CUTLER
by WES FERGUSON
Constable James Kohler leveled an explosive charge against a fellow Hays County elected official last week, circulating a letter that accuses Sheriff Gary Cutler of perjury, a third-degree felony.
In the letter, sent to newspapers and TV stations from Austin to San Marcos, Kohler claims the sheriff falsified information to the Hays County Commissioners Court on Dec. 6. In court that morning, Cutler told the commissioners he had reached an agreement with Travis County Sheriff Greg Hamilton to house each other’s inmates during emergency situations at a cost to Hays County of only $4 or $5 per inmate a day.
No such agreement was made, according to Kohler.
“He is not above the law,” Kohler writes, before accusing Cutler of other infractions and saying the sheriff should be held accountable for them. “I don’t want Hays County to become known as a county of corrupt government. … Serious problems will occur if he is later found guilty on any one or all of these allegations.”
Other county officials dismissed Kohler’s accusation as election-year mudslinging. Kohler has been the Kyle area’s constable since 1978, but he has drawn a challenger in the Precinct 2 Democratic primary this spring. Cutler, a Republican, has also drawn a primary challenger in former Sheriff Tommy Ratliff.
KOHLER
Kohler is the one who is supplying misinformation, according to Cutler.
“In response to Constable Kohler’s letter these allegations are baseless and without merit, and they appear to be politically motivated,” said Cutler, who referred additional questions to Hays County District Attorney Sherri Tibbe.
“Our office is not doing anything because there was nothing to investigate,” Tibbe said.
Commissioners unanimously voted Dec. 6 to authorize the county judge to enter into the agreement with the Travis County sheriff. Before the vote, which was recorded on video, Cutler told the court he would be responsible for the cost of food, transportation and manpower for his jailers to supervise the inmates during times when they’re housed in the neighboring county’s jail.
“All we have to provide is officers to watch them while they’re there, and we pay the food cost,” he said.
By comparison, Cutler noted, Guadalupe County charges $50 per inmate per day to shelter Hays County’s inmates.
Travis County’s sheriff was unavailable for comment, but his spokesman, Roger Wade, said the agreement calls for each county to reimburse the other for all expenses, not just food. Very likely, however, those expenses would be minimal, Wade added.
“If it’s something quick and short-term, there may not be any cost to each other,” he said. “It’s just an agreement between each county to hold them for a few days and take them back when it’s all clear, and we’ll do the same for you.”
In an emergency situation, Wade said, the sheriffs believe it is “good business” to help each other out.
“I think miscommunication is definitely the word,” he said. “I don’t think there was any misinformation. The agreement is still a work in progress and not set in stone yet.”
In some regards, it’s a moot point: Commissioner Will Conley said the sheriff can decide how much to pay other jails to house Hays County’s inmates, so long as he does not exceed his budget.
“The dollars allocated to the sheriff’s office for the transport of prisoners to different locations when our jail facility is full is a specific line item in the sheriff’s budget,” Conley said in response to a public comment about the allegations during the Dec. 10 commissioners court.
“The sheriff has to live within that budget whether he’s paying $4 or $100 per prisoner, and the sheriff is responsible for managing that line item.”
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