Sworn complaint asks outside agencies to review Gunter ambulance purchase, meeting recording

A Gunter resident has asked outside authorities to examine how the city bought its ambulances, and what was played aloud at a June council meeting. The request appears in a sworn statement dated July 2, 2026 and signed by Travis Noel, filed with the City Council and the Gunter Police Department chief's office, asking that the matter be referred to an independent investigating agency and to the Grayson County Criminal District Attorney. The document is included in the city's amended agenda packet for the Aug. 6 council meeting.

GvilleTX found no public record from the Texas Attorney General's office confirming an active state investigation of Mayor Karen Souther. The city packet establishes the referral request itself.

The statement asks law enforcement to determine whether the city's EMS ambulance-vehicle purchase was made without the competitive procurement process Texas Local Government Code Chapter 252 requires. It further alleges that Souther, listed as mayor on the city's official council page, played part of a closed executive-session recording during the open June 4 meeting. Those are allegations. The records reviewed contain no findings, no charges and no response from Souther.

City minutes show the ambulances were already before the council. On June 4, after residents spoke about two purchases and about mayoral approval, members voted 4-0, with one abstention, to deny ratifying EMS asset purchases and setting policy. Two weeks later, residents asked the council to rescind the ambulance sale and questioned whether the purchase had been properly authorized; a purchasing-policy discussion was pushed to July 2. The Aug. 6 amended agenda then carried a resolution to surplus and dispose of the two ambulances under city purchasing policy, a separate discussion of a financial investigation into the purchase, and items on alleged violations in sworn statements from both Noel and Souther.

The complaint cites statutes that include criminal penalty provisions for certain intentional or knowing violations. Section 252.021 sets the competitive requirements for municipal purchases, and Section 252.062 treats an intentional or knowing violation as an offense, with Class B misdemeanor treatment in certain cases. On the recording, the complaint cites Government Code Section 551.146, which covers disclosure of a certified agenda or recording of a lawfully closed meeting. Section 551.103 requires a governmental body to keep that record to begin with.

Gunter's form of government also changed this year. Voters approved Proposition A at the May 13 canvass, 208 votes to 142, moving the city to a City Manager-Council form in which the council appoints the manager.

What neighboring cities charge for an ambulance run is public. Published fee schedules in Celina and Denison put a resident call from just under $800 to about $950 before mileage. State money is in play as well. The Texas Department of State Health Services reports that HHSC's Rural Texas Strong Initiative 4 makes EMS providers eligible applicants, with awards up to $725,000 and a goal of at least one award in each defined rural county.

_Editor's note: Everyone charged with a crime is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law._