Brownwood resident Joe Cooksey turned himself in to authorities Wednesday on an outstanding warrant and was charged with Improper Disclosure of Certified Agenda or Tape Recording of Closed Meeting. He was released on a PR bond of $2,500 according to jail records.
Cooksey is most recently known for filing petitions at the beginning of the year for removal of Brownwood Mayor Bert Massey and Brown County Judge Ray West which were dismissed back in July (see original story HERE).
The complaint filed against Cooksey on November 13th by the State of Texas states that Texas Ranger Sgt. Stephen Boyd has good reason to believe Cooksey did “knowingly disclose to a member of the public, the certified agenda or tape recording of a meeting that was lawfully closed to the public.” It indicates that the recording of the closed meeting was from the Brown County Commissioners Court that was held on April 10th, 2006 in closed executive session.
Attorney Rudy Taylor has been appointed special prosecutor in the case by County Court at Law Judge Frank Griffin.
Taylor said that investigators including Texas Ranger Boyd have been looking into this case for a while and turned evidence over to him recently.
Taylor said, “I firmly believe a crime was committed.”
Taylor declined to comment on specific evidence, but other Brown County officials say that the charges stem from the alleged publication of a transcript of the April 2006 commissioners meeting in courthouse documents and on the internet by Cooksey.
In the removal petition of County Judge Ray West that was filed on January 30th, it states that Cooksey found a tape of the closed meeting in a public area of the courthouse. It goes on to say, “Plaintiff (Cooksey) retrieved the tape and made his own personal copy using a digital recorder purchased earlier that day at Radio Shack.” The petition also states that he put the tape back where he found it, returned home, and downloaded the recording directly to his computer. A CD copy of the recording and printed transcript of the closed meeting were attached by Cooksey as exhibits to the petition which is on file at the courthouse.
Regarding the charges, Taylor said, “The publication of it is what I am going with.”
Texas Ranger Boyd was unable to be reached for comment.
From the Abilene Reporter News, “This is retaliation as far as the day is long,” Cooksey said. “I am 100 percent not guilty of any criminal conduct and I look more than forward for this to be brought before the court.”