Commissioners approve E1 after closed session as families, advocates urge settlement and independent review of jail deaths

The Tarrant County Commissioners Court approved agenda item E1 after a closed-session meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 4, 2025. The court voted to approve the item after executive session; the motion was made and seconded and approved but the transcript does not specify the exact terms of E1.

The approval came after multiple members of the public used the meeting's public-comment period to press the court to settle litigation tied to in-custody deaths and to seek faster, independent reviews. Julie Griffin of the Tarrant County Justice Network urged the court to “settle with the family” in the case of Anthony Johnson Jr., arguing continued litigation was costly and that expanding diversion and treatment would be preferable to incarceration. Griffin said the county should “ask for whatever the diversion court needs to expand the…