property values or the ARB does it kind of compounds and so then it becomes more of an equity issue than than a market value consideration. So right now when we're reducing values we're not reducing values because of what it would sell for. Reducing values
because it's not equitable to their neighbors. >> All right. All right. Thank you. Anybody have any other questions for Joe Don? All right. Thank you, sir. >> Thank you. >> All right. Now we come to announcements and comments. Do we have any announcements or comments from the
commissioners? >> All right. Seeing none, we will now recess the open session and proceed to close session to discuss items exempt under sections 551071, 072, 074, 076, 087, and 0725 of the
Texas Government Code. Executive session will begin promptly at 2 p.m. We are now in recess. All right, we are back from an executive session. There are two items that were held uh pending
legal advice and discussion. First item is item B1, consideration of Tarant County's participation in the settlement of claims in the national prescription opiate litigation. I will make a motion to approve the settlement uh as
described with the defendants as described in closed. >> Second. >> Second. >> We have a motion and a second. Any discussion? All right. Please cast your votes. All right. It passes three to zero. Next item
is F15 from purchasing annual contract for jail staffing services. Uh I will move to terminate the Recon Solutions LLC contract for convenience. >> Second.
>> We have a motion and a second. Any discussion? >> Yes. Yes. Yes. Um, so with with this action, we're cancelling this agreement that was never a contract. It was an RFP with Rakana
Solutions to provide detention officers at the county jail. Um, how much have we paid? How much do we owe? How are we finished paying these people out? I think we paid roughly maybe a half a million.
>> How much do we owe owe them? >> I I'm not sure. >> You're saying for services rendered? >> Yes. Total for services rendered. And I think did did I get an email from Risk or somebody about this?
Um, so I'm just trying to figure out how much we've we've sunk into this contract that we've only had since October. Um, into this company. Well, it's not a contract into this company.
Um, I think I learned today that we have 35 detention officers that Raana Thank you. that Raana recruited and
uh are working in our jail. Not quite sure how many of these employees are going to be retained by the county after this vote. Um so it's one
1 million76,486 uh176486,000. This is what we've we've paid to this company. >> That's how much the PO was issued for. >> That's not how much we've paid the company. >> Invoiceic for. >> Say again.
>> That's how much we've in we've been invoiced for. >> Do we intend to pay it? >> I would say these bills would go through the normal review process like everything else. And if the work was performed, it would be owed. >> So, we're just throwing
money away and let I'm going to remind this court of a couple of facts and I think I have some video. Can you tell them to play the video? >> We do have that video.
>> What video >> from last court? The court that we approved this nonsense at. Judge, I'd call the question. >> Call the question. >> You can't call. >> We've already checked
>> to the What's the What is the threshold for call the question? Is it simple majority? >> 2/3. >> Okay. Uh All right. So, I'll I'll second your motion to call a question. So, uh now we take a vote on calling the question. Ending discussion. All in
favor of calling the question, raise your hand. All opposed. >> Opposed. Roll the tape. >> That do not roll the tape under any scenario. >> Roll the tape. >> The I'm the presiding officer. Thank you very much. >> The item >> the the question is now closed.
Commissioner Simmons, we are now moving. We are now moving to the vote. >> There is a motion and a second. >> Why are you shutting down? >> All in favor, cast your vote. Why are you >> You are opposed. You can say no or
abstain. >> The vote passes two to one. >> Commissioner, what are you afraid of revealing? >> We are now officially adjourned. >> What are you afraid of revealing?