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Texas Commission on Law Enforcement approves multiple license cancellations and revocations; agrees training and penalty orders
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Summary
At its April 15 meeting in San Antonio, the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement approved a series of disciplinary actions including cancellations and revocations of peace-officer licenses, accepted agreed orders for training in lieu of cancellation for a batch of academy attendees, and approved administrative penalties and a waiver for agencies.
The Texas Commission on Law Enforcement voted on April 15 to accept a series of disciplinary recommendations and agreed orders affecting multiple peace-officer licenses and training providers.
By roll call, commissioners approved the executive director’s recommendations in contested matters that resulted in cancellations and revocations of licenses for several respondents. The commission voted unanimously to cancel the license of Chad Borland after staff and legal counsel argued that minimum‑standards rules require cancellation for a class A offense; assistant general counsel Mark Duncan told the commission, “TCO must cancel respondent’s license.” Respondent Chad Borland asked the commission for discretion, saying he had “lived a law abiding life” since a decades‑old offense and asking commissioners to consider his record.
The commission also accepted staff recommendations to cancel the licenses of Thomas Santayana and Nathan Fredley (the Fredley vote recorded one abstention) and to revoke the licenses of Kenneth Broyles and John L. Roselle III. In the Broyles matter, staff cited repeated false or untruthful statements on personal‑history statements as the basis for revocation; counsel Tara Zitzen urged the commission to follow the ALJ’s PFD and urged an equity‑based result.
Separately, the commission accepted multiple agreed orders and waivers: it approved an administrative‑penalty waiver for Kemah Police Department ($350) for failing to timely file an F‑5 separating report; approved a reduced $1,000 agreed order for Trinidad Police Department for background‑investigation failures; and accepted agreed orders in lieu of cancellation for cadets who completed training at the College of the Mainland basic peace officer course, directing supplemental training (crisis intervention, K‑9 encounters, de‑escalation techniques and other modules) to be completed within nine months.
The commission handled several agreed suspensions administratively: it accepted agreed suspensions for John Chambers (10‑year suspension, backdated), Sean Faison (4‑year suspension with a 6‑year probated suspension), Jacob Goshener (2 years with an 8‑year probated suspension), and LaShawn Smith (5 years plus 5 years probated). Assistant general counsel Daniel Walker walked the commission through the negotiated dispositions and the mitigating factors considered for probated suspensions.
Where proposals for decision (PFDs) from the State Office of Administrative Hearings were presented, commissioners discussed legal standards, including the scope of the commission’s discretion under rules on minimum standards and the limited role of SOA in equitable relief. Commissioners asked staff and counsel extensive questions about the waiver process and the handling of personal‑history statements (PHSs), and whether recurring agency errors in background checks could support equitable estoppel claims in individual cases.
The meeting concluded with a summary of ministerial actions (statutory suspensions, revocations by operation of law, surrenders and reprimands) that required no vote. No members of the public spoke during the open comment period, and the commission adjourned.
