Denton County commissioners reconvening from executive session voted unanimously to retain outside counsel to represent the county in Shazad Akbar v. Denton County (case no. 425CB00974), a federal lawsuit currently pending in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, Sherman Division. The court named the law firm of Matthew Shields as counsel and authorized the Denton County judge to sign a contract of employment with the firm, exempting that contract from the requirement established by Local Government Code section 262.023.

The chair moved for approval of the assignment of counsel, noting the case number and court, and the motion was seconded by Commissioner Williams. “All in favor, say aye,” the chair called; after the verbal 'aye' votes the chair said the motion “carries unanimously.” The motion included three parts: assigning representation in the cited case, exempting the contract from Local Government Code §262.023, and authorizing the judge to execute the contract on the county’s behalf.

Local Government Code section 262.023 was cited during the motion as the statutory procurement provision from which the proposed employment contract would be exempt; the transcript does not provide additional detail about the legal or financial terms of the contract, including fee amounts or the contract's effective dates. The court did not announce a roll-call vote or provide a numerical tally; the chair characterized the outcome as unanimous.

Next steps recorded in the meeting are administrative: the county judge is authorized to sign the employment contract with the named law firm. The transcript does not show further discussion of the underlying litigation or contract terms during this session.