Fired Liberty Hill police chief alleges mayor used racial slurs, interfered with job

Former Liberty Hill Police Chief Maverick Campbell has accused Mayor Rick Hall of threatening Campbell’s two young sons and calling them the “n-word” at a city retreat in January in Burnet County.

The Burnet County sheriff’s office confirmed in August that Campbell had made complaints to them and said they are investigating them as Class C misdemeanor allegations, with fines up to $500 each. The office did not say how many allegations it was investigating.

In a phone interview, Campbell said that after he was fired without cause in March, he sent a grievance letter to the city of Liberty Hill. The letter said the mayor had been interfering too much in the Police Department affairs, including asking Campbell to illegally order Hall a police light for his vehicle, Campbell said.

Hall has denied all allegations made against him by Campbell, said his lawyer, Randy Howry.

Liberty Hill, a town of about 2,400 people in western Williamson County, is 35 miles northwest of Austin.

Campbell said he was fired March 9 by the City Council and was not given a reason. He said he had been put on administrative leave in February after getting into a verbal disagreement with his wife at a casino in New Jersey, where he was attending a conference.

Liberty Hill City Council members did not respond to requests for comment on Campbell’s dismissal.

The Texas Workforce Commission ruled Aug. 11 that the city could not prove that Campbell’s firing in March was due to any misconduct connected with his work, as the city had alleged.

The ruling said Campbell was put on administrative leave after a verbal fight with his wife in a casino in Atlantic City and then fired for “violating the provisions of his conduct regarding misconduct.”

The ruling means Campbell qualifies to receive unemployment benefits.

Campbell’s attorneys said they are considering all legal options but declined to say what they were.

The grievance Campbell sent to the city detailed what he said happened at a City Council retreat Jan. 24 at Canyon of the Eagles, a resort on the shores of Lake Buchanan in Burnet County.

At the retreat, Campbell’s 7- and 8-year-old sons were being playful and tugged on Hall’s shirttail, the grievance said. Hall said to the boys, “Get away from me you little ‘n-word,’” according to the grievance.

When the boys were later playing in the sand, Hall told them, “Get that f**ing sand away from me or I’m going to hang both of you by your f**ing necks from that f**ing tree!” the grievance said.

Campbell, who is white, said during a phone interview that he was “shocked, offended and disappointed” when he heard what Hall said. “My kids are mixed race,” he said. “My wife is Arabic.”

“My son came and told me after that happened, that Mr. Hall had assaulted him by grabbing his collar or possibly kicking the back of his leg,” Campbell said.

In the grievance, Campbell also said that Hall had been interfering with his police duties.

“He even interrupted my officers controlling an intersection at a 4th of July event, using his position to intimidate the officers at the time,” it said, “saying he was the mayor and took over the intersection and began ordering them something different than what I instructed them to do.”

After the retreat, Campbell said, he went to a law enforcement conference in New Jersey in February where he was a speaker. He got into a verbal fight with his wife at a casino when the conference was not in session, he said, but no charges were filed.

Campbell’s wife became upset and threw a drink on him, and he left, knocking a trash can out of his way, according to the Texas Work Force Commission ruling issued in August.

His wife told hotel security he had a gun in his room because he was a police officer, so local authorities got his gun out of his room and filed a report, the ruling said.

The commission ruled in Campbell’s favor, saying, “The employer received most, if not all, of the information it used to make its decision to discharge the claimant from secondhand sources.”

“The claimant’s firsthand testimony did not reveal any misconduct and the employer failed to carry its burden of proving any acts of misconduct,” it said.

Campbell said that having an argument with his wife while off-duty was not a reason to be fired.

“I have over 20 years of law enforcement experience,” Campbell said. “I would not terminate one of my employees for a verbal disagreement after hours as long as no one was charged.”

Campbell also said he had made complaints about the mayor to the Williamson County district attorney’s office in March.

“Our office determined there was not a felony criminal offense for my office to refer out for a full-scale criminal investigation,” District Attorney Shawn Dick said Wednesday.