Tarrant County renews $120K security contract to provide deputy to appraisal district
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Tarrant County Commissioners voted Tuesday to continue a security contract with the Tarrant Appraisal District.
Under the contract, the appraisal district will pay the county nearly $120,000 for one security guard position provided through the Tarrant County Sheriff’s Office.
A representatives for the sheriff’s department said in an email Wednesday morning the cash will cover salary. Agenda documents said the sum will also include sick leave, worker’s compensation and vacation.
But is it needed for an entity that is not part of Tarrant County government? One commissioner doesn’t think so.
The Tarrant Appraisial District is one of only three non-county locations that receives security services from the sheriff’s office, a spokesperson for Tarrant County said. The county provides law enforcement patrols for Edgecliff Village and Haslet.
County Judge Glen Whitley, commissioner Gary Fickes and commissioner J.D. Johnson — all Republicans — voted to continue the contract. Democratic commissioners Roy Charles Brooks and Devan Allen voted against it.
The contract extension comes after an appraisal district meeting in June to address claims against Chandler Crouch, a Fort Worth real estate agent who helps homeowners with their protests. The meeting attracted a crowd of hundreds, and members of the sheriff’s department, who acted as security, prevented people from going inside as the temperature approached 100.
Brooks told commissioners he thought providing security for the appraisal district was not the best use of resources since it is not a Tarrant County location. Whitley disagreed.
While TAD is not a county entity, Whitley said, it’s an entity the county is partially responsible for.
Whitley told the court that the appraisal district’s chair requested additional security and that TAD had concerns with space in the already tight TAD meeting room.
He also made a nod toward security guard and constituent conduct at meetings.
“I encourage people dealing with people with respect, but it goes both ways,” Whitley said.
Resident LaVonne Cockerell told commissioners they should hold back on offering services to everyone until it creates a “gentle hands program,” citing the sheriff’s deputies who did not allow people into the TAD building at the emergency meeting.
Brooks told the Star-Telegram following the meeting that conduct from sheriff’s deputies and citizens at that same meeting was one of the reasons the county shouldn’t be involved.
“There are a number of reasons that it’s not the best use of them,” Brooks said. “And that’s one of them. Now, there’s too much conflict. We don’t need to be in the middle of that.”
A representative for TAD told the Star-Telegram in an email Wednesday afternoon that it was “cost prohibitive to maintain in-house security with armed commissioned peace officers” because of TAD’s size.
Prior to its agreement with Tarrant County Sheriff’s office, TAD had agreements with off-duty sheriff’s department and Fort Worth police personnel but not at the same time, the representative wrote.
Reporter Jess Hardin contributed to this report.
This story was originally published September 27, 2022 at 1:21 PM.
