LIBERTY COUNTY – Liberty County officials voted to terminate their fire marshal after he and two other people in his office were arrested on charges of theft, official oppression and tampering with evidence.
Bill Hergemueller faces multiple charges, including official oppression, tampering with physical evidence with intent to impair, and theft of property valued between $750 and $2,500.
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Along with being charged with stealing materials from a truck after its driver was killed in a crash, the now-former fire marshal is accused of using his position to bully towing service workers into sending him payments and performing fire inspections without proper licensing.
The vote for Hergemueller’s dismissal happened during a special-called meeting in Liberty County Commissioner’s Court Friday.
“The events that have unfolded this week present us with an opportunity to develop and adopt a more stringent review process for appointed officials,” Liberty County Pct. 2 Commissioner Greg Arthur said during Friday’s meeting. “Moving forward, this court will do what is necessary to ensure that every person appointed to that position in Liberty County is qualified under the law.”
Hergemueller was last appointed to fire marshall in Sept. of 2022. The position requires appointment every two years, meaning that he was coming up for renewal for the office. The county’s attorney’s office advised the commissioner’s court to non-renew Hergemueller to the office of fire marshall.
The former fire marshal was arrested along with assistants Nat Holcomb and Jesse McGraw, who were all booked into the Liberty County Jail following an investigation into their actions while on duty, according to Liberty County judicial records.
More information surrounding the arrests
Holcomb is charged with tampering with a government record (defraud/harm) and theft of property valued between $750 and $2,500 (enhanced). McGraw, another assistant fire marshal, also faces charges of tampering with a government record (defraud/harm) and tampering with physical evidence with intent to impair.
All three of the men have since been released from jail according to court records.
According to court documents, Hergemueller is accused of using his capacity of fire marshal to gain early access to hazmat scenes. He doesn’t make it known he is on scene for hazmat containment but instead uses his capacity as fire marshal to bully owners of towing services on the scene, the documents say.
The documents allege Hergemueller tells the owners of the towing services he will send them an invoice for hazmat services, makes them aware he runs Liberty County and thanks them for their business. This leads the owners to believe they must pay the invoice in order to continue to work within the county and protect the livelihood of their employees, the documents say. The owners have paid Hergemueller and his company several thousand dollars over time, according to the documents.
On one occasion, when one of the owners stopped paying the invoices, the documents allege a week later, Hergemueller and a deputy fire marshal showed up to the tow yard and conducted a fire inspection, instilling fear of the power Hergemueller held.
The documents allege Hergemueller and Holcomb stole products from the trailer of an 18-wheeler which was involved in a crash on US 59 in December 2022. In that incident, they are also accused of siphoning diesel from the 18-wheeler and pouring it into a 55-gallon drum for personal use.
In another incident, the documents say Hergemueller and Holcomb responded to a fatal crash on FM 787 in October 2023 where a box truck collided head on with another vehicle. The driver of the box truck was killed in the crash. In this incident, the two are accused of taking an aluminum ramp belonging to the owner of the box truck. They also are accused of taking the vehicle’s bumper cover and two rims.
All three of the men also did not have the proper licenses to perform fire inspections, approve plans and permits or to perform fire investigations, according to the court records.
When questioned about this, the court records say Hergemueller admitted to siphoning the diesel from the truck and keeping it for personal use. He also reportedly admitted to taking the aluminum ramp as well as allowing his fire marshal employees to perform fire investigations despite them not having the proper state licenses.
The documents say Holcomb also admitted to the thefts as well as not having the proper licenses. McGraw also admitted to not having the proper licenses to perform fire inspections or investigations, the documents say.