Public hearing held regarding District Attorney budget cuts
Concerned citizens and administrators met in protest of Judge Daryl Fowler’s decision to make a 66% budget cut to District Attorney (DA) Robert Lassmann in a public hearing held during the Aug. 28 DeWitt County commissioners court meeting.
One of the main reasons for the DA’s budget cuts stem from his behavior which Fowler said “creates a hostile work environment.”
“An organization takes its direction from its leadership,” Fowler said. “If the leadership is poor, the organization will devolve to a poorly functioning organization. For several years, several of our elected officials and their employees have been verbally exposed to Mr. Lassmann’s explosive and bombastic behavior and on two occasions the commissioners court met in closed session to discuss the extent of the situation. He was publicly reprimanded for use of profanity and abusive language in the workplace on Oct. 25, 2021.”
Mr. Lassmann was the subject of another closed session of commissioners court on Feb. 13 to address additional complaints, but that session ended with no action under the advice of outside legal counsel.
The district attorney, assistant district attorney, and concerned citizens all feel that cutting the DA’s budget will lead to criminals going free and may affect the district’s ability to get grants.
“My goal here today was to get the funding restored,” Assistant District Attorney Timothy Poynter said. “My goal is to ensure that justice is properly administered. A reduction of 66% puts society in danger. When a police officer makes an arrest, by law, the defendant is released in 90 days unless an indictment is brought. With fewer attorneys, how will we make the deadlines? People are going to get hurt, people are going to get robbed, and people are going to die. That’s not dramatic, that’s just reality. The current budget is foolish and should be restored.”
Some protesters claimed this cut would affect the district’s ability to get future grants. However, sources at the Comptroller of Public Accounts believe an administrative action such as this will not impact the grant process.
In a private meeting with the auditor, her assistant, Mr. Lassmann and his assistant DA, Mr. Lassmann confided that he was not going to run for re-election in 2024, according to Judge Fowler.
“I made the comment that the counties (in the district) could save some money if he retired following the canvass of the primary election (in March 2024) rather than wait until Dec. 31, 2024,” Fowler said.
This cut was made at a special meeting on Aug. 14.
“I was never told that our budget was going to be cut,” Lassmann said. “My office has been busy prosecuting a case where a little girl had been raped over 500 times, we don’t have time to sit here and peruse county websites and look over budgets, we’re dealing with real world problems.”
After the public hearing, a restoration of one assistant district attorney in the amount of $101,485.24 was set in place to the appropriation of that office.
“The commissioners court determined a compromise was in order and elected to have the second assistant district attorney position restored in the budget that was adopted this afternoon (Aug. 29),” Fowler said.
“However, the two positions which seemed to add elements of disorder and discontent among DeWitt County officials were not restored.”
“But, it was very apparent as the budget discussions continued in the afternoon, the commissioners were moved by the sentiment expressed by the often offended county officials and did not fund the clerk or the investigator. It was believed that to fund the positions was akin to condoning the prohibited employee behavior that Mr. Lassmann cannot seem to control.”
If the budget is not changed prior to adoption, one individual be terminated. Who that is will be Mr. Lassmann’s decision, according to Fowler.
There is a state grant expected to be available sometime in January which may open a pathway for Mr. Lassman to fund those position with state money, but the grant rules have not been written.
