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Denton County court ends outside counsel in multiple cases, assigns D. Randall Montgomery & Associates
Summary
Denton County commissioners unanimously terminated outside counsel in two pending suits involving county public-health and sheriff’s-office matters and assigned D. Randall Montgomery & Associates, PLLC to represent the county; the court also authorized the county judge to sign employment contracts exempted under Texas Local Government Code §262.023.
Denton County commissioners voted unanimously Thursday to end outside legal representation in multiple pending lawsuits and to assign D. Randall Montgomery & Associates, PLLC as replacement counsel, the court’s chair said.
The chair moved to terminate Blaze and Hightower LLP as counsel for Denton County Public Health in a case styled SF v. Denton County, listed in the record as cause number 42300864 ALM and pending in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, Sherman Division. “All in favor say aye,” the chair said; after an affirmative voice vote the chair added, “Motion carries unanimously.”
The court then moved to assign D. Randall Montgomery & Associates, PLLC to represent the county in that federal matter. The chair told the court the proposed contract with D. Randall Montgomery would be exempt from requirements of Texas Local Government Code §262.023, if applicable, and asked the court to authorize the Denton County judge to sign the employment contract. The assignment and authorization were seconded and approved unanimously.
The chair also moved to terminate Blaze and Hightower LLP as counsel for Denton County, the Denton County Sheriff’s Office and Sheriff Tracy Murphy in a county-court case identified in the record as John Tillman Milstead v. Denton County, pending in the district court of Denton County. The court continued by assigning D. Randall Montgomery & Associates, PLLC to that matter, again noting the possible exemption under Texas Local Government Code §262.023 and authorizing the county judge to execute the employment agreement. Those motions were seconded and carried unanimously.
The actions recorded in the transcript indicate the motions were brought by the chair and seconded by commissioners who were recorded in the proceedings as Commissioner Williams and Commissioner Falconer. The transcript records voice votes and states each motion "carrie[d] unanimously." The court announced there would be no action on agenda item 15(a) and proceeded to the items described above.
The meeting concluded with brief closing remarks, a Thanksgiving greeting from the chair and adjournment. The transcript does not record individual roll-call vote tallies or the county judge’s signature on any contract; those elements were noted as authorized by the court but not recorded as completed in the public proceeding.
Authorities and case identifiers were cited in the public record during the motions: Texas Local Government Code §262.023 (contract exemption), a federal case styled SF v. Denton County (cause number shown as 42300864 ALM) in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, Sherman Division, and a county-court case referenced as John Tillman Milstead v. Denton County in the Denton County district court. The record lists the party names Matt Richardson and John Kissenger in the public-health litigation and Sheriff Tracy Murphy in the sheriff’s-office matter.
The court did not provide additional public discussion of the legal merits of the cases at the time of the votes; the actions recorded are limited to terminating existing counsel, assigning new counsel, noting the statutory exemption where applicable, and authorizing the county judge to sign employment contracts.
