Fired Harris County Public Health director faces felony charge

HARRIS COUNTY, Texas (KTRK) -- The former top leader of Harris County Public Health is facing a felony charge stemming from an alleged multimillion-dollar bid-rigging scheme, according to the district attorney's office.

According to court documents, Barbie Robinson is accused of misuse of official information over allegations that she provided non-public information to IBM employees in 2021, while working for Sonoma County, California, and Harris County, Texas.

The felony charge was filed more than two months after Robinson was fired from her role as part of an unrelated investigation.

Robinson was relieved of duty in August after questions were raised in a Houston Chronicle report about her department hiring a California for-profit company that she reportedly had ties to, and officially terminated shortly after.

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