SAN JACINTO COUNTY, Texas – A county judge is accused of burglary, forgery and tampering with a governmental record, investigators said Monday.
Judge John Lovett Jr., 51, has been suspended without pay due to the charges he faces, according to his Order of Suspension, which was issued Sunday.
The burglary and tampering counts are considered felonies. The forgery charge is a misdemeanor. The allegations were filed in an indictment stemming from an incident at the County Courthouse on July 7, 2017, according to a news release from the San Jacinto County Sheriff’s Office.
Lovett is accused of entering the county clerk’s office and then falsifying a certification or a signature stamp of the county clerk on a meeting notice. The county clerk didn’t authorize this, the indictment said.
The Attorney General’s Office presented its case Monday to a grand jury, and then Lovett was booked in jail. He has since posted bond.