The dispute over who runs Fort Bend County took a new turn today when interim County Judge Daniel Wong’s legal team sent a formal letter demanding the county attorney retract her opinion that his appointment has expired, citing over a century of Texas case law on the constitutional holdover doctrine.
Precinct 2 Commissioner Grady Prestage announced Wednesday that he will preside over the session after Fort Bend County Attorney Bridgette Smith-Lawson formally advised commissioners that the legal basis for Wong’s interim appointment as county judge no longer exists.
Prestage, the court’s longest-tenured member, said county operations will continue without interruption.
The situation traces back to April 10, when visiting Judge Jeth Jones, a Galveston County Republican district judge, suspended County Judge KP George and appointed Wong to serve as interim county judge under Section 87.017 of the Texas Local Government Code.
That statute allows a district judge to temporarily remove an elected official and install a replacement while a civil removal case is pending. The civil case in question was brought by Fort Bend County resident Sarah Roberts, who alleged George violated her First Amendment rights by removing her from a public comment session at a commissioners court meeting.
George’s legal troubles had been building for well over a year by that point.
He was convicted on March 20 of two counts of felony money laundering following a unanimous jury verdict in the 458th District Court, then sentenced last week to six months in the Fort Bend County Jail and five years of probation. Judge Maggie Perez-Jaramillo imposed the statutory maximum of 10 years but probated the sentence, with the 180-day jail term attached as a condition of community supervision.
George’s defense team immediately filed an appeal, meaning the sentence is on hold during that process. A separate misdemeanor charge tied to the 2022 election cycle remains pending.
The Roberts civil case was dismissed on June 17 when the plaintiff filed a notice of nonsuit, dropping all claims against George.
According to Smith-Lawson and county commissioners, that move automatically dissolved the interlocutory order that had put Wong in the interim role.
Separately, a June 16 order out of the 458th Judicial District Court suspended George from office without pay pending his felony conviction appeal under Section 87.032 of the Texas Local Government Code.
“When the case was withdrawn and non-suited, that means that interim appointment went away,” Prestage said. “That’s the gist of it, it went away, he no longer has the authority to be the interim county judge. That expired on June 17th.” He added that any official actions taken by Wong after that date could face legal challenge.
Smith-Lawson’s written opinion states that no new court order granting Wong authority has been delivered to the county, that Wong cannot legally participate in commissioners court meetings without one, and that the four sitting commissioners constitute a sufficient quorum to conduct county business.
Wong’s side is not backing down.
On Thursday, his attorney Christopher D. Hilton of Stone Hilton PLLC sent Smith-Lawson a formal letter demanding she withdraw her opinion and reverse any actions taken based on it.
The letter advances three legal arguments: first, that the appointment order itself is open-ended and was never conditioned on the outcome of the Roberts case; second, that Section 87.017 of the Texas Local Government Code does not contemplate dismissal of the underlying suit as a trigger for ending an appointment; and third, that Article XVI, Section 17 of the Texas Constitution’s holdover provision requires Wong to remain in office until a qualified successor takes over.
The letter cites over a century of Texas case law applying the holdover provision to county judges, including precedents stretching back to 1893.
“The district judge’s appointment order in that case, the Local Government Code, and the Texas Constitution all point to one conclusion: Daniel Wong is the County Judge of Fort Bend County,” Hilton wrote on Wong’s behalf.
