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Commissioners hear renewed calls for jail reforms as outside-lawyer costs rise; court to discuss litigation in closed session
Summary
After public comment on recent jail deaths, commissioners questioned requests for additional outside counsel fees in detention-officer cases and agreed to discuss litigation and settlements in executive session. Residents urged settlement and systemic reforms; commissioners pressed for details before additional expenditures.
Tarrant County commissioners on Jan. 28 received extended public comment about deaths in county jails and heard a staff request to approve further outside counsel spending tied to litigation involving detention officers.
Commissioner Alyssa Simmons raised the fiscal tally tied to litigation around the death of Anthony Johnson Jr., telling the court that the county has already spent tens of thousands on outside lawyers and that an additional $35,000 request for one detention officer’s defense would push the county closer to six figures in related outside counsel costs.
Simmons identified a series of prior approvals on the Johnson case and related matters and said the…
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