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Judge denies George’s request for outside judge in his cases By Ken Fountain KFOUNTAIN@FORTBENDSTAR.COM
At the end of a nearly two-and-a-half hour hearing last week, a judge quickly dismissed the request of Fort Bend County Judge KP George’s attorneys that his several misdemeanor and criminal cases be heard by a judge from outside the county. Jared Woodfill and Terry Yates, George’s attorneys, had filed a motion for recusal in the 458th District Court, arguing that the presiding judge of that court, Maggie PerezJarmamillo, should recuse herself from George’s felony cases because as the top elected official in the county and a member of Commissioners Court, he has voting authority over not only her own salary and those of her court’s staff members. In the two felony cases, which were indicted in April, Fort Bend County prosecutors accuse George of money laundering related to campaign finance reports he filed during his first. successful run for judge’s office in 2018. He was reelected to a second term in 2022. The indictments allege that between January 12, 2019 and April 22, 2019, George “knowingly” tampered with campaign finance reports to conduct transactions of between $30,000 and $150,000, and transferring the proceeds “with intent to defraud or harm.” Likewise, the attorneys argued, County Court at Law No. 5 Judge Teana Watson should recuse herself from the two misdemeanor charges of misappropriation of identity against George, largely for the same reasons. In those cases, which were originally indicted last fall, prosecutors allege George worked with Taral Patel, his former chief of staff, to engage in a “fake hate” scheme of using false online identities to post racist messages about himself on social media and in emails during his 2018 campaign. Both George and Patel are Indian-American. The main thrust of the attorneys’ arguments was that allowing George’s cases to be heard by any judges based in Fort Bend County, where he has voting authority over a range of matters affecting them, could create for a reasonable member of the public an appearance of impropriety, or conflict of interest. The June 20 evidentiary hearing was before Judge Susan Brown, who is the judge of the 185th Criminal District Court in Harris County and the appointed presiding judge of the 11th Administrative Judge of Texas, which includes Fort Bend County. Just two days before the hearing, George, accompanied by his attorney Woodfill, announced in a Sugar Land press conference that he was changing his political party affiliation from Democratic to Republican and plans to run
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George announces switch to Republican Party By Ken Fountain KFOUNTAIN@FORTBENDSTAR.COM
In a move that many Fort Bend County political watchers had long anticipated, County Judge KP George – who is facing numerous criminal charges – announced at a Sugar Land press conference last week that he has switched his party affiliation from Democratic to Republican. George, now in his second term after having first been elected in 2018, made the announcement June 18 alongside his lead criminal defense attorney, Jared Woodfill, who incidentally is a former longtime chair of the Harris County Republican Party. He also
George formally announced that he plans to seek a third term, this time as a Republican, although he had previously told the Fort Bend Star that was his intention. George said in a news release that the party change is due to what he called a shift in the Democratic Party toward a “radical” agenda. “The Democrat Party has become one of corruption, radical political ideology and positions that do not reflect my values or those of Fort Bend County residents,” said George, using the appellation many Republicans use for the Democratic Party. “I have always believed in faith, family and freedom as the cor-
nerstones of our nation, and know that these are the key principles being advanced by the Republican Party.” The switch alters the partisan balance on Commissioners Court, which until Wednesday had a Democratic majority with George aligned with longtime Precinct 2 Commissioner Grady Prestage and first-term Precinct 4 Commissioner Dexter McCoy. George will now be aligned with Republican Precinct 3 Commissioner Andy Meyers – who has long served as George’s primary foil on the court – and
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Fort Bend County Judge KP George, who is facing several legal and political challenges, announced last week he has switched his party affiliation from Democratic to Republican.
UNVEILING HISTORY SUGAR LAND 95 HONORED WITH MARKER
During a special ceremony on Juneteenth, relatives of the Sugar Land 95 unveil the official Texas historical marker honoring the convict laborers whose remains were discovered at a Fort Bend ISD property in 2018. Photo by Ken Fountain
By Ken Fountain KFOUNTAIN@FORTBENDSTAR.COM
Seven years after the remains of victims of Fort Bend County’s convict leasing system were discovered on a site of a future Fort Bend ISD campus, a Texas Historical Marker was unveiled last week at the site to pay homage to the people who came to be known as the “Sugar Land 95.” The event, held both in a large auditorium inside the campus and on the grounds adjacent to the burial sites, was held in conjunction with
Juneteenth, which marks the occasion when enslaved people in Texas learned that they had been freed after the conclusion of the Civil War in 1865. The event was the culmination of years of effort that entailed no small amount of controversy after the remains were first discovered during preparatory work at the future home of FBISD’s James Reese Career and Technical Center in 2018. The discovery set in motion a series of legal proceedings and controversies, which made national and international
headlines, as the ugly history of the area’s convict leasing system became widely known. “”These bones cry out,” Pastor Trey Allen of The Vinyard Church of Sugar Land said in his invocation before a standing-room auditorium. “They cry out against a system of injustice and oppression that killed them; a system that saw these lives as tools rather than people; a system that destroyed Black lives, Black families, and Black communities. They cry out against a justice system run by white men aimed to imprison and exploit
the Black community, a system that reverberates to this very day. These bones cry out. God hear their cries.” Marilyn Moore, president of the community group Friends of Sugar Land 95, which has partnered with FBISD in the development of an interpretative community park at the site, served as the event’s master of ceremonies. She said that the event was “”an occasion of mixed emotion for me, joy and sadness.”
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McCutcheon sworn in as Sugar Land mayor By Ken Fountain KFOUNTAIN@FORTBENDSTAR.COM
An overflow audience witnessed a true changing of the guard at Sugar Land City Hall last week as newly elected Mayor Carol McCutcheon — the first woman mayor since the city’s incorporation in 1957 — took the reins from departing, longtime Mayor Joe Zimmerman. And with two new City Council members, elected in the June 7 runoff, joining two others who won outright in the May 3 general election — At Large Position 2 member Rob Bottcher and At Large Position 4 member Rick Miller — there are four new faces at the council dais.
McCutcheon, who had previously served for eight years in the District 4 council seat, defeated then-At-Large Position 1 member William Ferguson in the runoff election after they emerged from a crowed five-person race, which also included then-District 2 Council member Neshad Kermally. Family members, friends and supporters of McCutcheon and the two newest Council members — At-Large Position 1 member Jim Vonderhaar and District 2 member Sanjay Singhal — filled the main Council Chamber during the June 17 swearing-in ceremony, prompting Zimmerman to tell people standing in the aisles that they needed to go to a nearby conference room to see the proceedings on a
large screen. McCutheon, accompanied by her husband, was sworn in by Fort Bend Count Court at Law No. 6 Judge Dean Hrbacek, also a former Sugar Land mayor. “It’s an honor for me to do the oath of office for my friend, Carol, and the first female mayor for the City of Sugar Land,” said Hrbacek to loud applause from the audience. Immediately afterward, Zimmerman said, “Sugar Land, your next mayor, Carol McCutcheon!”, before departing from the chamber as the sustained applause continued. Next up, Vonderhaar was sworn
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Newly elected Sugar Land Mayor Carol McCutcheon, accompanied by her husband, is sworn in by Fort Bend County Court at Law No. 6 Judge Dean Hrbacek, also a former Sugar Land mayor. Photo by Ken Fountain