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AUSTIN -- The state's tab for operations associated with the roundup of more than 460 youngsters from a polygamist sect's ranch in West Texas has already topped $14 million and a chunk of invoices for such expenses as overtime, travel and professional services have yet to be submitted, newly released records show.
A Star-Telegram review of more than 400 pages of invoices, travel receipts and state agency e-mails and spreadsheets obtained this week under state open records laws show that officials expect to pay more than $7 million for litigation stemming from the early April raid on the YFZ (Yearning For Zion) Ranch near Eldorado owned by the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.The Texas Attorney General Office is also being billed $110,000 for expenses related to the conducting of DNA testing on adults and children from the sect in an effort to positively identify the parents of every child who had been taken into custody.The costs add upThe raid on the YFZ Ranch sparked a legal skirmish that first resulted in a state district judge in San Angelo awarding Child Protective Services temporary custody of the children followed by the ruling by the Texas Supreme Court that resulted in the children being returned to their parents.But the raid also put in place a hastily arranged plan to provide first for the mass-shelter care for the children at centers in San Angelo, and then at numerous foster care facilities around the state. The roundup also forced a small army of CPS caseworkers, law enforcement officers, private volunteers and legal teams into action at both Tom Green and Schleicher counties and in Austin.Even though the state’s highest court ruled that officials had overstepped their authority in the mass roundup, Texas officials have maintained that they had uncovered clear evidence that the youngsters in the compound where teenage girls marry much older men were in imminent danger of abuse. And a spokeswoman for Gov. Rick Perry, who has defended the state’s action, insisted that the cost to taxpayers is justified."Any action taken to protect children is never misguided," said Krista Piferrer, Perry’s deputy press secretary.Squeezing dollarsThe documents released through the Texas Attorney General’s Office and the governor’s office show that state employees who were sent to Eldorado and San Angelo stayed mostly in moderately priced hotels such as La Quinta and Rodeway Inn. In many cases, employees sent e-mails to supervisors seeking permission before extending their stays or traveling between San Angelo and Eldorado.Employees who wished to rent automobiles submitted forms showing that the rentals would cost the state less than if they simply drove their vehicles and were reimbursed for the mileage.Litigation and facilitiesThe costs associated with legal work involving the custody of the children and potential criminal charges accounted for the bulk of the state spending to date, the documents show. The state expects to pay nearly $4.5 million in attorney’s fees, including for both lawyers representing the state's interests and lawyers appointed by the courts to assure that the children’s rights were safeguarded.
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