» 5 Brown County Sheriff's Office Case #: Complainant: Victim: Suspect: Officer: Offense: n State of Texas State of Texas/Brown County County Judge E. Ray West Captain Tony Aaron PC 32.46 Securing Execution of Document by Deception PC 39.02 Abuse of Official Capacity PC 36.02 Bribery This following report contains information obtained in a complaint against Brown County Judge E. Ray West. The Complaint alleges that: - He entered into a contractual agreement without the authority of the County for remodeling to a county owned building. 2. He violated the bid process by allowing one of the competitive bid companies to begin work on the facility while bids were still sealed and the work preformed was found to be in alignment of with a condition of the seal bid once it was opened. 3. In an effort to conceal complaints 1-2 he contacted the company and the company absorbed the cost of work performed to date estimated at over $50,000; 4. He deceptively represented a contingency from a company that was competing for the bid in order to disqualify them and further usher in the company of his choosing that was already in the process of working on the facility ‘On March 8, 2013, I, Captain Tony Aaron, with the Brown County Sheriff's Office, was informed about a complaint filed with our office by resident Joe Cooksey. I was informed by Chief Deputy Bobby Duvall and Sgt. Lana Guthrie both of the Brown County Sheriff's Office. Sgt. Guthrie and Chief Deputy Bobby Duvall had interviewed Cooksey and recorded his interview detailing his complaint and concerns. A copy of this recording is attached to this report as attachment #1. Sgt. Guthrie advised me that she would provide me SENSITIVE eown County Sheiffs Office ort is property ofthe Brown County Shert?s Office 1 i or its contents may he disseminated outside the agency to whieh iis loaned Page 1 of S4® 6 with a copy of the interview as well as work product notes with a synopsis of its contents in writing the following day. This synopsis is attached to this report as attachment #2. ‘Afier reviewing the synopsis, it was concluded that Cooksey was filing a complaint against Brown County Judge E. Ray West and James Ray Williams who was the past Director of Juvenile Probation for Brown and Mills County. James Ray Williams currently is employed with TJJD as a Senior Director of Juvenile Probation. The complaint was that both West and Williams had taken paid trips out of state to visit a company named G4S based out of Florida. G4S is a private facility that deals with rehabilitation of juvenile offenders. Cooksey stated that these trips were believed to be paid for by G4S and could be considered inappropriate for these county officials to take. His further complaint was that G4S had placed a sealed bid to Brown County to lease a county holding facility known as Ron Jackson Unit Il for private use. Even though G4S was competing for the bid he alleged they have had workers at the facility for several weeks doing remodeling. He believed that they have possibly been out there since around January 23" or 24", Cooksey further stated that it has been discovered that the contractor, whom was from out of state, and is working on the facility is known to work for G4S. West gave the contractor the authority to begin work on the portion of the facility that Brown County Juvenile Probation would operate. Cooksey did an open records request for any contract or bids for this work with West office and has yet to get any of it in compliance with the open records act. ‘On March 10, 2013, Sheriff Bobby Grubbs, Chief Bobby Duvall, and, I met with Commissioner Wayne Shaw. Shaw added the following information. Shaw found out about the construction on the facility on March, 7, 2013. He stated that neither he nor any other commissioners knew that the work was being conducted on the Ron Jackson Unit II that is a county owned building, and had been obtained from the state. Shaw stated that the Commissioner's Court had not approved the repairs or renovation either. Shaw stated that he went to the facility and the contractor told him that he worked for Brown County and Judge Ray West. Shaw stated that he Page 2 of S4 SENSITIVE, Brown County She's Office This repo is property of the Brows County Sheri’ Offic. Neier ino ts contents maybe diserinaed outside the agency to which its loaned® o found out that there was suppose to be a bill at the courthouse from. the contractor for $37,000. Chief Bobby Duvall stated that he had heard the same thing about the bill from other sources. Shaw stated that during the last Commissioner's Court meeting when they opened the lease agreement bids, and they had received two, one from G4S a company out of Florida, and the other from Rites of Passage out of Arizona, Shaw remembers that West stated that Rite of Passage had a contingency in their contract. The contingency was that they wanted both the county facility known as Ron Jackson Unit Il and the state facility next door known as Ron Jackson Unit I. West advised the commissioners that Brown County could not hold the state to this contract and therefore due to this contingency they needed to throw out Rite of Passage’s bid which they did ‘Shaw stated that the main concern with G4S’s bid was they had requested $50,000 from Brown County for repairs to the facility for Brown County’s portion. These repairs mentioned in this sealed bid included work that was ongoing at the facility without anyone on the Commissioner's Court other then Judge Ray West knowing this. There were also issues in the bid about the county paying partial payment of the utilities. No where during this meeting concerning the bids and the $50,000 did Judge Ray West advise the commissioners that construction was ongoing at the facility or that it was G4S’s contractor working out there. I asked for copies of both G4S’s bid and Rite of Passage from Shaw. He then stated that he had those as well as a letter from Judge West to Mr. Carter from GAS with request to modify their bid proposal and letter from G4 with the modifications. These items are attached as attachments number 3,4, 5 and, 6. 1 then reviewed the Lease agreement of Rite of Passage (attachment #3) which was opened in Commissioner's Court on March 4, 2013. Handwritten on the cover of this attachment that I received from Commissioner Shaw was, “Action ws have no control over ¢ Ron Jackson I off table.” On the second page was handwritten, “want take Unit II without Unit I”. In the agreement under the subtitle “Term” three contingencies exist. They read as, follows, “1. Award of contract pursuant to Texas Juvenile Justice Department (TJD) request for proposal (RFP) 644-3-12112, and 2. Successfiil negotiations with THD regarding the optimal location of facility for its at-risk youth, and 3. Successful negotiations with Brown County regarding the facility”. The RFP mentioned in this Page 3 of 54 SENSITIVE Brown County SheriPs Office This eport is property of the Brown County Sheriff's Office. Neither it nor is contents may be disseminated outside the agency to whieh i is loaned® ® Me 12. 13. 16. proposal is a proposal where all private facilities have sent proposal to TJJD to house juveniles in private facilities and receive state funds. This contingency has nothing to do with obtaining the state run facility Ron Jackson Unit I located next to the county owned facility Ron Jackson Unit II. As to #1 this is a RFP sent out by THID to private facilities that ‘want to house or treat juvenile offenders for TJD. Chief Duvall researched the RFP online and printed off a copy of the RFP sent ‘out by the state. Itis attached as Attachment #7. In reviewing this, a schedule of activities states that decision and notifications to respondents to this RFP will be made on March 25, 2013, whieh is only 21 days after the first possible date of commencement due to the bid requirements. As to contingency #2, I was unsure as to its meaning until later to Kent Moe from Rite of Passage. Moe advised that it dealt with more negotiation with the state on how Rite of Passage ‘would run the program. Contingency # 3, | conclude it relates in general to negotiations broadly with Brown County for the facility. In reviewing Attachment #4, Lease Agreement from G4S, which ‘was opened in Commissioner's Court on March 4, 2013, the language defines the portion of the building to be retained and used by Brown County Probation Department as “Retained Portion” in section 1(b). The first disputed contingency for utility cost is found in 5(b) for the county to pay 20% of cost. Sections 11, 12, and 13 as well as Exhibit C of the Lease agreement speak to Improvements, Earn out of Alterations and Improvements, Improvement funds, and work to be preformed. . Section 11 states that the tenant (G4S) will make improvements of $250,000 to the facility in three phases. G4S will have sole and absolute control over selecting the contractors. The first of the three phases is scheduled to be completed on March, 15, 2013. It further states that the second phase will begin as soon a possible after the Commencement Date. Black’s law defines Commencement (Introductory clause) as the first paragraph of a contract, which typically begins with words such as “This Agreement is made on [date] between [parties’ names}. In section 11 this lays out that phase two will begin after commencement therefore implying that phase one began before Page 4 of $4 Sensitive Brown County Sheii's Office This eport is property ef the Brosin County Shert's Ofie ‘Neither it nor its contents may be disseminated outside the agency to which it is loaned.19. 20. 2 commencement. This is further supported by phase one having a completion date on March 15, 2013. . Section 12 contained a typo in the last three lines where the term “landlord” was substituted for the term “tenant”. In Section 13 the contract states that, “upon execution of the lease, landlord will contribute $50,000 of Landlord’s funds to pay for the initial portion of the cost of the Phase One Improvements.” This would be the portion of improvements that were already underway, by G4S contractors, before the opening of this sealed bid without the knowledge of the Commissioner’s Court other than Judge Ray West. Recordings from Commissioner's Court will later reflect that at no time during the opening of this bid did Judge West make the commissioners aware of the ongoing construction to meet the contractual requirements of Phase I of this contract. Exhibit C of the lease agreement identifies Phase One Improvements as “south end of the existing building for use by the Probation Offices and Probation Office staff”. I then reviewed an email letter from Brown County Judge email address countyjudge@browncountytx.org to candersen@bushross.com dated March 6, 2013 at 4:00 p.m, (attachment #5) It has handwritten notes on it reading “Au: J.R. Williams Att JR Williams 512-424-6041”, This attachment addresses the county’s request for changes to the lease agreement proposal by G4S. It addresses typos, wording associated with the $50,000 improvement fund, and utilities. I then reviewed attachment # 6, a letter from G4$ to Judge Ray West dated March 8, 2013. In this letter, G4S agrees to remove the requirement for the county to pay the $50,000. It states, “I understand that a concern of the Commission in finalizing the proposal relates to the cost of material and labor expended to date in relocating the Brown County Probation Offices from one side of the facility to another. .....the company is willing to cover the cost of any material and labor already expended in that project. .....under these revisions to the lease, we will pay all affiliated cost relating to the improvements contemplated in the lease, including the repairs made to the generator at the facility.” In reviewing attachment # 7, it was learned that the contingency placed in Rite of Passage would be met or denied on March, 25, Page 5 of 54 SENSITIVE Brown County Sherif's Office This report is property of the Brown County Sheriffs Office ‘either it nr its contents may be disscminated outside gnc 10 which itis foaned23. 24, 25. 26. 21. 2013. At no point had this been communicated to the board from Judge Ray West. Facts exist and are discussed later that Judge West focuses on and sites as a reason for rejecting Rite of Passage’s proposal for something that is not in their proposal. To place things into prospective, it is important to lay out a synopisis in chronological order to this point. Of the ‘Commissioner's Court’s knowledge and actions to this point on the matter concerning the bids. They had met in session on March 4, 2013, to open the bids; they rejected the bid from Rite of Passage for a misrepresented reason from Judge Ray West; they had recessed their session to renegotiate terms with G4S without giving Rite of Passage the same benefit. On March 7, 2013, it was learned that construetion had already begun on the facility without their approval and on Judge West own action, and he had been informed that complaints of a criminal nature had been alleged. On March 11, 2013, I, along with Sheriff Bobby Grubbs and Chief Deputy Bobby Duvall, attended the Commissioner’s Court meeting. ‘When the agenda to consider the proposal of G4S, a motion was made to go into executive session. At this time, G4S was the only proposal left since Rite of Passage’s proposal had already been thrown out. It was discussed between Chief Duvall and County Clerk Sharon Ferguson that it was important to insure that the session was recorded as customary of this court. ‘The Commissioner's Court stayed in executive session until just afier 11:00 a.m. at which time they broke for lunch, and in order to find out more information. During this break, Judge Ray West stated to Sheriff Bobby Grubbs, Chief Bobby Duvall, and I that he was calling the Texas Association of Counties (TAC) to see if he had broken the law. He believed that as the head of the Juvenile Justice Committee for Brown and Mills County, he could enter into an agreement for construction to begin without the Commissioner's Court’s approval. He further stated that if TAC said he had broken the law by doing so then he would just say that he never authorized the contractor to do the work, and if they did it they were working at their own risk. Itis important to note that Judge West sets on this committee as the director with three other judges: Judge Stephen Ellis 35" District Judge, Judge Frank Griffin Brown County Court at Law Judge, and Judge Kirk Fulk Mills County Judge. Page 6 of 54 SENSITIVE Brown County Sheri’ Office This report is property ofthe Brown County Sheriff's Office Neither it nr its contents may be disseminated outside the agency to which itis loaned28. 30. 31 32. 33. . The court was to reconvene at 2:00 p.m. I heard discussion in the hall that an amendment had been made to the law in the last year from TJJD where the Juvenile Board Chair was authorized to make decisions for the Board on a finical matter. | then spoke to County Auditor Nina Cox about this. Cox provided me with a printed off copy of the agreement. She stated it was unsigned, but she was working on getting a signed copy that was not available to her at the moment. She was ina hurry to get back to court. This is attachment # 8. I asked Nina Cox about a bill received by the county from the contractor at the Probation facility. This conversation took place in front of Commissioner Joel Kelton, Cox stated she had not seen it, but heard it was in Judge West’s office. Kelton stated he heard it was for $37,000. In reviewing attachment #8, it was the last page of the State Financial Assistance Contract and General Grant Requirements 2012-2013 Biennium. it give the Juvenile Board Chair authority to sign the resolution accepting aid, but it does not define his authority to act independently of the board on financial matters. This however is a partial and incomplete copy of this resolution. A complete copy was later received as is attachment #14, I then went and spoke to County Court at Law Judge Frank Griffin. Judge Griffin is a member of the Brown and Mills Count Juvenile Justice Board. I asked him if he was aware of the ongoing construction at the Brown County Juvenile Probation offices. He said he was not. He was also not informed that the contractor was alleged to be working of G4S one of the companies in the bid process. He stated that he had remembered discussions about needing remodeling, but nothing was ever authorized in any meetings. He ‘was unaware of any ongoing construction, He was also unaware of any excess funds in the amount of $50,000 for improvements. 1 then spoke to 35"" Judicial Judge Steve Ellis. Asking him the same questions he was unaware as well. He further added that the last time the board had met was to hire the current Director of Juvenile Probation, Lisa Ritter. Page 7 of 54 SENSITIVE Brovsn County Shetf's Ofie This report is property ofthe Brown County Shevl's Office. ‘either itnor is contsnts may be disseminated outside the agency to which tis loaned.34. 36. 37. 38, ‘The Commissioner's Court re-convened at 2:00 p.m. and went back into executive session shortly. They came out into open session. A motion was made by Commissioner Wayne Worley to accept the lease of G4S and seconded by Wayne Shaw. Judge West with those two voted in favor and Commissioner Joe! Kelton voted against it. Commissioner Larry Trayweek was absent. It was learned at this time that G4S had removed the requirement of the county to pay the $50,000. ‘Commissioner Shaw advised that West had called TAC and TAC advised that he was okay to have entered into the agreement for the construction without the commissioner's approval. Shaw did not seem to have an issue with the fact that West had hid this from the court or that the contractor was known to work for G4S. I spoke to Commissioner Kelton who voted against the lease agreement. Kelton stated that he felt that to whole thing was ultimately good for Brown County, but he did not like how they gotten to where they were. This was his reasoning for voting against it. 1 was given a copy of the new G4S contract by Chief Deputy Bobby Duvall. (Attachment #9) In reviewing this agreement, typos were corrected. Utility agreement was addressed as well as language related to the “improvement fund” and section 13 was omitted from the document. By this being struck, G4S was given the contract and agreed to absorb all the cost of construction that had already been under way at the facility by a contractor known to work for them, In section 11 the condition remains that G4S will have control over selecting the contractor used for the improvements, This was not only in the original contract but is in alignment with the contractor that was already on site and performing work before the lease was awarded, It was at this time, I was made aware of a meeting between Sherif Bobby Grubbs, Chief Bobby Duvall, and Judge Ray West. This occurred on the morning of March 11, 2013. Chief Duvall stated he recorded the conversation, He provided me a copy of this. (attachment #10) Attachment #11 is a transcription of the recording transcribed by CID secretary Shauna Karnes. Page 8 of S4 SENSITIVE Brown County Sheriff's Office This repon is property of the Brown County Sherif’s Office ‘either it nor is contents may be disseminated outside the agency to which itis loaned,40. 41 42. 43. 44, 45. In review of attachment #11, the discussion was centered around the trips JR Williams and Judge West took. They took several trips to both G4S and Rite of Passage facilities out of state starting in 2010 to check out their programs. The trips were paid for by the private entities, however the golf games where part of a fundraiser in which he donated $100, It also discussed the contingency with Rite of Passage. West admits to talking to Kent Moe after the March 4, Commissioner Court meeting, and told him that his bid was not considered because of the contingency of the contract with TID. He also talks about historically that Moe always wanted Unit I of Ron Jackson which ‘was not up for consideration. I later interviewed Moe, who stated that he called West about not getting the contract. Moe stated that Unit I was not part of the contingeney. Moe also stated that he was not given the opportunity to change, modify or justify his contract like G4S was given the opportunity to, In this conversation, West refers to the recording of the Commissioner's Court meeting on March 4, 2013 and said he has listened to it and he did not tell the commissioners that the contingency was based on obtaining Ron Jackson Unit I with Unit IL. [later reviewed this recording and this is directly contradictory to what he said on the recording. On March 12, 2013, I, Captain Tony Aaron, went to the Juvenile Probation Department also know as Ron Jackson Unit II to speak with the contractor who was in charge at that location. Upon arriving, | noticed several contractor vehicles as well as a van trailer with equipment. I asked for the GM and was introduced to Paxx Burk, who stated he was in charge of the project. Burk stated he was from Kentucky and owned Burk Construction LLC, The following is highlights of our conversation which was recorded. ‘The recording will be attachment #12. Pax stated that G4S was his client. He said that he has worked for them for a while. He has done three other facilities for them in ‘Tennessee, He understood that the arrangement was that the county received the building from the state. JR Williams obtained money for remodeling the probation offices. JR William was the Director of Brown and Mills County Juvenile Probation until December 2012, when he took a job for TIID as the Senior Director of Juvenile Probation. Paxx stated that the end of the building that he Page 9 of S4 SENSITIVE Brown County Sheriff's Office This repor is property ofthe Brown County Sheriff's Office. Neither it nor is contents may be disseminated outside the ageney to whieh it is loaned,46. 47. 48. 49, 50. is currently working on is the end of the building that the Probation Office is moving into. Paxx stated that the carpet that had been laid down was appropriated by the commissioners earlier this year or later last year from his understanding. He also stated that some work had been done on the backup generator that was down and some of this, money was used to pay for that. Paxx said he has not received any of this money from the county. I asked him to tell me how he ended up here. Paxx said that he was asked to come to Brownwood by Jim Hill the CEO of G4S's Juvenile program. They met about six weeks ago at the facility with Judge West, Jim Hill, Brian Newpaver the director of operation. ‘This would have been around the end of January 2013. GS was trying to get into the building by June 2013 so everything was kind ofa rush. His thought was that when he came to look at the building it was to do work on the G4S side of the building, but when he got here, he was told that there had been bids from local ‘guys on doing the work for Brown County, and the cheapest they hhad received was in the $80,000 range. Jim Hill told Ray West to just let Paxx come down here and do the work for you and we will worry about the money later. Paxx felt that if G4S got the lease its fine and if they didn’t then whatever. Ray just said that's fine you can just come do the work for us. Paxx said that he does everything on a cost plus basis. I asked him what would happen if G4S didn’t get the bid? Was Judge West supposed to settle up with him? Paxx laughed, and said he didn’t really know and that he was a pretty trusting person. Paxx said he has a good relationship with G4S and Jim Hill told him if they (Brown County) don’t pay, can’t pay you, or it runs over budget 1 pay you. Pax understood that $50,000 was the amount. Paxx has known Jim Hill for several years, and he has always paid his bills. Paxx said that JR Williams had led Jim Hill to believe that there was no competition for the lease. Paxx said the lease is the smallest part of this deal. The program is a state funded state run program. The county only has anything do with it because of the building. It is important to keep in mind that Rite of Passages proposal was kicked out because of its contingencies with getting Page 10 of 54 SENSITIVE Brown County Shri’ C This report is property ofthe Brown C ‘ithe nor is contents may be disseminated outside the agency to which itis loaned52. 33. 34, 35. 56. the state’s contract. This contract is not all inclusive to one agency, but many awards can be handed out. . Paxx said he never got the impression that Judge West was trying to g0 around anything. Pax thought six weeks ago when he came out that he was going to be able to start work. Jim Hill thought that to, but Judge West told them they couldn’t start for 30 days until he put it out for bids because he couldn’t award them the bid yet. The {judge told them it had to be published for a couple of weeks in a Paper. Judge West said that another company in Arizona had shown interest and so it was only fair to send them a letter and he would put it out in the paper. Paxx said he believed that West did send Rite of Passage and G4S a letter. Paxx understood that their bid was on a lease agreement and not how to run the program. Paxx said he read it in the newspaper like everyone else that Rite of Passage wanted Unit I on the hill which was not part of the deal. Paxx knew that the bid had just been awarded yesterday, but he had also been working on the project for over three weeks. He stated that G4S called him yesterday and said that they were clear to work on the rest of the building. G4S intention was to fix up the building and have been planning that. G4S has had ads in the paper, and already have plans to have a job fair on the 19". They do this anytime they are planning on opening one. There were several projects for G4S in Tennessee where G4S had him working on the buildings before they ever had a deal with the counties. Paxx said that there was another one that he worked on and GS didn’t get the lease. Paxx got pulled off the job after doing $80,000 worth of work. Paxx said G4S is just doing business and not trying to pad anybody's pocket, Paxx stated that West told them that they could not start for 30 days and Jim Hill asked West if they could at least get started on the part of the building for the county, because G4S could not even start on their part until Probation was moved into their new area. Probation was in an area that was going to be G4S and would hold up the progress if they waited. Judge West ultimately agreed for them to start, which was during the ongoing bid process. Page 11 of $4 SENSITIVE Brown County Sheriff's Office This eport is property ofthe Brown Couoty Shexf?'sG Neither it nor its contents may be disseminated outside the agency to which is loaned.37. 58. 59. 60. 61 02, Pax said that he would be completed with the Probation’s side of stuff by a week from Wednesday on March 20, Paxx said that G4S is not pushy but they want an answer. Jim Hill told West to let them get started on the county’s side of things. There was money already there. JR had got the money and it was not general fund money and had nothing to do with the eommissioner’s. Paxx said that his understanding was that information came from JR and that Judge West was acting on that information, The money was in the Probation’s budget from last year that the ‘commissioner's had nothing to do with appropriating it or passing it. It was in the budget and it was below $50,000 and it was up to the judge to spend it. Paxx said it was laid out at the beginning with pretty legal standard in his opinion. 1 found it important that a contractor would know this much detail about money, county process, and polities. Not that Paxx was uneducated, but it gave me the impression that all of this had been discussed in an effort to avoid getting the Commissioner's Court involved or notifying the public that it was an ongoing agreement with a company competing for a lease. Paxx then stated that he has a contract on every job he does. He began to explain his bill rate and how it works. He said that he bills every couple of weeks by sending G4S a bill, Paxx said that Jim Hill told him to send his bill to G4S and he would take care of it so Paxx would not have a cash flow problem. Paxx understood that Jim Hill would take care of billing the county. Paxx said he has a standing contract with G4S but he understood the money was coming from the county to G48. This understanding would be in line with the original sealed proposal that G4S submitted for Brown County to pay $50,000, but later in light of the controversy over the work and the money, G4S removed it as a requirement for the lease. They also absorbed the cost of the entire project including work already performed which the legality of it was in question. By doing so, it could be considered a effort to benefit Ray West by him avoiding legal ramification for his unauthorized actions and misrepresentation to the Commissioner's Court of the contingency in place by Rite of Passage. Paxx said he was told that when you get to Brownwood your working for the county and you answer to Lisa Ritter, Lisa Ritter is Page 12 of S4 se E Brown County Sheets Office This report i property of the Brown County Sheriff's Office. Neither it nor its contents may be disseminated outside the agency to which iis loaned63, 64. 65. 66. 67. 68. 69. the new Director of Juvenile Probation. Paxx said that none of G4S’s staff has been in Brownwood since he started the work. Paxx said this all changed the other day. This would have taken place on March 7, 2013 after the bids had been opened, but before G4S's lease had been approved. He said that Commissioner Shaw came in all pissed off. Shaw asked Pax who he was. Shaw told Paxx, I have some questions. Paxx said that Judge West had called Paxx about thirty minutes before. West said there is a guy that gives me political hell, Paxx named Joe Cooksey. West said if he comes out there tell him you work for me. Paxx said Joe Cooksey came out and walked all around, but never talked to anyone. Cooksey went to town and told Shaw that GAS was working out there. When Shaw came out and asked Paxx who he worked for, he told them Ray West and he was the one that set this up. Shaw asked Paxx if he knew who G4S was and Paxx said he told him, I do after today but was just joking by that remark, Shaw did not like that comment. Paxx said he never intended on lying to Shaw, but Shaw said to Pax so you never worked for them before, and Paxx told Shaw that he was working for the county and being paid for by the county. Pax said that Shaw dropped it and he, Paxx, really didn’t know what to answer or not to answer. It was at this point that Judge West began to argue that he had the authority to hire anybody as the Board Chair for the Brown and Mills County Juvenile Probations. West had never at this point even discussed cost or the project, labor, material, or bill out rate of Paxx. Paxx said he didn’t know what angle everyone was working and he didn’t want to get involved. Shaw said that he believed the commissioners should have been involved in this, Shaw apologized and said for Paxx to not worry that he would get paid, but it was unclear if they were legally bound to pay or if G4S can pay and if they did would that be considered a gift to the county, Lasked him if he gave a bill to the county. Paxx said that it was right before that and he gave a bill to Lisa Ritter. The Judge had called Lisa and said he wanted to see how much was being spent. Paxx said that a much more detailed bill had already been sent to Page 13 of $4 Brown County Sherif’ OMfice This repor is property ofthe Brown County Sherif?'s ‘either it nor it contents may be disseminated outs the ageney to which itis loaned.70. n 2B. 14. GAS and the bill he gave Lisa was a summary. He said that his wife does the billing and she just changed the name on the cover sheet, and sent it to him and to Lisa, I later received a copy of this bill itis attachment #13. It is important to note that the summary bill Paxx sent the county is dated February 28, 2013. Lasked him how that worked if he sent the bill to two places. Paxx said he called Jim Hill and Hill told him he didn’t eare if the Judge seen what was being done and Paxx knew that the bill was already being process by G4S for payment. Paxx said that this happened right before Shaw came over and his personal opinion was that Judge West knew the shit was about to hit the fan and he was just trying to explain. Up until this point of the construction, West has had no concern about the cost or paying because the bills are to be going to G4S. In an effort to cover this up, he must get his hands on some type of paperwork. . Paxx said I was billing G4S because that’s where his contract was. Paxx said that after Cooksey and Shaw came out that Judge West ‘came out. Paxx said he stuck his nose in it. He asked West if he was really going to pay him because he felt that G4S was going to pay him all along. From the beginning he felt that if they got the Tease that G4S would figure it out with West and if they didn’t get the lease they would figure it out too. G4S would just walk away from the job. Paxx said he was told that there was $50,000 appropriated for it and that the carpet and a $1000 to pay for the generator repairs came out of it. Jim Hill had told Paxx to not worry about it and if he went over the budget that Hill would take care of the bill. Jim Hill wanted Paxx to do a good job and Hill was not worried about staying on budget. Paxx doesn’t feel that Hill had told the Judge that, but Paxx felt that Hill and West had it all worked out ahead of time. Jim Hill told Paxx that he would pay him and get reimbursed from West. Paxx said when the whole summary bill thing came up that Paxx did not expect West to pay him because he has no contract with the county for the work. Paxx said he told the judge that he could not just write him a check because there was no contract. Paxx said that West didn’t even know what his bill out rate was before he started work. Page 14 of 54 SENSITIVE Frown County Sheril's Office This report is property ofthe Brown County Sheriff's Office Neither it nor its contents may be disseminated outside ‘the agency to whieh it is loaned75: 16. 7. 2B. 79. 80. Paxx said that this was his first bill out his wife had sent and she would send another one out tomorrow for around $20,000. The first bill was for $35,000 and some change. This would put the project as of March 12, 2013 over the $50,000 bid threshold and there was still one more week of work. Pax had stated that he does not bill in advance ot require money up front. This logic would dictate that additional money would be owed for the project after another week and would be over $55,000 total for sure. This work was just for the Brown County Probation side of the building, Paxx stated that Judge West came out between court sessions on March 11, 2013 with a reporter. Paxx and West spoke in private after that. West told him that he had called the Texas Association of Counties in executive session in court and they told him that he had approval to authorize the work to be done. Paxx said that this was how he knew about the money and where the money was to come from. He understood the money was from last year’s budget. West said that they all worked it out, and the lease was approved. West told Paxx to not worry about him because he was resilient, Paxx said he wasn’t worried about West. Paxx said that West just offered all of this to him and from that he could tell that West was fearful that he had over stepped his bounds enough that he had to explain himself to a carpenter on the job. West asked Paxx if he wanted him to call him that afternoon after the lease was approved. Paxx told him to call G4S. Paxx said call Jim Hill and I'll get my information from him. Paxx recapped that at the start of this that West told them that they could not start until the lease was put out for bid and the commissioners had to approve it and was specific that he could not approve it. Paxx said if anything he belived Jim Hill was just excited about the deal and wanted to jump in and figure it out the details later. Hill is the type to give the acceptance speech before he has been elected Paxx stated that West told them they had to wait and go through the bid process and wait until it was approved. Paxx stated that West knew all of that, but he guessed that the issue was West letting them start the work, which he did. Paxx did say that they had to stay on this side of the double doors. He was told he was working for the county and it was being paid by the money that had been appropriated for this. This would indicate that West wanted them to Page 15 of 54 SENSITIVE, Brown County Sherils Office This report is property ofthe Brown County Sherif Ofte. eri nor its contents may be disseminated outside the agency to which is loan82, 83, 84, 85. 86. 87. only do work on the Brown County Probations portion of the building, At some point during the initial stages of the meeting before the project started, Pax indicated that the Judge went from being adamant that no work could be started before the lease was awarded to allowing them to work only on the Brown County Probation side of the building. Regardless of West thinking the repairs to the Probations side of the building was part of Phase I of the proposal. By allowing the work to be conducted outside of competitive bid process for the work which will exceed $50,000, being unfair to any other company competing for the lease, and keeping this from the commissioner's court, West enter into compliance with a contract from a company submitting a competitive bid. asked for a copy of the bill and contract, Paxx stated that the contract is an old standing contract with G4S and it was just a standard billing contract. It was nothing specific to this job. Paxx then made arrangements to email me a copy of the summary bill he emailed to Lisa Ritter. (Attachment #13) In later review of the bill, it was dated February 28, 2013 and addressed to Att. Ray West. It totaled $35,831.62. Lasked him for work specs for the job, and Paxx was just told to keep Lisa happy. She had drawn some stuff on paper and would jjust tell them colors of paint if they needed it. Paxx then provided me with his identifying information and a card for contacting. He later called my office and left a phone number for Jim Hill, I then went to the Juvenile Probation to visit with them. I first greeted two janitorial staff and then spoke to Probation Officer Melissa Gomez and asked for Lisa Ritter. | told Ritter that I was just getting enough information to pass along to an agency that may want to investigate this complaint. Ritter said that they had gotten this all straightened out yesterday by calling TAC, I further told her that the other complaint was that G4S was doing work before they ever received the contract. Ritter then said that they were not. ‘The contractor was working for Brown County. I asked her how it look that Paxx works for G4S. Page 16 of 54 SENSITIVE Brown County Sheriff's Office This report is property of the Brown County Sherif’s Office. Neither it nor its contents may be disseminated outside the ageney to whieh i is loaned88. 89. oO. 93. She stated that he was hired because he knows so much about correctional facilities. Itis also important to note that historically and traditionally that when work is being conducted on Brown County Property or purchase with Brown County Funds the Commissioner's Court and Judge West is adamant about hiring local business to keep tax dollars local. On some occasions when options are better or talent does not exist locally for a job, we are known to look outside of Brown County. With this in mind the company that was the general contractor on the construction of the Brown County Jail isa local ‘well repeatable company based out of Brown County. Not only do they have the knowledge they have worked for the county, This is an excuse that does not hold merit other than to hidethe requirements of G4S’ proposed lease agreement to have the sole authority to hire their own contractor. I asked Ritter to explain the funding of Juvenile Probation. Ritter stated that they were state and county funds that help to operate the Juvenile Probation Department. I asked her about the renovation funds and if they were from the state. Ritter said that the $50,000 came from the state and they are calling it reimbursement money. It is money that came from TJJD and if they did not spend it they would lose it, TJID allocated it to us. I asked her if that meant Probation or Brown County. She said she did not understand that. Ritter stated that she has not been very excited about budget stuff until budget, time. She stated that she has not really been involved in budget stuff enough to know what money comes from where to operate Juvenile Probation, She did say that groceries and detention staff is paid out of local funds, but there are other funds that pay to send kids to post adjudication facilities. She could not tell about this money for the renovations as to if it was state or county funds. Ritter said she knows it is separate because one of the things that she talked to Nina Cox about was that the state audits every year in September. Nina Cox is the Brown County Auditor. Ritter talked to Cox about buying some exercise equipment and Cox told her she had $20,000 in county funds left so she could get the equipment. Page 17 of S4 Brown County This report is property ofthe Brown County Sherif’s Office Neither it nor its contents may'be disseminated outside the agency to which it is loaned95. 96. 97. 98. Ritter stated that her mileage for travel goes before the Commissioner's Court so she really doesn’t understand it all either. Ritter said that she had asked JR Williams about the budget and he ‘would tell her that Nina Cox just does what Nina does and she knows where it goes and comes from. Ritter said she talked to West about this whole problem on Monday the 11" and he told her that he called TAC and they told him he was okay. 1 brought up the G4S program. She said that part of the lease was that Brown County would get a couple of beds at a reduced rate, 1 asked her who pays G4S for their services. She explained that these facilities are just short of TYC and instead of the state paying for kids to TYC the state pays for the kids to go to these facilities. 1 asked her who decided where the kids should go and she said Ray West is pretty good about letting them put them where they can put them, Usually there is a court order though. The beds are all about the same which is $98 dollars a day, but its state money. In TYC the state pays about $300 a day but private is $98 per day. Itis my understanding that the County Judge who acts as the Juvenile Judge has the authority to send juveniles to different facilities. With Judge West having the latitude to send kids to G4S ‘and commit state funds it would appear to me that him removing himself from the appearance of improprieties would be very important. With the understanding that it is a good idea to have a working knowledge of companies programs, visiting them on paid trips and negotiation contracts without any other oversight brings intentions to question. I then spoke to Ritter about Rite of Passage and their program. Ritter said that everyone wanted them because there program was better. Ritter stated that they wanted Ron Jackson Unit I. She said that this unit was not available. It is the unit operated next door by the TJD. Ritter said that even in their bid Rite of Passage wanted Ron Jackson Unit L. I told her that I did not see that in their bid She then said that she never saw it, but they read it in Commissioner's Court. I did not understand why the Director of Juvenile Probation would have never seen a lease proposal from agencies that would be working in and occupying space under the same roof as her agency. Page 18 of S4 SENSITIVE Brown County Sherif’s Office This repo is proper of the Brow County Sheri’ Offic. [Neither it no its contents may be disseminated outside the agency to whieh iis loaned.It would make since to me that a director in her position would have more control over the negations and at least have better knowledge of the terms of the lease. 100.1 told her that the only thing in the bid was the contingency of getting the state contract. She said that the Commissioners had no way of knowing if that contract would happen, but she thought Rite of Passage wanted the physical facility. 101.1 then ended my conversation with Ritter. The preceding comments and statements are not a complete transcript of the conversations but synopisis and conclusion of comments based on review during the writing of this report. Investigative conclusions are also a part of . For a complete accurate account of the interviews refer to attachment # 12. 102, On March 12, 2013, I received a call from Lt. Johnny Thomas with the Office of the Inspector General. I returned his call. Thomas advised he was the supervisor of investigators assigned over TJJD. He had received an email complaint from a Joe Cooksey that was alleging that JR Williams a TJJD employee had taken paid trips out of town by private companies to view their facilities. 103.1 advised him that as far as 1 knew the trips that were taken were during the time that JR Williams was employed with Brown County. Thomas stated that this answered his question. I explained to him a synopsis of the complaint and he stated that he had nothing to do with this type of complaint and his main concern was JR. Williams’ involvement as a TJJD employee. 1 asked him if Williams had control over awarding contracts under the RFP through TJJD and he stated that he did not. We then ended our phone call. 104.1 then called a Captain Greg Lucas the Law Enforcement liaison with the Texas Attorney General’s Office. I asked him how to request an investigation and prosecution by the Texas Attorney General's Office. He provided me with the detailed information which was to write a request to the Director of Law Enforcement Clete Buckallo. In the request allege the offense with enough information to determine the need for an investigation. List the suspect and their position. Have the request signed by the agency head, and speak with the local district attorney. Have the Dist Attorney determine if they will prosecute or would request, prosecution from the Attomey General's Office. Page 19 of $4 SENSITIVE Brown County Sheriff's Office This repor is property ofthe Brown County Sherif?'s Office Neither it nor its contents may be disseminated outside the ageney to which it is loaned@ q 105.On March 12, 2013, I called a Marie Culpepper from Rite of Passage. I spoke with Sandra Kelly and Lynda Kyhl. Both advised that Culpepper was out of the office for Spring Break and neither knew of the contract proposal with Brown County. I was advised that Susan Schultz would call me the following day. 106.On March 13, 2014, I spoke to Kent Moe, the President of Rite of | Passage’s Mountain Region. [asked him if he was familiar with the issues that were going on in Brown County. Moe stated that he had heard from someone that lives in Brownwood about it. | assumed it was Joe Cooksey. Moe then said it was the mother of one of their employees. The mother lives in Brownwood and had read the paper. The paper read that they had lost the bid because they wanted Ron Jackson Unit 1 107.1 asked Moe if this was a contingency. Moe stated that it was not and they knew that Brown County did not have control over this, facility. Unit II was the only facility up for consideration. 108, Moe stated that they had submitted their proposal for lease at the last minute, but knew that it was just for the lease of a building. It ‘was not to detail the remaining operational issues. Moe did state that they put in the contingency of getting the States approval of their RFP and due to the timeline they expected to hear something from the state on March, 25, 2013. 109.1 asked him if anyone called him from Brown County to talk to him about his bid for the lease. Moe said, no, Moe stated he called Ray West about the newspaper article and West told him that the reason their bid was not considered was because of the third party involvement (TJJD). West further stated that the comments about Unit I being the reason of losing the bid was conjecture by media and polities, but this was not the reason. 110. At no time did anyone from Brown County ask Moe to readdress his proposal or explain the contingencies. 111.1 asked Moe if receiving the TJJD contract was a crucial part of them operating in Brown County, and he said yes it was. I asked him if the same applied to G4S. Moe stated that G4S had the ability to operate without the contract. Page 20 of S4 Brown County Sherif?s Office This repor is property ofthe Brown County Sherif’s Office ‘either it nor its contents may be disseminated outside ‘the agency to whieh itis loaned@ @ 112.1 asked him about his contingency #2 which referred to housing at- risk youth for TJJD. Moe stated that the way he understood, the sealed bid was just for the lease of the building. It was not to negotiate terms of housing or how a program would be operated. This contingency was to simply state that more negations were needed in that area. 113. L asked him if he knew that G4S was doing construction on the facility prior to the bids being opened. Moe sounded shocked and said that he did not. A few minutes later, he asked me to clarify that comment, and I told him that G4S was doing work to one side of the building for the Juvenile Probation Department. 114.1 then asked him if losing this lease was going to hurt him or Rite of Passage. Moe stated that they received a lease on another facility in Crockett, Texas and there were no competing bids there so they would just operate out of that facility if they received the approval of their RFP. 115.Moe could tell where I was going and he said that he wanted to be clear that they did not feel like victims in this matter and did not want to be a part of'a complaint. It is a matter of opinion that the facility in Crockett, Texas will fill the needs of Rite of Passage. My concerns with his lack of willingness to be a part of the complaint had anything to do with Ray West position in the past with Texas Juvenile Probation or JR Williams current position of Senior Director of Juvenile Probation of THID. 116.1 then ended my call with Moe and advised him that it would be possible that someone else may need to talk to him about this matter. 117.On March 14, 2013, I, Captain Tony Aaron, spoke to Judge Kirk Fulk. Fulk is the Mills County Judge and also sits on the Brown and Mills County Juvenile Justice Board. Fulk was unaware of the ongoing stigma around the G4S contract. 118.1 made him aware in part and then asked him if he was aware of the work going on at the facility. Fulk advised that he knew that work was going to be need to be completed but was unaware of it being ongoing. 119.1 asked him if he knew that G4S had their contractor out there doing the work. Fulk stated that he was unaware of this. I asked him if he Page 21 of 54 SENSITIVE, Brown County Shetl's Office This report is property ofthe Brown County Sherif?s Of ‘Neither it mors contents maybe dseminaed ouside the agency to whieh itis aaned‘was aware of the $50,000 improvement fund. Fulk stated that he ‘was unaware of this as well. 120. Fulk stated he had missed the last meeting of the board which was to hire Lisa Ritter and did not know if any of this was covered in that meeting. I asked him if he knew of a contingency with Rite of Passage wanting Unit | with Unit IL, and he stated that he had heard that sometime back, but stated he had not seen their bid for the lease. This ended my interview with him, 121. The $50,000 dollars of improvement funds that keeps coming up to this point has not been confirmed to exist, and the knowledge of its existence was unknown to the members of the Brown and Mills County Juvenile Probation Board, and the Brown County Commissioner's Court with the exception of Judge Ray West until March 4, at the Commissioner's Court meeting. However Paxx Burk and Lisa Ritter both spoke of it as common knowledge. 122.On March 14, 2013, I reviewed the recording of the ‘Commissioner's Court meeting on March 4, 2013. (attachment #18) This was the meeting when the bids were first opened and reviewed. The record held by the County Clerk will reflect who ‘was present from the court. While this meeting is occurring, G4S's contractor is working on the Juvenile Probation Department. This fact is not known by anyone on the Commissioner's Court or the Auditor other than Judge Ray West. Director of Juvenile Probation Lisa Ritter who is also present in the courtroom is however aware of the work going on at her facility. 123. Judge West states that he wants to point out the second paragraph of the Rite of Passage’s proposal. He is referring to attachment #3. ‘West said he had sent letters to each competing company and told them to contact West or Lisa Ritter for the spe 124. These specs have not been seen by anyone other than these two and. anyone calling to get them. At this point, I have not confirmed it, but the County Clerk does not have them either. 125. West states the first contingency in the contract “being awarded contract from TIID to provided secure residential specialized program services through the competitive bid process.” 126. West said that since he was associated with TJJD and JR Williams works for them that the state and Brown County are one big happy Page 22 of 54 SENSITIVE, Brown County Sherf?s Office This repo is property ofthe Brown County Sherif’s Oi. ‘Nether it ort eontets may be dsseminated outside the agency to which i fanedfamily. West said he knows that TJJD submitted a RFP and the deadline was February, 28, 2013, and West deadline was March 1, 2013, 127. West offers no explanation to the court what the RFP is. An explanation of this would be important to the court because it is the basis of their listed contingency in their proposal. Instead Ray West ‘goes into an explanation and reason to reject their bid that is not based on the proposal itself. 128, West stated that Rite of Passage made it clear to them that they are not interested in Ron Jackson II unless they get Ron Jackson I. This statement is not apart of Rite of Passages proposal or a contingency in the proposal. West continues to say that he knows from the people in charge of TJD that this is not going to happen, 129. West asked Lisa Ritter if she knows anyt she says no. 1¢ different than that and 130, From my understanding of speaking with Lisa Ritter, she had never seen the contract proposal and did not act as if she had any personal knowledge of the terms of either contract. 13 . West said he asked the people that make the decision and they said no way no how. Ron Jackson Unit I is not going to be privatized. West then says that’s now me saying that its hearsay so don’t go crazy with that. That's the understanding that’s been conveyed to me, West say I want you to be particularly cognizant of that condition, 132, West throws in the hearsay comment quickly and moves on by telling the court to be cognizant of that condition. When listening to the recording in real time it is almost like a quick disclaimer, but with hopes that no one is listening. 133. West then says to take a look at this one. He is referring to G4S"s proposal (attachment #4). West suggesting to take a recess and come back before lunch with a decision. West said to make sure that it doesn’t have the same limitations to it. West says, “ because iffit does I'm just Wow.” Commissioner Shaw asked about G4S"s proposal. He says, “so you feel that they will take Unit II without Unit I” West responds that’s what I’m saying we need to make sure that they haven’t put the same limitations on it as Rite of Passage. Page 23 of $4 SENSITIVE own County Sheri's Office This report is property ofthe Brown County Sherif’ Ofce ‘either ieno ts contents maybe disseminated outside the agency to which I loaned134, At no time during this proposal does West critique the G4S"s proposal even thought it contains $50,000 payment on the part of the county for renovations that he has already authorized and is ongoing during this meeting. 135.Nina Cox the auditor asked West where does it say that. She is referring to the contingency to have Unit I, West ask what, Cox repeats herself, where does it say that? West says where is there home office at? Cox says again no, where does it say that. West says I don’t know where their home office is and then he stops talking. It is note worthy that West visited Rite of Passage in Arizona. It would be feasible that if he took the time to visit the agency that he would have knowledge of where its home office is located. This was a clear attempt by West to avoid answering her question, 136. Commissioner Kelton says right there. Commissioner Shaw says it doesn’t really say that does it Ray. West does not answer him, Kelton then says what we need to do is bring the county attormey down here. West says that he thinks that he is a little more familiar with contracts than the County Attomey. Kelton said what I’m saying is that he would see things in here that I’m not familiar with 137. West advises Kelton that what you're going to look for is anything like this, this letter is contingent upon. Worley says the contingent word. West says yea that isa bad word, They did not formally recess at Judge West's suggestion. They just informally recessed and scheduled to come back at 11:00. It is also note worthy that nowhere in the G4Ss proposal (attachment #4) is the term “contingent” used however there are conditions to its proposal. 138, When they came back in session, West said that we first need to ook at the Rite of Passage proposal and suggest a motion to reject the proposal because it is expressly conditional on an action that we have no authority over. That condition is that TIJD will award a contract to operate Ron Jackson Unit I. Commissioner Worley asked West, “What this says is that they do not want Ron Jackson Unit II unless that get Unit 1. West says that is correct. Worley then moves that they reject that proposal (attachment #3) all together. Commissioner Trayweek seconds and all vote in favor of that rejection. Page 24 of S4 SENSITIVE Brown County Sheti's Office This report is property of the Bross County Seri Offic. Neither itnor ts contents maybe scninaed outside the agency to whieh iis loaned139, West then begins to review G4S’s proposal and says that he has been talking to G4S and Rite of Passage about their proposals. He then gets into explaining that there is $50,000 of state money for projects like this that can be used. 140. West state this is the money that was being used for carpet and the generator. West states that he does not have a problem using this $50,000 to give to GAS less the expenses for the carpet and the generator. 141. Commissioner Trayweek asked if the money was for the courthouse or other areas. West says no, that money is strictly juvenile money. West points out the typo on page 10 where landlord is in place of where tenant should be. 142. Kelton asked what the lease for the building was worth if there was no need for improvements. West says the building could not be ‘occupied without work. Commissioner Kelton then asked but if it was in shape what would it be worth. West says he does not know but it’s not going to be in shape because Brown County does not have the money. 143. There is discussions about the $1 a year charge and other conditions of their concerns. Commissioner Kelton states there is a lot we need to work out. Commissioner Kelton continues to ask the value of renting this place. After five years can they renew for the same amount. Kelton gives the example of renting a house to a person for work they do on the house. After awhile they have stayed there Jong enough to get their money back, but you don’t keep them living there for free. 144. West then begins talking about maintenance. Kelton brings up the utilities. West says our options are to leave it vacant or lease it. It ‘may not gain us anything but probations offices and beds. I agreed that this proposal would have to be rewritten. 145. Nina Cox then asked “If we let these people (G48) redo their bid do we let the other people (Rite of Passage) redo their bid”. West answers “No”. They have told us personally they don’t want the building without Ron Jackson I. West says, “I'll be glad to call them up and tell them, We've already rejected that bid. End of Story”. Nina Cox then says, Just asking. West says, We can recess and take this up at a later time, Kelton says we are going to have to. ‘West says we don’t have to reject it or have to accept it. Page 25 of S4 SENSITIVE Brown County Sherif"'s Office This report is propery of the Brown County Sheri's Office. Neither itor is contents may be disseminated outside the agency to which is loaned146. West says that he would be glad to contact Rite of Passage an they can submit unconditionally then they can submit it. West said Sa little late in the game to reject this one (G4S) because we would have to repost and go back out for bids. Kelton says well we are rejecting it as it is. West says we can recess and take it up at a later time, 147. Judge West must have been upset at this time because you can hear Amy Hamrick, the Commissioner's Administrative Assistant say, “He's fixin to go off on Joel”. Meaning Commissioner Kelton. It is obvious that Judge West was upset that the lease did not get accepted due to concerns that are much more in depth in the G4S contract, 148. County Clerk Sharon Ferguson asked West if they rejected the one bid. He says they did. Commissioner Trayweek makes a motion to recess until March 11, 2013. Commissioner Shaw seconded. 149. Based on conversations with Moe from Rite of Passage, Judge West did not contact him, but Moe contacted West. West represented the opposite reason to Moe for his contract getting rejected than he did in the courtroom. Moe also stated nothing about West giving him the option to resubmit a proposal or explain his further to the court. 150, The preceding narrative is a synopsis of my review of the recording as well as investigative synopsis based on other information learned during the course of the investigation. For a complete accurate account of the proceedings refer to attachment #16. 151.On March 14, 2013, at approximately 2:00 p.m., I along with Chief Deputy Bobby Duvall met with Nina Cox the Brown County Auditor at our office. This interview was recorded. For a complete record of this interview see attachment #17 152. Nina Cox stated from her perspective it started by last August 2012. Cox stated that there were additional funds for residential placement of the juvenile probations. TJJD was going to allocate the money back to Brown County. Because of how the probation department is funded, it received both state and county funds. The state funds are traditionally used first then the county funds towards the end of the budget. Cox found out that she had charged stuff to county funds that could have been charged to state funds. Page 26 of S4 SENSITIVE Brown County Sherif’s Office is report is property ofthe Brown County Sherif's Office. Nether it nor its contents may be disseminated outside the agency to whieh iis loaned153. The state allowed her to charge back funds that had been spent. Cox credited the local funds and debited the state funds, Because we get to keep local funds that is where the approximately $50,000 came from, 154.In tradition of the county budget process, all local funds not expended by a department are placed back in general fund for proper consideration during the budget planning for the next budget year. I have not confirmed at this time if there are restrictions on this state reimbursement funds that would require them to be held in juvenile probation. 155, Needless to say during the budget year although this money was in reserve within the juvenile accounts, it was never discussed in the commissioners’ budget meetings to my knowledge which allowed for the Juvenile Probation to receive its normal annual budget from both the state and county. It also retained this reimbursement money without the knowledge of the Commissioner's Court, 156. The existence of it was known by at least Judge Ray West, JR. Williams, Lisa Ritter, Nina Cox, and the outside auditor. 157.In the new budget Cox did not put money into the budget because she knew it was there. Cox stated that expenditures are signed off by her and the Juvenile director. It was questioned as to who knew this fund existed, She said Judge West, Duvall asked if the Juvenile Board would have, and she said she would not go so far as to say they would have known. It would have been Ray West and James Ray William, 158. Cox said that Williams did not call the meetings of the Juvenile board like they were supposed to, and they did not keep minutes like they should have. In clarifying the $50,000 dollars, Cox states that the money at this point and time is in the Brown and Mills County Juvenile fund account as local money, but the state has no control over it 159. The Commissioner's Court does not get involved in paying most of the Juvenile Probations bills. Cox said that some items such as the roof or the air conditioner have gone before the Commissioner's Court because they are supplementing it, 160. Nina Cox said that the Juvenile Probation Department is audited by an outside auditor. That auditor is Burl Lowery. Cox hires him and Page 27 of $4 SENSITIVE Brown County Sheti's Oftce This report is propery ofthe Brown County Sheri’ Oi ‘either itnor ts contents maybe disseminated outside the ageney to whieh iis loanedhe does the audit and sends it to the state and they compare it to her audit. | later retrieved attachment #15 and she stated that this was the outside audit. 161.Cox stated that her son works part-time for Juvenile Probation and they had called him to come in and help do some work. Cox said she knew that they were doing some work, but had no clue that a company had come it and was doing remodeling until Lisa Ritter came in and talked about new walls that were being put up and stuff. Cox knew something was wrong. Cox said it was a couple of weeks ago and she said that she would just see what would come of it. 162. Cox stated the first time she really knew something was going on with the lease was when Jamie Madison, Jamie Madison is Judge Ray West secretary, brought her the bid noticed. 163.Cox stated that the whole time she thought that whoever got the bid would come in and do all the work, for the county, to repair and renovate the building. Cox believed the money that was in the fund was to just do stuff like the carpet and rubber matting. 164, Cox said the generator stuff was going through Commissioner's Court. Cox said the first bill was $1200. Each of the bids were between $1200-$1600. 165.Cox stated that she did not understand why or how West told them to start the construction, Cox guessed that it may have started by February 15", She knew this because her son, Hunter, works out there and he could not work. 166. Duvall tried to get the bid process nailed down. Cox stated that the bids did not go through court prior to being opened on March 4. The specs were to be received from Judge West or Lisa Ritter. West did not even go before the court before going out for bids on the county owned building. 167. It was clarified that Judge West acts in two capacities. One as the ‘County Judge and the other as the Chairman of the Brown and Mills County Juvenile Probation Board. 168. Cox states that the she agrees that the building belongs to the county. Cox believes that because the building belongs to the Page 28 of 54 SENSITIVE. Brown County Sheriffs Office This eport is property ofthe Brown County Sherls Office. Neither i no ts contents may be discminaed outside the agency to whichis loanedcounty that any repairs or construction would go before the ‘commissioners. 169.Cox stated when West gave her the bid notice she thought that the process was going to be between companies and the Juvenile Board and not the county. 170.Cox stated that on the 4"" when the bids were opened she questioned West on the contingency. Cox said that West left the opinion with the court that there was a contingency of Rite of Passage having both Ron Jackson units. 171.Cox said that West got mad at her when they broke from the meeting, and while walking out, West told her to shut her mouth. Cox stated that he does not like her to question him, 172.Cox stated that West told her later when she questioned him about the work going on at the probation office that the department head has the ability to make those decisions. Cox said she did not agree with him about that, but at any rate West was not the department head of Juvenile Probation. Lisa Ritter is the department head. West argued that he was the chairman of the board. Cox added that this does not mean the he is the department head. 173.1 asked her about the Juvenile Board's ability to make decisions separate and apart from the Commissioner's Court. Cox pointed out that the board hired Lisa Ritter and set her salary without the Commissioner’s Court. I then followed up with her that in that tradition it would make sense that the board might could have made the decision to hire and begin construction. She agreed with that. 174.Cox knew that the board did not know anything about it, but West said that the board was unanimous behind him. Cox remembers that this statement was made in his office. She thought it might have been West, Joe! Kelton, and Wayne Shaw or it might have been Worley that were present, She said she could not remember. 175. This was not however the truth because after speaking to all of the ‘members none of them remember anything about ongoing construction or approving construction, or the existence of $50,000. 176. She thought this was later the afternoon of the 4" but was not sure. She later decided this conversation took place on the 6", Page 29 of 54 SENSITIVE Brown County Sherif’ Office This report is property ofthe Brown County Sherf’s Office it nor comtens may be disseminated the ageney to whieh iis loaned177. We then switched to talking about the account the money was in, She said she did not think there was $50,000 because items had already came out of it. Some items such as a basketball goal and the bow flex came out of that fund, 178. Nina Cox said that she was off sick on the 7” and 8". She thinks the meeting was on the 6" about West having unanimous decision of the Juvenile Board. She also remembers talking to him about letting one company modify their bid but not letting the other company. Cox said that in this meeting there was discussion about the $50,000 and at this point West brought up the work already being done at the Probation Offices. 179.1 asked her if West mentioned, on this date, that it was G4S doing the work. Cox said that West said and still maintains that it was a contractor that they use but he was hiring local people to do the work. The person that does the work is not an employee of G4S but he works for them all over the country. They knew that if they did not get the contract that we were going to pay them back. Cox said she was over the threshold for taking bids. 180. Cox said that the first time she saw the synopsis bill was on the 7" when she was off sick. Josie Contreras, Nina Cox’s assistant auditor, sent her a picture of the bill that Commissioner Shaw picked up from Kendal Kent, a Juvenile Probation Officer, when Shaw confronted the contractor on the job. 181. This is the bill that Paxx Burk said he sent to West at West request. The complete bill was sent to G4S. 182. Cox said she has not seen the true copy but West told her that he had it. Cox told West that he should not bring it to her because she ‘was not going to pay it. 183.Cox said she has talked to JR Williams. Williams is mad at West for messing up something that was going to be a good thing for Brown County. Cox said that Williams had been out of town since December 1. She was unsure of any communication between them. 184. Cox said that on the 12" that West said he was going to get on the agenda for paying the bill. West said that commissioners did not like that G4S was going to pay for everything as a donation. Commissioner Worley said it looked like we were taking a bribe to give them the contract. West said that they could get on the agenda Page 30 of 54 SENSITIVE, Brown County Sheriff's Office This report is property ofthe Brown County Sherif’ Otfce. ‘Neither itor its contents may be disscminaled outside the agency to which itis loanedand ratify the contract in order to pay the bill. West called TAC and asked them if'a contract could be ratified at a later date. 185.Cox said she does not agree because they cannot ratify an illegal contract. Cox stated she believed that the contract was renegotiated with G4S because she told West that she was not going to pay them because it was $50,000 above the bid requirement threshold. 186, On 03/15/2013, I, Captain Tony Aaron, received an agenda for Monday the 18". One of the items was to consider and possible approval of renovations to Brown County Juvenile Probation offices. Also is the consideration and possible approval of the lease for the Juvenile Justice Center. 187.1 asked her about how would Brown County pay a $35,000 bill with 1no quotes or idea of how the money was spent or even an estimate. I gave her a recent example of when the jail lost its hot water heater. The jail received estimates from several companies and presented those with recommendations and approvals. 188, Cox said that’s what he should have done before approving the work to start, Cox stated that when she saw the $50,000 dollars in the proposal that she knew we could not do that because of the bid threshold. 189. There was discussion over the differences between the two G4S contracts. 190.1 showed Cox attachment #15, Brown County Juvenile Probation Department Independent Auditor's Report Fiscal Year ending August 31, 2011, and attachment #14, State Financial Assistance Contract and General Grant Requirement 2012-2013 Biennium. Cox stated that #14 did not contain all the amendments. These amendments would be where the money was reimbursed to Brown County. | asked her to provide me with them and she stated that she would do so. She also pointed out the resolution page where it authorized West to sign the amendments. She agreed that this just gave him the authority to sign for the board. 191.Cox pointed out on attachment #14 page 4 it shows $299,002 in section 4.1.1.1. This amount was before the amendments. On attachment #15 page 4 the actual amount is $375,977.00. Cox stated that the differences between these two numbers would be the Page 31 of 54 SENSITIVE Drown County She's Office This report is property ofthe Brown County Sherif’ Ofc. ‘either itnor ts contents ay be dsseinaed outside the agency to whichis loanedamount awarded that year in amendments. Doing a calculation this is a difference of $76,375. 192. Some of this money was used to buy computers. Cox told me that we could get a report of all items taken and paid for out of these monies over the last six months, 193. Duvall asked about the trips that West took. Cox said that she knew that he went to Arizona twice. There were some charges to his county card that West alleges to be fraudulent for hotel charges. Cox said she did not believe any county money went out on those trips. Cox said Rite of Passage was in Arizona and G4 is in Florida. 194. We then ended our interview with Nina Cox. The preceding narrative is a synopsis of this interview. For complete accurate detail see attachment #17. 195.1 received a call from Nina Cox about 30 minutes later. It was Josie Contreras, Assistant County Auditor. She provided me with information on the credit card. She stated it was on January 21, 2013 and the charges where several charges for $601.44 on card number -5692 a Visa in the name of Brown County E. Ray West. The charges were to the Sheraton Wild Horse Pass in Chandler, AZ. Contreras stated that she reported the fraud and cancelled the card. These charges were brought to her attention by Jamie Madison, Judge West Admin Assistant. 196.1 was able to find a number for this hotel by looking them up online. I called and spoke to Christian Homan 520-796-8306. Homan stated he remembered the charges. The deal was that West had stayed with them in the past around October 2012. Rite of Passage paid for the room. In January, when Rite of Passage called to make reservations, it pulled the credit card profile up for West who must have been the last guest for Rite of Passage and billed the deposit for a three night stay for two rooms on that card. Homan said after checking into it he later reimbursed the charges. 197. The people who actually stayed in the rooms stayed on January 31° through February 3", Their names were Alexis Fleming and Alicia Davis. The charges were ultimately switched to an American Express card ending in 2000. Photographs of the charges to West card are attachment # 18. Page 32 of $4 SENSITIVE Brown County Sheriff's Office This reports property of the Brown County Sheriffs Neither it nor its contents may be disseminated outside the ageney to whieh itis loaned