Depositions begin on county jail

By Janelle Stecklein
Journal Staff

March 03, 2008 05:35 pm

— Hunt County’s attorney began deposing witnesses about the county’s jail Feb. 25 — a process that is expected to take at least a month to complete.
Hunt County’s civil attorney Daniel Ray, who is working with county officials to determine whether any legal options exist regarding the jail, said former county judge Joe Bobbitt was deposed Monday about the jail.
“I can’t comment on what happened during (Monday’s) deposition,” Ray said, but noted Bobbitt’s participation was voluntary.
The depositions are just a small part of county official’s search to see if it is possible to recoup hundreds of thousands of dollars spent maintaining the jail, which has been plagued with structural problems since it opened more than five years ago.
The depositions are supposed to aid the county in determining who is responsible for the facility’s current problems.
Next to be deposed is the facility’s civil engineers with the firm of Baird, Hampton & Brown, Ray said. They are set to meet with Hunt County’s attorneys March 5 in Dallas. The jail’s architects with Burns Fletcher Gill Architects will also be deposed later in March, Ray said.
The only one thus far who is not cooperating with the county’s efforts to determine who is responsible for the current structural problems at the jail is Frank Neal, with the firm Frank W. Neal & Associates, the structural engineer for at the time the jail was constructed, Ray said.
Ray said a hearing has been scheduled in Richard A. Beacom’s 354th District Court on March 19 to get a judge’s order requiring Neal to speak with the county’s attorneys.