KENDLETON, Texas – The Fort Bend County District Attorney’s Office announced they have reached an agreement with Darryl Humphrey, the Mayor of Kendleton, that will drop a charge against him.
The plea agreement would drop the abuse of official capacity charge against Humphrey in exchange for his resignation as mayor and restitution to a Kendleton RV park owner he is accused of subjecting to unlawful sewer and water charges.
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Humphrey was also accused of failing to provide the same owner with the public information he requested in 2021 and 2022.
“The terms of the agreement are that Humphrey is to resign his office by January 1, 2025, and return all his city-owned property at that time. Humphrey is barred from running for office until the expiration of his current term in 2026. Additionally, he is to pay $5,000 in restitution to Todd Doucet, the RV park owner, for attorney fees Doucet expended trying to enforce his lawful open records requests,” the Fort Bend County District Attorney’s Office said.
The office said the cases were met with legal challenges including several local witnesses hiring lawyers who filed motions to quash their subpoenas to testify. Further, the Attorney General’s Office also filed three motions to prevent the testimony of the Public Utility Commission’s witness.
“While we believe in the strength of the case, we would have to overcome the lack of cooperation from multiple witnesses. Once Humphrey offered to resign, we presented the proposed terms to Mr. Doucet. He indicated that he understood this resolution was the best path forward and an agreement was reached,” the District Attorney’s Office said. “Mr. Doucet is understandably upset, and the case did not develop as we would have liked. We communicated with him every step of the way and he understood that restitution was not guaranteed even if we won at trial. Doucet filed a complaint with the Public Utility Commission seeking restitution for his alleged overpayment of the water bill, which remains pending. Our goal to end the alleged corruption and restore integrity to the City of Kendleton was achieved. Humphrey will no longer be in a position to abuse his authority, and if the terms of the agreement aren’t met, we will prosecute and not dismiss the charges. The community will set the standard for Kendleton now when they cast their votes in the next mayoral election.”