AUSTIN, Texas — On any given evening and into the night, anyone passing through can likely notice police SUVs stationed on a particular Austin neighborhood street.
They’re Travis County deputy constables on a special security assignment – protecting the home of District Attorney José Garza. A Jan. 29 post on the social media platform X sparked the law enforcement operation.
The X account – which describes itself as pro-law enforcement – published a screengrab of an easy-to-find campaign finance report, a public record, that Garza filed with the county, showing his home address.
Within 48 hours, Garza’s office asked the county’s five constables whether deputies could guard his home.
"I just didn't have the staff to make a long-term commitment on it, but in the short term that is what we did,” Constable Stacy Suits said.
The KVUE Defenders, in partnership with the Austin American-Statesman, recently revealed the county secretly gave Garza $115,000 to enhance his home security in the spring. Now, we’ve learned that Garza’s office has also mobilized a squad of county law enforcement officers to guard his house.
A Jan. 31 email to county constables from Norris McKenzie, Garza’s chief investigator, said: "We need overnight and weekend security for the district attorney. I have been authorized to offer overtime for any of your troops who can work these hours…Please let me know if you can offer any of your troops for this assignment. I need an answer as soon as possible.”
The Travis County Sheriff’s Office says it declined a similar request, telling the DA’s office that its deputies were already stretched thin due to staffing shortages, busy working patrols and in the jail.
Dispatch logs obtained by the KVUE Defenders show deputy constables have performed the special security assignment to Garza’s house almost nightly since early February.
It’s an expense large enough to raise questions, according to Adrian Shelley, director of the Texas office of the government watchdog group Public Citizen.
“That’s a significant investment, right, of taxpayer funds,” Shelley said. “For the average taxpayer, it’s considerable and it’s enough money that we ought to understand if the expense is justified.”
Constables typically provide an array of law enforcement operations, which include traffic enforcement and serving warrants, subpoenas and eviction notices.
Suits and other constables say they have never provided this type of home security to any official. In fact, the KVUE Defenders could not find another example of another local official receiving this type of taxpayer-funded security for this long of a period based on a perceived threat.
“Over the last twelve months, the District Attorney has received multiple politically motivated threats of violence, including to his life and his residence. Commissioner’s Court authorized recommended security expenditures in response to those threats.”
The KVUE Defenders also reached out to Travis County Judge Andy Brown, who employs Garza’s wife as his chief of staff, and the other four county commissioners about this operation. The commissioners set budgets for the constables' offices. They released a joint statement saying that they take the safety of elected and appointed officials and county employees seriously.
In 2021, the Texas Ethics Commission issued an opinion saying that elected officials such as Garza can spend campaign contributions on home security. We checked Garza’s campaign finance reports for the 2024 filing periods. The only expenditures for security shown in those reports are for two campaign events totaling $800.
Dispatch records show constable Precincts 3 and 4 provided a handful of deputy constables each early in the operation, shifting officers from regular assignments to guard Garza’s home.
"It was kind of a joint effort of all the constables, just kind of getting it organized and getting it set and going,” Suits said.
Records show deputies from constable Precincts 1 and 5 have primarily handled the operation in subsequent months – with Precinct 5 taking the lead.
Precinct 5 Constable Carlos Lopez would not go on camera, saying in an email, “As an elected constable and law enforcement officer, keeping our judges, elected and appointed officials, their staff, and their families safe is not only my priority but an obligation.”
Multiple law enforcement agencies tell us that they have no current investigations involving a threat to Garza, and the DA’s office won’t release any information on possible threats. The Travis County Sheriff’s Office says it investigated two threats or concerning communications involving Garza in 2023 – among a growing number of threats to all elected officials, including judges.
Travis County Sheriff’s Office records show Garza reported two threats in 2023. One, an email, was not considered a direct threat. The other, a letter, was referred to the postal inspector.
The Austin Police Department confirms it hasn’t responded to any reported threats at his home.
“What makes one threat more credible, warranting this kind of security investment? Those are the kinds of things the public really deserves to understand,” Shelley said.
According to Shelley, the public deserves to know if a prominent elected official is in danger – and the measures to protect them.
“The more we understand about this situation, about the other options that were considered and why these extraordinary measures were taken here, the more confidence we can have that the right decision has been made,” Shelley said.
Last month The KVUE Defenders submitted official public information requests to Travis County and the DA’s office for records showing the specific threats to Jose Garza and what security expenses were necessary for him and his home. But the county refused to release those records and asked the Attorney General for a ruling on whether or not the records should be released. That ruling is expected in September.