An attorney for Fort Bend County Judge Daniel Wong is demanding that Fort Bend County Attorney Bridgette Smith-Lawson withdraw and correct statements questioning Wong’s authority to remain in office.
In a June 25 letter sent “via email and for immediate public release,” attorney Christopher D. Hilton of Stone Hilton PLLC said Smith-Lawson’s position that Wong is no longer an officer of the county is “meritless and legally unsupported.”
The dispute centers on Wong’s appointment after former Fort Bend County Judge KP George was removed from office following his criminal conviction. According to Hilton’s letter, Smith-Lawson has contended that Wong’s appointment ended after the plaintiff in Roberts v. George filed a nonsuit, effectively ending the civil case tied to George’s removal.
“Simply put, you are wrong,” Hilton wrote.
Hilton argued that the district judge’s appointment order remains in effect because it did not include an expiration date or make Wong’s service contingent on any future event. The order, according to the letter, appointed Wong “as County Judge to perform the duties of the office.”
Hilton also cited Texas Local Government Code Section 87.017, arguing that the statute allows a district judge to temporarily suspend an officer and appoint another person to perform the duties of the office, but does not provide a mechanism for ending that appointment under the circumstances described in the letter.
The letter further argues that the Texas Constitution requires Wong to continue serving until a successor is qualified. Hilton cited Article XVI, Section 17, which states that officers “shall continue to perform the duties of their offices until their successors shall be duly qualified.”
“George cannot resume the office of county judge,” Hilton wrote. “Even if Judge Wong’s appointment was extinguished by the dismissal of the underlying case — as explained above, it was not — George’s inability to resume office means that Judge Wong may not stop performing the duties of the office under the holdover provision until a successor is duly qualified.”
Hilton demanded that Smith-Lawson withdraw and correct her statements and undo any actions taken based on what he called a “mistaken legal analysis.”
“By charging ahead with your woefully inadequate legal opinion, you have sown partisan chaos and disrupted the operation of the Fort Bend County government,” Hilton wrote.
The letter was copied to Fort Bend County Commissioners Vincent Morales Jr., Grady Prestage, Andy Meyers and Dexter L. McCoy.
A press conference on the matter is expected at 1 p.m. today.
