Thursday, October 1, 2026
A Hood County grand jury declined to indict in the criminal investigation into Hood Central Appraisal District spending, a relatively anticlimactic closing of the district attorney’s inquiry when taken with years of questions posed to the agency on its handling of taxpayer money.
The grand jury returned a no bill during the week of Sept. 14, District Attorney Ryan Sinclair confirmed. While the secretive nature of the jury’s proceedings — by law — reveal little more, the decision resolves all matters in the investigation, Sinclair said, with nothing further pending in his office.
HCAD Chief Appraiser Jeff Law welcomed the outcome.
“After several investigations by the Texas Rangers, State Comptroller, two different third-party financial auditors, a Hood County investigator, a ‘fraud expert’ within the District Attorney’s office and after spending over $167,000 on a third-party forensic audit, no fraud, malfeasance or misfeasance exists,” Law said. “We are pleased the Hood County Grand Jury concluded to ‘no bill’ the issues brought before them.”
Law became chief appraiser after the spending at issue occurred. The investigation revolved around allegations of potentially misappropriated funds after HCAD’s retention of unused operating money and spending toward a since-abandoned headquarters project. The Hood County News learned in August that the matter would go before a grand jury.
Granbury Mayor Jim Jarratt, who for years has repeatedly pressed for scrutiny of the district’s finances — and who first turned Sinclair’s attention to them — defended the need for the grand jury presentation.
“The DA presentation to the grand jury was a necessary step that had to be completed before the taxing entities were able to present an insurance claim for the misallocated funds,” Jarratt said. “The various entities are now able to take any next step actions that they feel appropriate.”
The controversy became public in 2024, when Jarratt questioned why surplus funds hadn’t been returned to the district’s funding entities and whether spending toward a new office had received their required approval. The Granbury City Council and Hood County Commissioners Court both called for a forensic audit.
Questions broadened from there to include retirement contributions, budget adjustments and the district’s financial oversight at large.
HCAD hired accounting firm Weaver in April 2025 to examine its financial practices from 2016 through 2023. Its final report, issued Dec. 1 last year, documented shortcomings in how the district retained and committed surplus money.
Weaver found HCAD’s unassigned fund balance reached about $1.48 million in 2022. The district returned $1.91 million in accumulated surplus funds to its taxing entities during 2023.
Auditors also found roughly $2 million in facility-related budget additions and $818,502 in retirement budget additions approved by HCAD’s board but not formally communicated to its funding entities. The district spent $397,000 pursuing new facilities, including $333,200 paid to Cauble Hoskins Architects for planning and design.
Weaver didn’t accuse any HCAD individual of theft or criminal conduct. But pressure for a prosecutorial decision continued earlier this year. On Feb. 24, county commissioners unanimously requested a written response from Sinclair about whether he would investigate issues related to the audit. Jarratt urged the office to investigate or decline to proceed.
The grand jury’s decision now ends that criminal inquiry, according to Sinclair.
