Wood Count commissioners heard a plea from First Assistant Criminal District Attorney Brandon Baade during the public comments section Tuesday.

Baade spoke to the commissioners about a program dealing with victim’s services through the district attorney’s office.

“First I want to thank all of y’all for supporting Angela Albers as she has made application for a grant position for a victim’s services coordinator,” he said. “The application has worked its way through the process. You might recall this cost the county, in terms of budget increase for her, nothing. It is not increasing any tax payer money. Judge Hebron has cooperated with us on this as have the commissioners. Everyone here at the courthouse has been helpful with this. The requirements are pretty straight forward. One of the requirements coming from the office of the governor is that an assurance form has to be signed. It’s not a contract. This certifies two things, one that the county will comply with the Department of Homeland Securities (DHS) program and procedures and identify DHS of all information requested by DHS about illegal aliens in the agency’s custody and to detain such illegal aliens. 

“Angela Albers sent Tom Castloo an email and asked him to sign this. He sent back and said he was in compliance, but he was unwilling to sign this form. This form just assures the governor’s office you are willing to do it. Here’s who suffers. It’s not the district attorney’s office. We have minimal legal requirements we have to fulfill for victims. We do fulfill them and we will continue to do that. We try to go beyond what is required. This grant position would allow this county and this DA’s office to fulfill requirements and go beyond. The one thing Angela preaches in the office is the case does not end in the court. It goes on. Children take sexual assault with them into their lives,” Baade continued. “We can have money funded to us with no strings. We take care of the paperwork costing the taxpayer nothing. Then we have a road block about a form that complies with Texas criminal law and federal law which has supremacy over state law which requires states and municipalities to comply with immigration guidelines. This is very disturbing and it is a disservice to the victims to not try and do this and not sign the form. Our hope is Tom Castloo will have the sense and compassion to sign this form. Without this form signed the governor’s office can hold up funds. This whole campaign there has been the accusation he doesn’t play well with others; well this is his opportunity to play well with others.”

In a phone interview Castloo explained why he has not and will not sign the form.

“It was something that came through the Department of Homeland Security via the governor’s office, via the district attorney’s office saying that DHS would help fund a victim’s services coordinator if the sheriff would sign off allowing DHS to such and such and such. When it is convoluted like that, if it comes out of the federal government, through the governor, through the district attorney’s office to tell the sheriff what Washington wants them to do, there is something wrong with that,” Castloo said. “I have worked for them and I understand how funding works in its entirety. They want the sheriff’s office to allow them to enforce immigration law. That’s what we do anyway. For them to come down and want me to sign a form that goes through three different stages before it gets to me so somebody else can get something then that just doesn’t pass the smell test. If it’s so convoluted that is has to go through Washington and that many things to get me to sign a paper that I already signed on to enforce, it just doesn’t make sense.”

In another matter, commissioners accepted an award of $125,000 from the North East Texas Regional Mobility Authority for airport improvements to Wood County – Collins field Airport.

Tracie Jackson was hired to be an administrative assistant at the agriculture extension office. A resignation from  Wood County sheriff’s office dispatcher Angela Speakman was accepted. Several temporary jobs were approved for the elections office to work during the elections. Those were Staci Hurley, Brenda Hunter, Sara Phillips, Darrell Campbell, Patricia Durst, Deborah Story and Sherri Culberson.