Just three weeks after a press conference was held to address gender harassment allegations against Hutto City Manager Odis Jones for personnel decisions, the city has approved a budget item to hire legal counsel specializing in employment law.

The council unanimously approved the budget item with a cap of $200,000. If legal costs exceed $200,000, the council will have to vote again to approve any further expenditures.

Jones said none of the three women who filed charges with the Texas Workforce Commission and Equal Employment Opportunities Commission have signed sworn affidavits.

Mike Shaunessy, a city attorney, confirmed the statement by Jones.

"You were presented with three letters that purported to be charges of discrimination, and I pointed out [March 16] that none of those letters really constituted charges of discrimination because none of the statements were sworn to," Shaunessy said. "I have yet to see anything in which any of the terminated employees have sworn to the accuracy of what was in those letters."

The law firm is also being used for other legal needs of the city.