A Williamson County Commissioner has raised concerns that the hospital board is out of compliance with its own bylaws, potentially exposing taxpayers to legal risks due to improper board composition.
It looks like Williamson County Medical Center is playing fast and loose with its own rules—and the ones potentially left holding the bag? The Williamson County taxpayers.
Sources within the Williamson County Commission have informed TruthWire News that the hospital board's current composition is not in compliance with its own bylaws, raising notable governance concerns.
At the heart of the issue is former County Commissioner David Landrum, who still holds a seat on the hospital board despite no longer being a member of the County Commission. That’s a problem for one glaring reason: the hospital board’s own bylaws, amended in 2019 through Resolution 5-19-38, state that four members of the board must be sitting County Commissioners.
The resolution also made it clear that once a commissioner leaves office, they are expected to step down from the board as well. The language reads:
“It is the expectation of the Board that a County Commissioner shall resign his/her membership on the Board of Trustees concurrently with the expiration or termination of his/her term of office as a county commissioner or resignation from the county commission.”
Seems pretty straightforward, right?
Well, not according to the legal team for the County Commission, who now argue that the word expectation doesn’t mean requirement and that Landrum has the option to remain on the board because his term is set by state law.
So, Which Is It?
If Landrum is allowed to stay, then the hospital board isn’t in compliance with its own rule requiring four current commissioners to be on the board. If he’s supposed to step down, then the board is ignoring its own bylaws.
Either way, this raises some serious governance issues. Bylaws aren’t suggestions—they’re the rules that govern an organization. If the hospital board is already finding ways to sidestep them when convenient, how many other rules are being ignored or loosely interpreted?
Even more concerning: if the 2019 amendment to the bylaws had no legal weight, then why was it passed in the first place? Was the County Commission misled about its authority at the time? And if they actually did have the authority, why is it being disregarded now?
This isn’t just bureaucratic confusion—this is a compliance issue with real potential for legal and financial consequences.
What Happens When the Rules Are Ignored?
Let’s talk about why this matters beyond a game of musical chairs on the board. Williamson County Medical Center is taxpayer-funded. That means if noncompliance with its own bylaws leads to legal challenges, financial penalties, or governance issues, it’s not the board members who will pay for it—it’s Williamson County taxpayers.
Bylaws function like a contract. If an organization fails to adhere to its own governing documents, that can be construed as a breach of contract. That opens the door for potential lawsuits, governance disputes, and even state intervention if the hospital board is found to be operating outside the legal framework it set for itself.
In short: If Williamson County Medical Center is out of compliance, any fallout will be paid for with tax dollars.
What’s the Fix?
At this point, there are really only three ways to clean up this mess:
1. Actually follow the bylaws – If the rule states that four current commissioners must serve, then either Landrum needs to step down or the board needs to appoint someone new immediately to meet the requirement.
2. Clarify the bylaws – If the language is too vague, then let’s be honest about it and fix it so there’s no more room for these convenient “misunderstandings” in the future.
3. Get a second legal opinion – Because right now, the reasoning behind keeping Landrum on the board feels more like an excuse than a legitimate legal position.
At the end of the day, this isn’t complicated—it’s basic governance. If you write the rules, you should at least pretend to follow them. Otherwise, why should anyone take them, or the board itself, seriously?
And let’s not forget—this board oversees a taxpayer-funded medical center. If they’re willing to bend the rules to justify their decisions on something as simple as board appointments, what else might they be ignoring?
The longer this issue drags out, the more it exposes a larger problem: Is the hospital board truly accountable to the taxpayers who fund it? Or is it just another government entity that makes its own rules when convenient—until the bill comes due?
One thing is certain: If there’s legal or financial fallout from this conundrum, the taxpayers of Williamson County will be the ones left footing the bill.
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