AUSTIN, Texas — Travis County commissioners are setting up a new $1.8 million mini-law enforcement agency to protect elected and appointed officials and county employees they consider under threat.
The new office – earmarked in the upcoming county budget – will address which county officials get personal protection and when. It comes amid ongoing reporting by the KVUE Defenders about the county granting special security treatment to one particular elected official: District Attorney José Garza.
For seven months, Travis County constables have been providing overnight security to Garza's home – after county commissioners secretly gave his office $115,000 this spring to help secure Garza’s house.
The unprecedented security came after Garza privately made a direct appeal to county commissioners, citing the posting of his address on social media. At the same time, judges and other elected officials also received an increase in threats, but no added protection.
The move raised questions from government watchdog and transparency groups and led to a series of stories by the KVUE Defenders about how the county evaluates threats – and decides who gets protection and when.
"It is always better to plan first before you start spending money. What they did before was a mistake...and just going out and throwing $115,000 at one elected official’s complaint,” said Bill Aleshire, a former Travis County judge and government transparency advocate.
Now the county is adopting protocols to better evaluate future threats and concerning communications and to decide more equitably about how the county distributes armed security through a new five-person law enforcement agency.
"I would agree with that. We are creating a standard,” Paul Hopingardner, Travis County’s executive for technology and operations, said. "I think it is important because it gives you the opportunity to look at things objectively."
The total budget for the office includes about a half million in operating costs, a half million in law enforcement equipment and an estimated $790,000 in salaries.
"Essentially, they would be used for potentially providing protection when necessary for individuals. It could be employees, staff members of the organization, elected officials. It really just depends on the circumstances,” Hopingardner said.
The KVUE Defenders checked with several other urban Texas counties to determine whether they have similar programs and we couldn’t find any that operate protection teams quite like the proposed Travis County program.
However, several counties, including Bexar County, said sheriff’s deputies provide security to elected officials from time to time if they receive a specific threat and that the type and duration of that protection is usually negotiated through the official and the sheriff’s office.
"One of the things you definitely need to have in place in this threat landscape is the ability to interpret threats, monitor those and determine if they become actionable,” Hopingardner said.
Hopingardener said the new team, which officials hope to have in place in coming months, will likely consult with security and law enforcement experts nationally to develop a criteria about how to evaluate threats and to deploy officers.
But government watchdogs say their work should be transparent to the public.
"I think it is helpful for it to be public information that they have a program like that,” Aleshire said. “That was the problem in your original story is that they really just snuck it through. There certainly wasn't any transparency on the agenda."
He added: "Clearly, no elected official should be threatened in doing their job, and they need to know they will be protected. That's a good goal, but behind that goal, you've got to say what is it going to take to do this right."
It is unclear if the county will continue to provide the same level of protection to Garza, including overnight constable security at his home, through this new program. Officials said the level of threat he currently faces and need for that protection is expected to be re-evaluated by this new team.