Internal e-mails released by the Texas Department of Public Safety show a host of technology troubles with the Texas Governor's Mansion security system months before an arsonist set the mansion on fire.

"There were mistakes here, I believe the department knows there were mistakes," said Allan Polunsky, the chairman of the panel which oversees DPS.

DPS internal investigators said last month that on the night of the fire, only 13 of the 20 cameras guarding the mansion were operating. An infrared motion detector had been disabled because of electrical work during the mansion's renovation.

A DPS spokesperson says the department does not discuss security protocol. But e-mails obtained under the Texas Public Information Act show other problems plaguing the mansion security system.

Almost one year before the fire, an e-mail reads, "We had someone come over the fence at the mansion... We attempted to burn a CD of the person... and could not do so."

During its Sunset Commission review, lawmakers criticized the department's antiquated technology infrastructure. E-mails show the problem was evident in security devices at the mansion.

"Our 1998 cameras, 2003 DVRs... and new replacement parts are not compatible due to technology advances," one staffer wrote.

In February 2008, an e-mail shows someone called to report five cameras were out of order. A total of seven were not working by the time the mansion was set on fire in June.

"I don't think [the agency is] modernized, I think it's operating like it was 20, 30 or 40 years ago in many ways," said State Rep. Lois Kolkhorst, R-Brenham, last month.

Now, DPS leaders have committed to a nearly $1 million outside review of the agency's structure. It should be finished within the next six months.