A South Texas narcotics task force commander alleged he was fired to silence his complaints that Kleberg County Attorney Kira Talip was misusing public funds and having an alleged sexual relationship with another employee.

Thomas Roddy, the former commander of the South Texas Specialized Crimes and Narcotics Task Force, has sued Talip in federal court, alleging that he spoke out repeatedly about her alleged misuse of his task force’s property seizure fund. Talip was granting donation requests, typically between $500 to $5,000, to various Kingsville entities that were not eligible to receive public funds and had not submitted applications or explanations of how they would use the money, Roddy claimed.