A former Wichita County Auditor said Friday she could not comment on efforts to remove her from office in another Texas county.
Cheryll Jones said the matter is under review by a district judge, and she is still employed as auditor in Kinney County.
She was appointed by 63rd District Court Judge Roland Andrade in October 2024.
In March, Kinney County commissioners sent a letter to the judge saying the panel no longer had confidence in Jones and proposed she be removed from office.
The commissioners’ letter contained a long list of alleged failures by Jones to fulfill her duties, including failing to produce documents that resulted in a loss of about $518,385 in federal grants, failure to approve travel vouchers for county employees and failing to approve salary payments.
The letter also said a camera system to monitor illegal alien traffic on the Texas/Mexico border had been turned off for non-payment to the electrical provider.
In the letter, commissioners also complained that Jones created a hostile work environment, continually disrupted Commissioner Court proceedings and made defamatory statements about the county and its alleged misappropriation of money.
The Kinney County Post reported on Thursday, “Per the Judge, the decision is still pending while the investigation is ongoing.”
The Times Record News sought comment from county officials Friday. But Neither Andrade nor his administrative assistant were in the office that day, and Kinney County Judge John Paul Schuster did not return calls from the Times Record News Friday.
Kinney County is located on the Texas/Mexico border east of Del Rio and has a population of 3,129, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
On Aug. 23, 2024, Jones was escorted by deputies from her office in the Wichita County Courthouse Annex, according to an Aug. 26 TRN article. It happened on the last day of her term as county auditor here after district judges appointed another person to the post.
The judges had appointed Jones to the Wichita County job in 2020.
But in deciding not to renew her term, 78th District Court Judge Meredith Kennedy has said the judges considered reports of dissatisfaction with her performance among county officials.
This article originally appeared on Wichita Falls Times Record News: Former Wichita County official under fire in new job
Reporting by Lynn Walker, Wichita Falls Times Record News / Wichita Falls Times Record News
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