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According to the auditor’s office, the county southwest of Houston has spent $6,305.94 on international travel since 2022 as elected judges attended conferences in Canada and Morocco.
Fort Bend County commissioners voted this week to ban the use of county funds for international travel, but said they would allow exceptions for trips approved by commissioners court.
During commissioners court Tuesday, County Auditor Ed Sturdivant said several major Texas counties – including Harris County, Dallas County and Bexar County – prohibit international travel using county funds.
According to the auditor’s office, the county southwest of Houston has spent $6,305.94 on international travel since 2022.
In 2023, the county spent $4,127.40 on travel by County Court-at-Law 5 Judge Teana Watson, who went to Morocco for the International Association of Women Judges Conference. Her travel was recorded into the county minutes by commissioners court about three months prior to her trip, county records show. Watson could not immediately be reached for comment Wednesday through courtroom staff.
Last year, the county paid $2,178.54 for County Court-at-Law 3 Judge Juli Mathew’s travel to Toronto for the South Asian Bar Association Conference. Commissioners court approved her travel during a public meeting, according to county documents. Mathew declined to comment.
In July 2024, a proposed international travel ban was placed on the commissioners court agenda for discussion and a vote. However, the item was pulled from the agenda and was not discussed during the meeting.
Fort Bend County Judge KP George asked that the policy be placed on the agenda again this week.
“I don’t think any taxpayer wanted to pay for members or elected officials … traveling internationally,” he said during commissioners court Tuesday. “Taxpayers shouldn’t be paying for that.”
The initial agenda item did not say whether commissioners court would allow exceptions for some international travel, though George said he would be open to it. The county requires permission from commissioners court for out-of-state travel.
Precinct 4 Commissioner Dexter McCoy made the case that some international travel could be beneficial to the county.
“When there’s any out-of-state travel, all of that has to come before the court for approval,” he said. “I think that is a process that I would urge us to consider as an alternative, as opposed to outright prohibiting it.”
In 2011, the county sent employees to Costa Rica to explore medical tourism to help curb the healthcare costs of its employees, Precinct 2 Commissioner Grady Prestage said. While the county didn’t enter into an agreement to send its employees there for cheaper medical procedures, it did develop domestic medical tourism programs, he said.
Prestage said he believed the international travel policy was unnecessary.
“I just don’t want us to be short-sighted,” Prestage said. “The flight to Costa Rica is less expensive than going to San Francisco.”
Meanwhile, Precinct 3 Commissioner Andy Meyers said it was a good idea to have an explicit policy and that the court could allow exceptions as needed.
“To me, this sends the right message to our taxpayers that we’re looking out for their interests,” Meyers said.
Precinct 1 Commissioner Vincent Morales also expressed sentiments in favor of the policy.
“There is exceptions that the court would have to look at,” he said. “But the policy states, on a regular basis, that you don’t travel internationally without approval of the court.”
The commissioners came to an agreement that the new policy should state that international travel was prohibited without prior approval from the court.
After agreeing on this clarification, commissioners voted unanimously to pass the policy.
Know more about Natalie Weber, Fort Bend County Bureau
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