By Nathan Straus
nstraus@jacksonvilleprogress.com
A Cherokee County Grand Jury delivered a no-bill decision regarding charges made against Kevin Pierce and Byron Underwood, precinct two and four commissioners, respectively. The final testimonies were given August 5.
Pierce and Underwood stated in a press release they hope the judgment will end the allegations against them.
“Now that the grand jury has no-billed us after a thorough investigation, we wish to emphatically repeat that we are and always have been innocent of any of the allegations made against us,” Pierce and Underwood claimed.
John Ament, Underwood’s attorney, said the two commissioners were accused of a variety of misdemeanors and a felony by Judge James Morris of precinct three, though he added Morris recanted the felony accusation of bribery before the matter went before the grand jury.
Misdemeanor accusations ranged from abuse of power to fraud.
“The evidence didn’t show probably cause,” Ament said.
He added even if the allegations were found to be true, they would not constitute criminal conduct.
This confrontation between Judge Morris and Commissioners Pierce and Underwood when a letter from Morris to Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott surfaced. In the letter, Morris stated he wished to file a formal complaint and requested an investigation into the practices of the two commissioners.
Morris cited a “long and painful problem with the corruption, disrespect and illegal activities with several of our commissioners”.
He also mentioned a conflict over his request to change collection agencies for his court. This request was made during an early summer Commissioners’ Court meeting and subsequently tabled.
A grand jury is composed of several individuals appointed by a grand jury commission. Because grand jury hearings are not open to the public, testimony given by Pierce, Underwood, Morris and several county officials was not made available.
Pierce and Underwood did state they wish to see this matter put behind them.
“Hopefully, all of our time and energy can now be devoted, once again, to the purposes for which we were elected,” they noted in a press release, “which is to serve the people of Cherokee County.”
