Fort Bend County Commissioners Court may hire an outside law firm to represent the county in what could become a legal battle with the U.S. Department of Justice.

Earlier this month, the DOJ presented county commissioners with a legal agreement that County Judge Bob Hebert said they were asked to sign voluntarily, “to avoid litigation.” The agreement includes specific actions DOJ wants the county to take in order to comply with bilingual requirements in the Voting Rights Act.

Commissioners, meeting in closed session, declined to sign off on the document, saying they don’t have enough details about what the Justice Department wants, and how an agreement could be voluntary if litigation is threatened.

The matter is back on the Commissioners Court agenda for tomorrow, scheduled for another closed session and titled “Threatened Litigation: Department of Justice and the Administration of Elections.”

“We had our county attorneys sit down” with Justice Department representatives, Hebert said Monday. “I don’t have a clue what they’re going to tell us” at Tuesday’s meeting.

County Elections Administrator Steve Raborn said there’s been “further discussion” with the Justice Department, but nothing has changed in terms of the agreement the DOJ wants signed.

But whatever new details commissioners learn of the Justice Department’s position, it’s not likely the agreement will be signed tomorrow.

“Why should we sign an agreement if we haven’t done anything wrong?” asked Precinct 1 Commissioner Tom Stavinoha.

Instead, Stavinoha said, county commissioners are prepared to hire attorney Jim Allison of the Austin law firm Allison Bass & Associates “to represent us” in dealing with the DOJ.

Stavinoha said commissioners also considered Austin’s Bickerstaff, Heath law firm, but probably will hire Allison because of his experience as general counsel with the County Judges & Commissioners Association of Texas.

Allison did not return a call for comment Monday.

Justice Department officials contacted Monday would not answer questions about the matter.

However, the department’s efforts to force action from Fort Bend County to comply with provisions in the Voting Rights Act are not without recent precedent.

The DOJ’s Voting Section appears to have placed special emphasis on enforcement of “language minority provisions” of the Voting Rights Act in the past two years.

For example, in March 2004, the Justice Department convinced Harris County Clerk Beverly Kaufman and the Harris County Commission to sign a memorandum of understanding to “protect the rights of Vietnamese-speaking voters,” DOJ said. The memorandum and agreement “details the county’s responsibilities in providing qualified minority-language voters full access to the voting process.”

Steps Harris County was required to take under the agreement included hiring someone to coordinate a county Vietnamese language election program and providing all voter registration and election information and materials, including the voting machine ballots, in Vietnamese.

In 2004 and 2005, 11 counties and cities that refused to sign such memorandums of understanding had claims filed against them by the DOJ, under language minority provisions of the Voting Rights Act..

That happened most recently in August in Ector County, Texas, which the Justice Department said was in violation of the Voting Rights Act due to “election practices and procedures as they affect Spanish-speaking citizens of the county.”

Justice Department lawyers said the county, home to Midland and Odessa, had failed to provide an adequate number of bilingual poll workers trained to assist Spanish-speaking voters.

To avoid a lawsuit, county officials signed a consent decree acknowledging they had not fully complied with the Voting Rights Act, and agreeing, among other things, to provide “Spanish-language assistance” at all polling sites; to provide at least one bilingual election official at any precinct where there are from 100 to 249 registered voters with Spanish surnames; at least two such officials at any precinct with between 250 and 499 voters with Spanish surnames, and at least three such election officials at any precinct with 500 or more registered voters with Spanish surnames.

Earlier this month, the DOJ presented county commissioners with a legal agreement that County Judge Bob Hebert said they were asked to sign voluntarily, “to avoid litigation.” The agreement includes specific actions DOJ wants the county to take in order to comply with bilingual requirements in the Voting Rights Act.

Commissioners, meeting in closed session, declined to sign off on the document, saying they don’t have enough details about what the Justice Department wants, and how an agreement could be voluntary if litigation is threatened.

The matter is back on the Commissioners Court agenda for tomorrow, scheduled for another closed session and titled “Threatened Litigation: Department of Justice and the Administration of Elections.”