Denton County commissioners approve hiring outside counsel for federal case

Denton County commissioners on reconvening from executive session voted unanimously to hire outside counsel to represent the county in federal litigation and authorized the county judge to sign an employment contract.

The motion, made on item 15A, sought to retain counsel for cause number 426CV00625, styled in the record as David Rasheed Ali v. Denton County, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas. The court also approved exempting the employment contract from the competitive-bidding requirement cited in the meeting as a provision of the Texas Local Government Code.

The chair opened discussion and called for a voice vote: "All in favor say I." The chair then stated, "Motion carries unanimously." Commissioner Williams is recorded as seconding the motion. The transcript does not include a roll-call vote or a recorded tally by individual members.

The meeting record names the case and gives the cause number; the record identifies the counsel to be retained in meeting remarks. The transcript’s firm name as spoken in the record was unclear; the court’s action, as recorded, is limited to authorizing retention of outside counsel and directing the county judge to execute the employment contract.

Next steps indicated by the court were administrative: processing the contract and returning to the regular agenda. No additional discussion or conditions were recorded on the public transcript.