Commissioner Romeo Lomas at Thursday meeting Precinct 4 Kleberg County Commissioner Romeo Lomas intends to file a lawsuit if the county does not honor his demand for $50,000 to pay for his legal fees in connection with his conviction of abuse of official capacity.

The county has 60 days to respond.

The Kleberg County Commissioners Court did not take any action after meeting briefly in executive session during a special meeting on Thursday.

Lomas’ attorney, Rene Rodriguez of Corpus Christi, sent the notice of claim letter dated April 20. He sent the letter to Kleberg County Judge Pete De La Garza and Commissioners David Rosse, Norma Alvarez and Roy Cantu.

Rodriguez was one of two attorneys representing Lomas during the three-day trial that ended April 14 with a guilty verdict.

Frank Alvarez, a Kingsville attorney also represented him. Lomas was found guilty Lomas was sentenced to 180 days in jail but probated for one year and was assessed a $1,776.54 fine and restitution of $52.52.

The fine was estimated by the state if a private company had been hired to do the work. The sentence also included “immediate removal of office” but presiding Judge Rose Reyna opted not to remove Lomas from office during the appeal process. Probation will not begin during the appeal process, either.

He was indicted in Sept. 2009 by the Kleberg County Grand Jury on misdemeanor charge of “knowingly misusing government property, services, or personnel on or around March 2, 2009.”

The incident involved the use of Pct. 4 vehicles and employees after the demolition of his barbershop and removal of debris from his property located at 414 E. Yoakum. He said he donated the concrete from his place to Pct. After the trial, Lomas said he was innocent and planned appeal his case with the 13th Court of Appeals in Corpus Christi.

The notice of claim letter was one of 12 items listed on Thursday’s agenda that stated: “Adjourn into executive session under Texas Government Code Section 551.071 regarding notice of claim and possible lawsuit.” Rodriguez stated in the letter: “As such Romeo Lomas presenting the following claim. On or about March 2, 2009, he made a donation of concrete to the County of Kleberg. The County accepted the donation and has used it as a culvert on its property to prevent erosion and flooding. This ‘acceptance’ and ‘use’ notwithstanding, the County Judge, Pete De La Garza, caused a criminal complaint to be filed against Romeo Lomas, causing expenditure of legal fees in the amount $45,000 — $25,000 in defense of criminal case and $20,000 in appellate fees. In such addition, the legal fees expended collecting this claim is $5,000. As such the total claim at this time by Romeo Lomas is $50,000.

“Please be advised if I do not receive payment of $50,000 with the next sixty (60) days, I have been instructed to filelawsuit to recover this claim.”

Lomas said Thursday he was innocent and was advised by his attorney to proceed with this claim.

“First of all, I have not done anything wrong and everybody knows it,” Lomas said outside of the Courthouse Annex at the county law enforcement center, during the closed session that excluded him.

“Second, my attorney, Rene Rodriguez out of Corpus Christi, advised me that we had to do this.”

De la Garza said the county will await Lomas’ next move.

“Our decision today is to just sit on it and let it run its course, which I think will take about 60 days,” De La Garza said.

“After that, if they file a lawsuit I would then be served with a citation, and then we will send it to our attorneys and they would take over from there.”

“My personal feelings are that basically I do not think there are any grounds for us to pay attorney fees because he was indicted and convicted; if that was the case then everyone who ever got indicted and convicted could come back and ask the county or state to pay the attorney’s fees and I do not think that is something that can be done.”

“He has also turned in a claim to our insurance company, Texas Association of Counties, and they are going to make determination as to whether our insurance company is going to pay him or not. My comment is, good luck to him,” De La Garza said.

The county judge declined to provide a copy of Rodriguez’s letter to the Kingsville Record and Bishop News. However, a copy was obtained from the Kleberg County Clerk’s office that records the meetings and writes the minutes.

Lomas’ trial in April included over 10 witnesses, numerous state exhibits, four attorneys and was held in the District 105th Court in Kingsville. The six member jury took less than 30 minutes to come back with a guilty verdict. Several of Lomas’ supporters were present in the courtroom.

Shane Attaway and Will Tatum, both assistant attorneys with the Texas Attorney General’s Office, served as prosecutors. Lomas, 72, has been a county commissioner for 32 years and was elected to another four-year term in March this year. He will begin the next four-year term Jan. 1, 2011.