Collin County settles with auditor

by Bill Baumbach of The Collin County Observer

Monday night, after the Collin County commissioners met in executive session, they voted 5 - 0 to approve an 'agreement' settling their lawsuits against Don Cozad, the county's internal auditor.

Terms of the settlement are not available, but the Collin County Observer has requested a copy of their 'agreement' and will publish it here as soon as it is released.

Last year, the county commissioners lost two lawsuits they filed against their auditor, who was trying to gain access to county computer systems. The commissioners had appealed the summary verdicts against the county. Today was the deadline for filing a brief in the 5th Court of Appeals.

The County first filed suit against their auditor last May in an attempt to stop him from asking the Texas Attorney General to rule on a dispute over access to the county's large computer systems. Cozad was seeking 'read only' access to all administrative and data areas of these programs. He stated that he needed that access in order to verify the integrity of the financial data the programs reported.

When visiting Judge Calhoun ruled in a summery judgment against the county, the commissioners filed a second suit seeking to simply prohibit the auditor the access he required.

Once again, without a trial, Judge Calhoun entered a verdict for the Auditor on all points. The judge also ordered the county to pay Cozad's attorney fees. After filing an appeal, the county asked Plano's State Representative, Jerry Madden, to file a bill in the legislature limiting an auditor's access to automated systems. After a committee hearing that was a disaster for Collin County Judge Keith Self, most Capitol observers consider Madden's bill dead.

So, after almost a year of failed litigation, failed legislative action and the expense of over $300,000 of taxpayer money, this case seems to finally be at an end. It is really tragic that Cozad's lead attorney is unable to share in the victory. Homer B. Reynolds III died earlier this month, just a few weeks before the county's settlement.

It has been almost exactly a year since the Collin County Observer first wrote on Cozad's attempt to seek an AG opinion. All of this could have been avoided if the commissioners had let Mr. Cozad exercise his right to seek that independent opinion from the Texas Attorney General. The hubris of the elected commissioners has cost the taxpayers of Collin County over $300,000, has effectively ended the career of a long time, honest and dedicated auditor, and has seriously tarnished the reputations of each and every member of the Collin County Commissioners Court.