Travis County commissioners approved $115,000 in additional security funding for District Attorney Jose Garza after meeting behind closed doors earlier this year to discuss the measure, according to multiple reports this week.
Commissioners reportedly voted publicly on the measure in March after considering evidence that Garza had received threats at his home.
The bill was passed unanimously without any public debate regarding the allocation of public funds. Quoted by KVUEAccording to a news site that reported on the case, $115,000 was transferred to the Travis County District Attorney’s Office.
Austin District Attorney Jose Garza (Spencer Selvidge for The Washington Post via Getty Images)
Despite county officials’ pledges of transparency, KVUE and Austin American Statesman Requests for documentation showing what specific threats required the additional security funding were denied.
The District Attorney’s Office similarly requested clarification on the matter, but Fox News Digital did not respond.
Travis County has no specific policy regarding district attorneys, judges or other elected officials using taxpayer money to beef up security, but it is not a common practice.
Attorney Bill Aleshire, who served as a Travis County judge in the late 1980s and late 1990s, told KVUE that he knows of other county employees who have “spended their own money to beef up security at their homes.”
Prosecutor sues Los Angeles district attorney for retaliation after he “misgendered” child abuser
Meanwhile, law enforcement and advocacy groups see the security funding as ironic, given Garza’s perception of hostility toward law enforcement and soft-on-crime policies.
“The bottom line is that Jose Garza wants to be protected from the criminal environment that he helped foster and defend,” Charlie Wilkison, executive director of the Texas Law Enforcement Association, told Fox News Digital.
Travis County District Attorney Jose Garza (Travis County District Attorney’s Office Website/File)
“The irony is this: the same District Attorney who cries about transparency and actively opposes law enforcement is asking for over $100,000 in taxpayer money to feel safer,” Austin Police Association President Michael Block wrote to X.
In an interview with Fox News Digital, Bullock described Garza as “probably one of the most aggressively anti-law enforcement district attorneys in the country.”
“Thoughtless plea deals make the jobs of APD investigators and detectives extremely difficult and victimize those who are the true victims,” Brock said.
He added that the general feeling among officers is that it’s ironic that Garza is “probably one of the main causes of the current security crisis.”
Click here to get the FOX News app
“And yet he’s more invested in his own safety than the safety he would give the public,” Bullock said. “It’s very frustrating for an officer.”
