Published: February 24, 2007 11:49 pm         

A note on government records

To find the documents used in this story, the Herald-Banner filed several written requests with government agencies under the Texas Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).

County officials said they require everyone except the FBI to file FOIA requests to access county documents.

The law allows any citizen the right to see most documents generated by public institutions that are funded by taxpayer money, in an effort to promote openness.

However, there is not a designated person who is responsible for FOIA requests in Hunt County.

When the Herald-Banner filed its first FOIA request in November, it was told to file the request with the office of county auditor, Jimmy Hamilton, who then had possession of the two boxes full of jail records, which included all financial records and many e-mails sent about the facility.

But Hamilton did not have possession of all the documents requested under the law, including structural and engineering reports from the county’s engineering firm and reports from the Texas Commission on Jail Standards.

Those were in a sperate county office.

The Herald-Banner then filed a second FOIA request to ask for documents that had been requested the first time.

This time, the FOIA request was directed to Hunt County Attorney Joel Littlefield.

Littlefield sent back a letter saying he did not have possession of the documents requested and said to contact County Judge John Horn.

Horn had some of the documents, including the reports from the county’s engineering firm and some of the communications between the county and the Commission.

To get complete records from the Commission, the Herald-Banner filed another FOIA request, this time with the Commission in Austin.

The Commission had 183 pages detailing all contact regarding the facility since the late 1990s, including reports of inspections, reports of two inmate escapes, all communications between the county and the Commission and even a letter from a Hunt County resident expressing concern about the facility and asking for a surprise inspection.

But, the county does not have all jail documentation any longer. Clearly missing from the records were reports on tests performed on the land prior to the facility being constructed — many referenced in reports sent by the engineering firm — all communications between the Commission and the county prior to 2006, a report issued in 2001 about the movement in the facility and some gaps in e-mails, and no way to know what was discussed or approved by phone. There was not even a letter or e-mail stating that the county had canceled its structural repair work with the engineering firm.

The Herald-Banner was also denied access to the engineering firm, which has overseen all aspects of identifying the problem and then all attempts to stabilize the facility, and has received nearly $145,000 of taxpayers’ money.

And on Feb. 12, when the Herald-Banner attempted to look at the jail information again, Horn, who had previously had possession of the documents, said to contact Littlefield. Littlefield, who previously said his office did not have possession of the documents, said that all the jail records were no longer on county property.

In fact, Littlefield said all original records were given to the county’s law firm, Strausburger & Price.

Therefore, the county no longer has direct possession of any of the records, nor had copies apparently been made of any of the documents before leaving the courthouse.

Instead, much of the jail documentation used to write this series is now in Frisco, which is located in Collin County.



— THE HERALD-BANNER