A district judge weighed in Monday morning in a trial that included two elected Erath County officials and included testimony from several more.
The trial concerned Alfonso Campos (Erath County Judge) v. County Treasurer Kimberly Barrier, as Campos filed the case in May 2021 seeking Barrier’s removal, claiming incompetence.
Following three days of testimony (Wednesday-Friday), Stephen Ellis (a district judge who served 24 years in Brownwood and was brought in to rule on the case) said, “I do not believe that Kimberly Barrier is incompetent,” but added that she acted in a manner that gave him “great concern.”
Ellis said that the trial revealed problems throughout the county, one of which is that Barrier was handling the county’s budget.
Ellis reported that budgeting is the responsibility of a county judge. However, it seemed like there was a history of Erath County treasurers performing the task in years past. Barrier was presented the duty after she was elected in 2018 (the same time as Campos) and Ellis said this extra work was partly responsible for her falling behind in her duties.
Ellis also pointed to problems with new accounting systems and software conversion, which created a “confluence of problems.”
Ellis still noted that it was a problem that Barrier fell behind in the main duties of her office and that she declined assistance offered to her in correspondence.
“There’s enough blame to go around here,” Ellis said, pointing to problems in communication and disbursement of duties.
He also added that removing her from office and putting someone else in her place wouldn’t solve any “underlying problems.”
If Ellis had decided to temporarily remove her from the treasurer position, the matter would be sent to a jury trial as a jury is required to remove an elected official.
Ellis noted that the trial had probably gone longer than anyone expected and proved embarrassing for the county and added that a jury trial would be much more embarrassing.
“The people of Erath County expect and deserve more,” he said.
Ellis noted during his ruling that he was familiar with the court and said that he believed the hard working people in the county offices have the people’s best interests at heart.
“I don’t think we have people here that are corrupt,” Ellis offered.
With an air of optimism, he said he was delaying an order in the case until Oct. 1, 2021 and that Barrier would be left in office provided his conditions were met.
The first condition was that Barrier and Campos meet in-person along with a chosen County Commissioner, the county auditor, county attorney and attorneys from both sides by July 31 to settle all issues.
The second condition was for Barrier to resolve all of her main duties in a timely manner including managing bank depository accounts, insurance billings, investments and any delinquent payments authorized by the Commissioners Court.