The Williamson County sheriff’s new agreement allowing the "Live PD" television show to resume filming deputies in daily action drew criticism from some county leaders.

In August, county commissioners canceled its contract with "Live PD" after the show had come under fire from prosecutors and defense attorneys who cited a lack of access to potential evidence gathered by film crews, and from officials who said it portrayed the county in a poor light.

But now the show is back on the air without gaining approval from the Commissioners Court.

"I had no knowledge of this and am so disappointed that we are talking about a TV show again, especially during a pandemic where our efforts should be focused on our citizens," Commissioner Valerie Covey said during a meeting Tuesday.

She said she was disappointed the court’s unanimous decision to cancel the contract with "Live PD" was "completely disregarded."

Commissioner Terry Cook said Tuesday that she noticed on a recent episode of the show that deputies were not wearing masks.

Chody responded to Covey’s and Cook’s comments by tweeting: "The same court that just said they were disappointed in my decision (Covey) of Livepd is the same court who refused to listen to the community."

"Commish Cook said no masks were worn? We had one scene on TV where deputy didn’t get out of vehicle. Over stepping authority."

Chody didn’t respond to requests for details of the access agreement he approved with "Live PD" or whether or not he consulted with county officials before agreeing to it.

Big Fish Entertainment produces the show for the A&E Network, which airs it on Fridays and Saturdays.

District Attorney Shawn Dick said Tuesday he didn’t find out about the agreement until Chody first tweeted about it Monday.

"I called the sheriff and I called the county attorney and I talked to both of them and I was very upset that neither one had consulted our office about the agreement," said Dick.

Dick said he understood that the sheriff had been consulting with the county attorney’s office for several months before the agreement was approved.

The county attorney’s office didn’t respond to a request for comment Tuesday about the access agreement.

Dick said Chody sent him the access agreement Monday. He said the agreement was only made with the Williamson County sheriff’s office, unlike the previous "Live PD" contract that also was made with the county.

He said the new access agreement fails to address his two major concerns.

"The agreement does not require on scene employees of Big Fish Entertainment to be identified as material witnesses; and does not require raw, unaltered and unedited footage produced during the filming of ‘Live PD’ to be collected and retained as evidence for the criminal case," Dick said.

"If our office is unable to obtain the basic contact information for the witnesses or the ‘Live PD’ raw footage for felony arrests, we will have no choice but to dismiss the felony charges."

Chody said in an email Tuesday that the agreement he sent Dick does address the district attorney’s concerns.

"He requested that we list certain information in regards to witnesses and I assured him that we would," Chody said. "Even though the agreement doesn’t require this, I advised we would. This allows his office to request or subpoena those he feels needed in order to prevent the concerns he stated."

Dick said the sheriff had told him during the previous contract with "Live PD" that certain information would be provided regarding witnesses, but Dick never received it.

Dick also said language had been deleted in the new access agreement allowing Big Fish to destroy all video in a certain amount of time, but it didn’t give "any guidance on what to do with the video."

Chody first tweeted about LivePD on Monday. "Yes! We’re back," he said.

"I am grateful for the opportunity to have Livepd back in WilCo through an access agreement. I believe having #LivePd in WilCo is a necessary tool for our office for many reasons. In addition, the community at a large scale approves."

In another tweet later on Monday, Chody said, "I am thankful for those who voiced their overwhelming support for #LIVEPD.

"A small minority of forces will do anything to stop LivePD. Ask yourself, WHY? This includes some media sources, some local leaders, disgruntled ex-employees, & others who follow lead," he said.