FORT BEND COUNTY, Texas – The attorney for Fort Bend County Judge KP George has filed a motion to quash and dismiss an indictment against George.
George was indicted by a grand jury on Sept. 26 on a Class A misdemeanor charge of misrepresenting the identity of a candidate.
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The charge stems from allegations of a coordinated social media imposture with his former chief of staff Taral Patel, who was arrested back in June for a felony charge of online misrepresentation for his role in a social media hoax.
During George’s successful re-election campaign in 2022, the incumbent county judge claimed he was being victimized by “racist and xenophobic” attacks. However, accusations claim that George coordinated with Patel to make some of the targeted posts in order to garner sympathy and support. Sources claim that one of the accounts they used for these posts had the screenname “Antonio Scalywag.”
On Thursday, Oct. 3, George’s attorney, Chad Dick, filed a motion to dismiss the indictment, arguing the state did not comply with a mandatory provision of Article III of the Texas Constitution, according to court records.
The records allege the Fort Bend County District Attorney’s Office did not have the authority to invoke the jurisdiction of a trial court for a criminal prosecution when the case was indicted because the trial court lacked subject matter jurisdiction absent a final determination by the Texas Ethics Commission (TEC).
The records allege the prosecutor filed a sworn complaint with the commission two days before indicting the case and did “not allow TEC to initiate the administrative process much less exhaust all remedies.”
“We conclude that the relevant constitutional and statutory provisions establish that the Legislature intended for the TEC to have exclusive jurisdiction over the offenses listed in Chapter 571. Therefore, exhaustion of administrative remedies in the TEC is a jurisdictional prerequisite to the bringing of criminal charges against a political candidate for campaign-law violations,” the records read.
The Fort Bend County DA’s Office shared the following statement:
The attorney for KP George recently filed a motion claiming that his prosecution for the misdemeanor charge of Misrepresentation of Identity under the Texas Election Code is unconstitutional.
The motion is based on a recent Texas Court of Criminal Appeals opinion that forbids any district attorney from exercising his or her constitutional authority to prosecute certain Election Code crimes without first obtaining permission from the Texas Ethics Commission in Austin.
KP George’s motion is premature. The decision of the Court of Criminal Appeals is not final and is still being appealed.
Moreover, this decision runs counter to one of the foundational principles of the Texas Constitution, which is that local district attorneys have exclusive authority to pursue violations of law in their local jurisdictions. The concept of a gatekeeper in Austin assuming this kind of control over how local elections are policed is contrary to this important principle.
It is important to note that the District Attorney’s investigation into the allegations against KP George is still ongoing, and this filing does not change our position on the matter.
We recognize the public interest in this proceeding, but the rules of legal ethics require both prosecutors and defense attorneys not to make public statements that could materially affect a court proceeding. As such, we will file our response and present our arguments to the trial court, and trust that KP George’s lawyers will do the same.