It is shocking, but apparently Fannin County tried to use rumors and baseless accusations to hang felony convictions on six people, only to have all six cases dismissed for lack of probable cause.

I think it is time to unseal the grand jury transcripts and allow all six and their attorneys to address every accusation.

Here is why the public deserves to know what happened in that grand jury room -- the taxpayers of Fannin County may very well end up paying dearly for this fiasco before this is all over.

How much exposure does Fannin County have if a series of countersuits come down the pike? We need to know that answer.

Even after suffering through 18 months of turmoil in Fannin County over six flimsy indictments regarding restoration of the 1888 courthouse -- indictments that would seem to me to be politically motivated -- I don't think this will get better until we get it all out into the open.

This has festered long enough.

Here is how we start to clean up this mess.

Let us see the grand jury transcripts that led to six families getting dragged through the mud for a year and a half.

After all, we talk about transparency all the time, don't we? Well, let's be big boys and live up to it. After 18 months of a smear campaign and Facebook gossip, maybe it's finally time for the actual facts to speak for themselves.

Here is why I believe the indictments were baseless and politically motivated.

When a person is being indicted, he or she is not allowed to be present during the grand jury hearing, and neither is their defense attorney.  A grand jury simply hears one side -- ONE SIDE -- and decides whether or not to hand down an indictment. If an unethical politician can throw enough accusations around and the grand jury buys it, you have an indictment.

I've always heard that you can indict a ham sandwich. Now I know why.

Anyone who has listened to Fannin County Commissioners Court for the past two years has heard plenty of slanderous accusations. With absolutely no actual proof, we tried six people in the court of public opinion. It was ugly, shameful behavior, but even that wasn't enough. Somehow we managed to convince a grand jury to dangle a felony over their heads for 18 months.

I think it is time to allow these people to defend themselves.

If this happened to you, would you want an opportunity to set the record straight?

After we've tortured six families for 18 months, it's time to unseal the grand jury transcripts and give people a chance to clear their names and try to recover their reputations, if that could even be possible at this point.

Fannin County Judge Newt Cunningham has implied he has all the facts on his side. We've already heard all your wild accusations, Newt; now let's open up the grand jury transcripts and allow these six people to challenge every remark you have made.

Other than bizarre and endless innuendo, there wasn't any real evidence presented because there wasn't any.

These cases didn't get dismissed for INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE, which would indicate there wasn't enough proof to convict.

These cases were dismissed for LACK OF A PROBABLE CAUSE, which means there wasn't enough evidence to even justify a SEARCH, ARREST OR INDICTMENT.

Newt, what have you gotten us into? I won't even ask what it will cost us to make things right because we can never undo the damage we have done.

I have watched this political mess fester for close to 20 years and, for what it's worth, here is my take on it. This was nothing more than one politician's well documented and desperate need to control everything that goes on in Fannin County, along with an unhealthy dose of petty, childish jealousy. I think it was all aimed at slandering one person. And the other five families? Well, you guys and your families really didn't matter. You were all just collateral damage.

I'm going to tell you something else and we are going to back it up with documentation before this is over.

Think about this....

When Spanky Carter left office as county judge, the courthouse restoration project was under budget and ahead of schedule.

Let that sink in...and compare it to the silly Facebook gossip you've heard.

UNDER BUDGET and AHEAD OF SCHEDULE.

The public record will verify just how far under budget and how far ahead of schedule this project was when Carter left office.

Here is something else to consider. Personally, I would have fired Turner Construction the first time they failed to hit their benchmarks. We had that language in their contract. Legally, we could have fired them with one week's notice and without cause.

That would have been a tough call, but we had no choice. It was the only leverage the county had. As this project languished further and further behind schedule, the more expensive it became.

Someone had to hold their feet to the fire and demand this project stay on schedule, or tell them to pack up.

This project was originally scheduled to be completed BEFORE COVID hit, but we didn't hit our benchmarks, a pandemic hit, and you know the rest.

It cost us $29 million to do a $17.1 million project.