Texas taxpayers foot the bill for Secret Service style body guard protection for TDCJ Director

TDCJ Director Brad Livingston

 By Duane Stuart, Backgate Website

Armed body guards, state of the art surveillance equipment and alarms ? A hit Hollywood movie maybe? Not exactly. The Backgate has learned from a reliable whistle blowing agency insider that it's not a cool new action movie plot, it's reality. The insider told the Backgate that after the March 2013 murder of Colorado prison chief Tom Clements that someone implemented a secret service style personal protective unit for TDCJ Executive Director Brad Livingston. TDCJ pulled as many as 5-7 armed OIG ( Office of inspector general ) officers to act as his personal protective unit 24 hours a day, 7 days per week on and off of the job. The source also stated that the protection did not end with Livingston, it also included his wife and child.

 OIG officers were assigned to each seperately as the

TBCJ Chair Oliver Bell

child participated in sports practices, and his wife browsed the shelves at the local grocery store. All on the dime of Texas taxpayers. Although there was in fact one reported threat to Livingston's safety by a women identified as " an older female who was obviously mentally ill",  that threat was quickly downplayed and resolved by investigators. For 90 days, the protection continued with officers staking out Livingston's personal home in an affluent Huntsville subdivision. But i doesn't stop there, Livingston reportedly had thousands of dollars in survellance and alarm system equipment installed in his private home also at taxpayer expense. When questioned as to who may have approved such a large expenditure at taxpayer expense, the insider confirmed that Texas Board of Criminal Justice chairman Oliver Bell approved the measures. Hundreds of hours of OIG overtime, and manpower pulled from Hunstville prison units to act as chaperones and body guards ? All of which is obviously out of the realm of approval by the TBCJ chief. The Backgate also contacted a high ranking law enforcement official who stated that any and all possible threats would have been investigated by either local law enforcement, or the Department of Public Safety. Not the OIG.

 A prominent Austin Attorney we spoke with about the issue stated  "Obviously there should have been some sort of oversight or accountability of the agency authorizing such large expenditures for services and items not relevant or necessary for state business." " For instance,the placement of an alarm system in the private home of the TDCJ director for his personal use, when and if he sells that home, who assumes the cost of removing it since the state of Texas purchased it, or will the new owner simply inherit it?"  With the agency already in the red, and overtime rampant for Correctional staff statewide, we are seeking answers.

A longtime employee of the agency wrote to the Backgate about the issue " When myself, or any other Correctional Officer is threatened, which is everyday, TDCJ doesn't supply a body guard for me or my family or any other families, what makes him better then us?" The Backgate has sent out requests for official statements to the TDCJ, TBCJ, OIG, and state Senator John Whitmire.  We have yet to get any type of response from any of them as of today. As soon as we do, we will update this story.