Williamson County approves $900,000 legal budget for hospital transaction; oversight resolutions fail or are tabled

The Williamson County Board of Commissioners on Jan. 12 approved an amendment to the county attorney budget to pay outside counsel for work related to potential transactions involving Williamson Health, the county-owned hospital system. The resolution (1 26 17) passed 21–3 after more than an hour of presentations and debate.

The commission first discussed the matter after the property committee asked outside counsel Jesse Neal to report on work his firm has done in evaluating the hospital’s potential market process and to describe how the commission could protect community priorities. Neal said his team has engaged with hospital counsel, reviewed criteria used to evaluate potential partners, and is drafting “community covenants” — contract provisions the commission could require of any purchaser related to access to care, charity-care policies, EMS arrangements and other county priorities.

Neal disclosed the firm caps and billing practices to commissioners, saying work is logged in six‑minute increments and that roughly $86,000 has…