We’ve almost hit the one-year mark on our tedious investigation into unfinished county road bond projects (years behind schedule) — the deeper we dig, the more their receipts don’t add up!
Numerous attempts to get answers from County Judge Neal Franklin and the two longest serving Commissioners have failed. We’ve been waiting for a plan since March. Commissioner Drewry is the lone voice asking questions.
Enough is enough! We are determined to get truth and justice for Smith County taxpayers.
On 11/25/25, we notified the Council of District Judges and the County Auditor that we are requesting a forensic and compliance audit of road bond projects, the courthouse/parking garage bond funds, ARPA funds (COVID federal stimulus), the Employee Health Insurance Fund, and unexplained variances in fund balances.
The District Judges and County Auditor have the constitutional and statutory authority to compel the County Judge and Commissioners to comply. We hope it won’t come to that, but we are prepared to file a Petition for a Writ of Mandamus with a Smith County District Judge against the County Judge and Commissioners.
On 11/25/25, we notified County Judge Neal Franklin and Commissioners Drewry, Moore, Herod, and Caraway of our forensic audit request. We also requested they take these necessary actions immediately to protect taxpayers:
- full cooperation with County Auditor Karin Smith
- cease plans to purchase more property that drain funds needed for county roads – a much higher priority
- cease planning for the reported light rail project that will drain funds needed for county roads – a much higher priority
- cease any new economic development plans (including downtown) that divert/drain funds needed for county
- freeze spending from the Contingency Fund until the audit has been completed
- order a moratorium on accepting any more roads/streets into the county maintenance inventory until the Commissioners Court
- a) votes on a detailed plan, budget, and timeline to finish the promised road bond projects and
- b) votes on a detailed plan, budget, and timeline to conduct a pavement assessment of county roads. The last assessment of Smith County roads was ten years ago and was a five-year plan.
The next Commissioners Court meeting is at 9:30 AM, Tues. Dec. 9, Smith County Annex Building, 200 E. Ferguson St, Tyler. We’ll be there!
