A January public records request for grant documentation has turned into a prolonged bureaucratic process in Jeff Davis County, where officials have delayed responses, miscalculated fees, and involved outside agencies—despite the same type of records being released by neighboring counties more than a month ago.
The request, submitted January 16 by Big Bend Times publisher David Flash, sought documents related to Operation Lone Star and Operation Stonegarden grants, which provide law enforcement and border security funding. Presidio and Brewster counties fulfilled similar requests in February without delay or legal dispute.
In contrast, Jeff Davis County Attorney Glen Eisen responded on February 1 with a $2,650 demand to process the request, citing 2,250 pages requiring two copies each and 140 hours of staff time. The fee breakdown included mathematical inconsistencies—for example, $450 in copy costs that, based on the county’s own rate of $0.10 per page, should have totaled $225. The labor estimate—70 hours for each of two employees—was also unusually high compared to how other counties processed comparable records.
Rather than follow Presidio County’s simpler model, Eisen later stated that the documents had been referred to another agency for redaction “at the Governor’s direction.” On March 18, the response deadline was extended. On April 1, it was extended again—this time to April 22.
As of April 10, no records have been produced.
Flash, who also works as a marketing executive outside of his publishing role, said that in his profession, such delays would be unacceptable. “I manage a $300,000 annual advertising budget,” he said. “If I couldn’t produce an answer the same day about how that money was spent, I’d be fired.”
The requested records include grant applications, budget summaries, and narrative descriptions of security conditions submitted to state and federal agencies. These documents are considered public under the Texas Public Information Act. Neighboring counties released them with minimal redactions and no claims of security concerns.
Records reviewed by Big Bend Times show that Jeff Davis County has previously paid more than $14,000 to outside law firms in connection with disputes over public records requests—significantly more than the estimated cost of fulfilling the current request.
The county’s current deadline for response is April 22, more than three months after the request was filed.
