Freestone County delays policy to give auditor view-only access to LGS financial system
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Summary
Commissioners postponed approval of a policy to grant the county auditor view-only access to financial software after county staff raised concerns that the vendor—s system links financial entries to confidential case records and may not support a finance-only view.
Freestone County commissioners postponed action on a policy to allow the county auditor view-only access to financial software after county staff and the auditor warned they need to confirm whether the vendor—s system can separate financial data from confidential case information.
The question surfaced during discussion of agenda item No. 4, a proposed policy to "offer review only access to financial systems." The county auditor emphasized the statutory basis for oversight, saying, "the county auditor has established under Texas law, a government code 112.006 and 112.007, [and] serves as the financial oversight authority for county operations," and argued that view-only access is needed to reconcile receipts and monitor revenue in real time.
Clerk—s office staff told the court they and a representative from LGS, the county—s accounting/case-management vendor, understand the system to attach money to pleadings so that "there's not a way to give a view only access without them having access to the cases," according to a staff speaker. Staff said that many case types that appear in the system—s financial entries are confidential—for example, adoption records, juvenile records, CPS files, expunctions and nondisclosures—and that the way LGS links amounts to pleadings currently prevents cleanly separating the money-only view from the case data.
Staff described current practice for supporting the auditor: the clerk—s office provides a monthly written financial report, and staff said they have "been compliant" for about 18 years by giving the auditor the reports she needs. Court discussion noted journal and bank statements are currently provided on request; staff said the new LGS reporting features create a deeper, system-level access that was not previously available.
Commissioners and staff flagged several technical and process issues during the discussion: the LGS system is not currently integrated with the e-file system, requiring some manual data entry; some manual reversals occur monthly when amounts or codes are entered incorrectly; and staff raised concerns about frequent, urgent in-person demands on clerk—s office time. One staff member urged better communication practices, saying threats to place matters on the commissioners— court agenda should stop and that offices should coordinate by phone or email before escalating.
The court did not approve the policy at the meeting. Instead, commissioners asked staff to verify with LGS whether a restricted, financial-only view can be created that would not expose confidential case fields. The item remains on the agenda for the next meeting as item No. 15. No formal vote or policy change occurred during the discussion.
Background and next steps: the auditor cited Texas Government Code sections 112.006 and 112.007 in support of access for oversight; clerk—s office staff cited an Attorney General opinion (not provided during the meeting) that elected officials may authorize others to access records they control. Commissioners directed staff to follow up with the vendor and report back before approving any county policy to implement system access.
