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Audit shows Flood Control failed to implement ethics reforms agreed on by Commissioners Court unanimously over a year ago

Harris County, TX, October 6, 2025, The independent Harris County Auditor’s Office released a report today showing that the Harris County Flood Control District had failed to implement ethics reform unanimously voted on by Commissioners Court last year. View the full audit here.

In April 2024, Commissioners Court voted to require Flood Control and the Engineering Department to have written procedures for selecting vendors, maintain documentation of their procurement process, and require conflict of interest forms for department employees involved in awarding contracts. Commissioners Court passed these reforms after learning Harris County departments were not meeting basic standards on procurement from a November 2023 report on Flood Control from the Auditor’s Office. Learn more about Judge Hidalgo’s court motion last April here.

Today, almost two years after the report, Flood Control still lacks documentation for its vendor selection decisions, including evaluation criteria and justification for award decisions. Additionally, some of the departments’ conflict of interest forms were not up to par with practices agreed upon by Commissioners Court.

These shortcomings are especially concerning as Flood Control navigates a $410M deficit in funding from the 2018 flood bond, with 27 projects currently on pause indefinitely. As the county has to make hard choices on the remaining projects, it’s essential that Flood Control follows the most efficient and transparent procurement processes.

“The Auditor’s report proves what we’ve known for nearly two years: Our current procurement processes put the county and taxpayers at risk. It’s unacceptable that Flood Control has failed to implement ethical reforms Commissioners Court agreed on unanimously nearly two years ago, especially when the audit shows there are risks of conflicts of interest in how flood control contracts are awarded. We need transparency and guardrails, so we can get Harris County government in line with basic ethics standards. I called last year for all contracts to be awarded through the independent Purchasing Department, and I continue to advocate for that. I hope that in the meantime my colleagues and I can work together to implement and enforce much-needed ethics reforms, including public documentation on procurement procedures, scoring criteria, project specific conflict of interest forms and oversight by the Purchasing Department. These audits have been a game changer for accountability, and I hope they will continue on a semi-annual basis,” said Judge Lina Hidalgo.

Both the Auditor’s Office and Purchasing Agent are appointed by independent boards. Judge Hidalgo has never served on either board.

This audit comes a day after a story published by the Houston Chronicle found that “more than half of Harris County commissioners’ high-dollar campaign contributions were made by individuals and firms paid by the county – a rate that one expert called ‘a little embarrassing.’"

Commissioners Court is also anticipating a report in the next few months from the Auditor’s Office regarding the Engineering Department’s procurement practices.