Texas Scorecard 7/11/2019 By Erin Anderson
Collin County commissioners consider options to claw back hundreds of thousands in unlawful fees paid to court-appointed attorneys at taxpayer expense.Collin County taxpayers want their money back after the state’s top criminal appellate court ruled the county overpaid three special prosecutors hundreds of thousands of dollars.
The excessive legal fees—estimated at over $370,000—were paid to private attorneys appointed to work on the politically motivated prosecution of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. In November, Texas’ Court of Criminal Appeals upheld a lower court ruling that the attorneys’ pay rate of $300 an hour, improperly authorized in a handshake deal in 2015 by then-District Judge Scott Becker, was unlawful. Taxpayers rejected Becker’s attempt at re-election in 2018.
Last month, the court declined to reconsider its ruling, blocking future payments to the prosecutors and undermining the legitimacy of past outlays. Local taxpayers are now calling on county commissioners to recover all public funds illegally paid during the four-year-old case—action commissioners appear ready to take.
“I’m here to encourage you to get a refund,†county resident Brian Newman said at Monday’s Collin County Commissioners Court meeting. “The rule of law clearly wasn’t followed in this case.â€
More:
https://texasscorecard.com/local/taxpayers-call-for-refund-of-paxton-prosecutor-fees/