The Texas Rangers are reviewing allegations that Guadalupe County Judge Kyle Kutscher may have violated state law in connection with his dealings with representatives of the proposed Palomino Alpha Data Center.

Dila Hidalgo, staff sergeant for the Texas Department of Public Safety, confirmed that the Texas Rangers have “received the request, and it is currently under review.” Hidalgo said no additional information is available for release at this time.

Dalondo Moultrie, with The Seguin Gazette, reported that Guadalupe County Sheriff Joshua Ray was given information this summer alleging Kutscher violated state law in his dealings with representatives of the project. Moultrie reported that Ray forwarded the information to the county attorney, who decided to forward it to the Texas Department of Public Safety.

The request comes amid allegations that Kutscher continued to participate in matters involving Palomino Alpha despite having a financial interest in the project through property owned by him and his family. Those allegations are also part of a civil lawsuit filed against Kutscher, Guadalupe County and other members of the Commissioners Court.

Kutscher said he was unable to comment due to pending litigation, and a representative for Guadalupe County said the same.

In a Crystal Clear Special Utility District board meeting in June, Kutscher spoke during public comment in favor of the project “as a landowner that has a piece of property in this transaction for this project,” as previously reported in the Daily Record. Crystal Clear Special Utility District was considering a nonstandard water agreement that would allocate a minimum of 500,000 gallons of water per day to the proposed Palomino Alpha data center. That agreement has yet to receive a final vote.

Crystal Clear Director Joseph Benavides said in an email that Palomino Alpha has not been on the Crystal Clear agenda since August because representatives for the development “have requested the nonstandard water agreement be paused for the time being.”

“Further, their feasibility study has expired, meaning that if PA wants to proceed with the NSSA, they will need to conduct another feasibility study — a process that takes a couple of months,” Benavides said. “For the time being, it seems the Palomino Alpha matter is dormant, or has gone away. Personally, I expect this issue to resurface after the elections, so we will see.”

In July, Bobby Levinski, an attorney for Save Our Springs Alliance representing the Data Center Action Coalition, a local activist group, announced a suit against the Guadalupe County Commissioners Court for what he claimed was a “pattern of secrecy” regarding agreements for two data center developments: Cloudburst and Palomino Alpha.

The lawsuit names Guadalupe County, the Commissioners Court, Kutscher and commissioners Jacqueline Ott, Drew Engelke, Jim Wolverton and Stephen Germann, each in their official capacities, as defendants. In July, Levinski said they had raised several complaints about actions that resulted in development agreements and tax abatements for both projects.

Levinski alleged members of the court violated the Texas Open Meetings Act by holding private discussions and negotiations with developers, conducting deliberations behind closed doors and failing to properly post public notice before reconsidering the Cloudburst tax abatement agreement.

Regarding Kutscher, Levinski also alleged there was a conflict of interest involving the Palomino Alpha Data Center.

During public comment at the July meeting, Jennifer Lindsey read from emails between CCSUD and Kutscher that were obtained through Public Information Act requests and that she alleged showed Kutscher was involved in the review of Palomino Alpha’s water feasibility study while having a financial interest in the project. The emails referenced communications with Kutscher about the project, including a Crystal Clear response stating that details had been confirmed during a call with him.