The Cotulla Housing Authority board unanimously voted to terminate longtime Executive Director Nora Ayala Rodriguez on September 5, 2025, following a complaints hearing. Rodriguez had served in the leadership position since the 1980s, giving her roughly four decades with the agency. At the same time, assistant administrator Irene Ramirez was suspended from her position as part of the leadership changes. The termination followed growing tensions and public complaints involving operations at the housing authority.

After Rodriguez’s departure, Sandra Ramos was hired as the new executive director. The change placed new leadership in charge of reviewing operations and records maintained by the authority. It was during that process—and later inquiries from The Hawk’s Eye seeking payroll records—that questions about the agency’s financial records began to emerge.

Open Records Request for Payroll Information

In January 2026, a request was submitted seeking the salaries of housing authority employees for calendar years 2022 through 2025. Officials with the housing authority responded that payroll documentation was only available for the 2025 calendar year. Records for 2022, 2023, and 2024 were not included in the response.

In a written statement responding to the request, the authority said earlier payroll records were not available within the files currently maintained by the agency. Officials stated the missing records “were not transferred, retained, or stored in the system that is currently maintained by the Housing Authority.”  The housing authority said that if additional documents are located through archival recovery or other sources, they will be provided at that time. The response raised questions about the availability of historical payroll documentation for the agency.

District Attorney Contacted Regarding Records Concerns

Following the response, a complaint was submitted to the 81st Judicial District Attorney’s Office requesting a review of the situation. The complaint cited possible violations of the Texas Public Information Act and other statutes governing the handling of government records. It asked prosecutors to determine whether any violations may have occurred and whether further action was warranted. The complaint also raised concerns about the absence of several years of payroll documentation.

In communications included in the record, District Attorney Audrey Gossett Louis asked for clarification regarding the location of payroll records from prior years. She requested an explanation of why those records were unavailable and where they may currently be retained.  

Housing Authority Cites Access Issues With Financial Systems

In a written response provided through legal counsel, the Cotulla Housing Authority stated that it had produced all records responsive to the open records request that the agency was able to locate. The letter, sent by attorney Austin Beck of the San Antonio law firm Davidson Troilo Ream & Garza, explained that the authority was unable to locate payroll records for years prior to 2025. According to the correspondence, the absence of those records is tied to the transition in leadership following the termination of longtime Executive Director Nora Rodriguez. Beck wrote that Rodriguez had served in that role since the 1980s until her termination in 2025.

The attorney’s letter further states that current housing authority officials do not have access to the financial records system used during the prior administration. Specifically, the response says the former executive director and her former administrative assistant, Irene Ramirez, “continue to refuse to turn over the password” for the QuickBooks accounting system that stored financial records during their tenure. Without that access, the authority indicated it cannot retrieve financial records that may remain stored in the system.

In addition to the QuickBooks system, the letter claims that other access credentials connected to housing authority business accounts have not been turned over. Those accounts reportedly include vendor accounts used by the agency with companies such as Home Depot and Amazon. The response also alleges that certain housing authority property remains unreturned, including agency-issued cell phones that may contain official records. According to the letter, those devices may include public information such as call logs, text messages, and other communications related to agency operations.

The letter notes that payroll information from earlier years could potentially be reconstructed through other documentation, such as banking records or related financial materials. If those records are recovered, the authority said they would be released voluntarily because the information is considered to be in the public interest. For now, however, the authority maintains that it has produced all records currently available to it.

Payroll Records Provided for 2025

Documents released with the response included a payroll spreadsheet covering the 2025 calendar year. The spreadsheet reflects payroll activity by month and lists employee wages alongside deductions for federal withholding, Social Security, and Medicare. The record identifies several individuals whose compensation was processed through the housing authority payroll system during the year. The document also shows how employee pay changed during the year as staffing transitions occurred.

According to the spreadsheet, former Executive Director Nora Rodriguez received the highest compensation reflected in the record. The payroll sheet shows Rodriguez receiving gross payments of approximately $13,805 per month early in the year, before the payments decrease to about $6,902 per month and then drop again later in the year following the September termination. Because the payments changed during the year and ended after the leadership change, the totals reflect only a partial year of compensation rather than a full annual salary. The spreadsheet lists Rodriguez with approximately $79,113 in total pay for 2025 before deductions.

The payroll document also lists compensation for Irene Ramirez, who served as administrative assistant prior to the leadership change. Ramirez appears to have received about $7,956 per month earlier in the year, before the payments decrease to roughly $3,500 per month later in the year. Like Rodriguez, Ramirez did not appear to receive pay for the full year, and the totals therefore represent partial-year compensation. The spreadsheet lists Ramirez with approximately $44,871 in total earnings for 2025 before deductions.

The spreadsheet also lists Sandra Ramos, who was hired as executive director after Rodriguez’s termination in September. Because Ramos assumed the role later in the year, the payroll sheet reflects only several months of compensation rather than a full year of salary. The records show Ramos receiving payments beginning later in the year totaling approximately $20,375 before deductions. This reflects the period after the leadership transition at the housing authority.

Additional payroll entries include employees such as Joe Galvan Jr. and Myrna Ruiz. Galvan appears to have received regular payroll payments throughout much of the year totaling approximately $14,017, while Ruiz shows smaller payroll entries totaling about $6,423. The spreadsheet also reflects payroll deductions and employer costs associated with those payments. Altogether, the payroll report lists total employee costs of roughly $376,296 for 2025 based on the records provided.

Questions Remain About Records Retention

The absence of payroll records for several years has raised questions about records retention requirements and document control within the Cotulla Housing Authority. Housing authorities in Texas are considered governmental entities under Texas Local Government Code §392.006, which establishes that a housing authority is a public body corporate and politic performing essential governmental functions. As governmental bodies, housing authorities are subject to the Texas Public Information Act and other statutes governing the retention and availability of public records. These laws are intended to ensure that records documenting the expenditure of public funds remain available for review by the public and oversight authorities.

State law also requires local government entities to maintain records in accordance with retention schedules issued by the Texas State Library and Archives Commission (TSLAC). Under Texas Government Code §441.158, the commission is required to adopt records retention schedules that establish mandatory minimum retention periods for local government records. Once adopted, those schedules carry the force of law and must be followed by governmental entities. Where federal or state law requires a longer retention period, that requirement controls.

Federal and state regulations establish minimum retention requirements for payroll and wage records. Under 20 C.F.R. §404.1225(b)(3), employers participating in Social Security reporting under Section 218 agreements are required to retain payroll and wage records for at least four years. Texas law imposes a similar requirement under 40 Texas Administrative Code §815.106(i), which also requires payroll and wage records to be maintained for a minimum of four years.

Case Status

At this time, it is unclear whether the 81st Judicial District Attorney’s Office, which serves Atascosa, Frio, Karnes, La Salle, and Wilson counties, is considering additional action related to the matter. The office has not publicly indicated how it intends to proceed or whether further review or investigation may occur. Officials have not issued any public statement regarding the records issue described in the correspondence.

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