That decision came during a contentious special meeting of commissioners court held Tuesday, September 8, 2026, with Pct. 1 Commissioner Troy Waggoner, Pct. 2 Commissioner A.J. Self and Pct. 3 Commissioner Kurt Fogelberg voting in favor of using reserves, while Fannin County Judge Newt Cunningham and Pct. 4 Commissioner Doug Kopf voted against the motion.

Commissioner Self's vote came with the caveat that he abstains from the legal fees line item. The court has been forced to budget $250,000 for the coming year to retain legal representation in four countersuits that resulted from six indictments that were dismissed for Lack of Probable Cause.

Because of one motion made last week to cut the sheriff's budget by $200,000 -- a motion that failed for the lack of a second -- the meeting opened with the community's impassioned show of support for local law enforcement, particularly the sheriff's office.

Dodd City ISD Chief of Police George Robinson and Sam Rayburn ISD Chief of Police James Woods reminded the court of how much remote school districts depend on the timely response of the sheriff's office and Fannin County Sheriff Cody Shook pointed out that his 2026-2027 budget is the same as the past year.

Judge Cunningham said it is a "terrible idea" to cut law enforcement or investigators and he expressed a preference to use reserves, but when a motion was made to dip into reserves to balance the budget, Cunningham voted against the motion.

The county has used reserves to balance the budget in four of the past six years.

Two truths continue to be apparent; several department heads are openly frustrated by Cunningham's political maneuvering, and the county's financial path is not sustainable.