Plea deal reached in animal neglect case against Burnet County official

BURNET COUNTY, Texas - Burnet County Commissioner Bill Wall has accepted a plea deal after allegations his cattle were being mistreated and underfed. 

Commissioner Wall has agreed to sell the cattle that were seized by the county and to pay all expenses incurred while the cattle were under the care of the county. 

Some expenses include $2,000 for a contract cowboy, $1,800 for another cowboy to round up the cattle, about $7,000 to deputies who helped with the round-up and $1,100 in reimbursement to one of the 13 deputies for his assistance.

Burnet County claims its expenses to date are more than $30,000 for the removal, care, and feed of the cattle while in the care of the county. They also say expenses are expected to increase about $1,000 per day. 

Wall released a statement on the matter today saying:

"I am committed to reimbursing Burnet County for any expenses that have been incurred during this ordeal. The last thing I want is for the taxpayers of Burnet County to bare the burden of these expenses.

Although the county felt it was necessary to converge onto my property with a search warrant without notice on the wee hours of September 7th, I was fully cooperative offering to assist the county in any way.

"If Burnet County had simply come to my house and indicated that they felt my cattle were underfed and stressed I would have loaded them up and taken them to the sale myself. I believe the theatrics of this maneuver was holy unnecessary."

Burnet County says at least one cow was killed during the operation, four died while in custody of the county and one was euthanized because of a broken leg. 

No criminal charges have been filed.