County Judge Dan M. Gattis is a lame duck head of the Commissioners Court in Williamson County. He took offense to social media posts by Sheriff Robert Chody. He allegedly threatened the Chief Deputy saying he would zero out the budget of the Sheriff if the Sheriff did not stop “tweeting” about county business.
Here is the interesting part from this article:
Visiting Judge Sid Harle ruled in favor of an assistant county attorney who argued in court Tuesday afternoon that the judge was not legally entitled to a probable cause hearing that Gattis requested Tuesday.
This is relevant because Commissioner Will Jones was granted a probable cause hearing which resulted in the dismissal of two felony charges against him.
Some are liking this to the spat between the Travis County DA and the Governor. This one is interesting in that it was a threat, not an actual action. Another subject that could prevent prosecution is the fact the entire Commissioners Court would have to approve the budget and Gattis could not follow through on the threat without the assistance of other members of the Court.
It will be interesting to see how this one turns out.