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November 4, 2025
Notes from Bandera County Commissioners Court
By Jessica Nohealapa’ahi
The Bandera Prophet
Due to an apparent email system glitch, Bandera County has an outstanding bill for autopsy services dating back to 2019. According to Auditor Darryl Sadler, the coroner realized there was something wrong with her email system, and she had not received more than $100,000 in final payments.
Sadler told county commissioners that the list of autopsies has been sent to the Justices of the Peace for verification.
“If they sign off, the county has to pay,” Sadler said, adding the company is discounting the total amount due from $140,000 to $127,000.
Sadler said he confirmed the payments were not sent for cases never officially closed, due to the error on behalf of the autopsy services not issuing final reports.
“I just can’t believe we have all these open cases,” Pct. 4 Commissioner Jody Rutherford said. “This is not good.”
Focusing on the bright side, Sadler said the county collected between $10,000 and $15,000 on the unpaid balances at a 4 percent interest rate, and the county has enough money in the budget to cover the expense, once JPs give the go-ahead.
In other business, EMS Director Shannon Griffin said for the month of September, EMS received 239 calls for service and traveled 13,036 miles with a 12.53-minute average for tone to on scene. Breaking down the county by area, Griffin said 40 percent of the month’s calls came from Bandera; 21 percent from Pipe Creek; 15 percent from the City of Bandera; 12 percent from Lakehills; six percent from Lake Medina Shores; three percent from Medina; two percent from Tarpley; and one percent from Holiday Villages.
Sadler told county commissioners that the list of autopsies has been sent to the Justices of the Peace for verification.
“If they sign off, the county has to pay,” Sadler said, adding the company is discounting the total amount due from $140,000 to $127,000.
Sadler said he confirmed the payments were not sent for cases never officially closed, due to the error on behalf of the autopsy services not issuing final reports.
“I just can’t believe we have all these open cases,” Pct. 4 Commissioner Jody Rutherford said. “This is not good.”
Focusing on the bright side, Sadler said the county collected between $10,000 and $15,000 on the unpaid balances at a 4 percent interest rate, and the county has enough money in the budget to cover the expense, once JPs give the go-ahead.
In other business, EMS Director Shannon Griffin said for the month of September, EMS received 239 calls for service and traveled 13,036 miles with a 12.53-minute average for tone to on scene. Breaking down the county by area, Griffin said 40 percent of the month’s calls came from Bandera; 21 percent from Pipe Creek; 15 percent from the City of Bandera; 12 percent from Lakehills; six percent from Lake Medina Shores; three percent from Medina; two percent from Tarpley; and one percent from Holiday Villages.