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County staff say donated Israel trip for sheriff and deputies will be taken as vacation; court raises liability and benefit questions
Summary
A donor-funded trip to Israel for sheriff's office personnel prompted court discussion about whether travel should be county business, eligibility for federal line-of-duty benefits, and HR/work-status treatment; no court action was taken.
County staff briefed the Commissioner's Court on a donor-funded trip to Israel offered to Sheriff Jim Skinner and select sheriff's office personnel. The court was informed that the donation provides transportation and lodging through an outside organization and that participating employees will take paid time off; staff said the trip is voluntary and outside the scope of county work duties.
Deputy attorney Russell Schauffner said staff reviewed the arrangement and concluded the trip is outside the scope of county duties and participants are taking vacation time. The county also has explored arranging the travel through the National Sheriffs' Association to preserve a better chance that survivors could qualify for certain federal line-of-duty death benefits, though staff said that outcome is not guaranteed.
Commissioners pressed the sheriff on liability and benefit questions. Cynthia Jacobson from Human Resources described county benefits for an officer injured or killed in the line of duty and noted that workers' compensation and county-provided life insurance apply differently depending on whether an event is work-related. The sheriff said he had instructed employees to take PTO and that they were not being required to travel on county business. The sheriff also said he preferred the National Sheriffs' Association route to improve survivors' chances to access federal death benefits if a fatality occurred.
Several commissioners voiced concern about concentrating senior leadership on a single international trip and about the perception of taxpayers bearing post-incident costs if an event occurred while employees were traveling. The court did not accept the donation as a county gift; a motion to merely acknowledge the gift was proposed and withdrawn to allow further review and discussion. No formal action was taken and staff said they would return with additional information if requested.
