Texas judge dismisses petition to remove Tarrant County Judge O'Hare

A Texas district court judge dismissed a legal petition seeking Tarrant County Judge Tim O’Hare’s removal from office, less than two weeks after it was filed in court.

Former state lawmaker Lon Burnam filed the petition Sept. 9, alleging official misconduct or incompetency by O’Hare for his repeated removal of speakers, including Burnam, from commissioners court meetings. Burnam, 73, represented Tarrant County in the Texas House for 18 years as a Democrat and is a frequent speaker at commissioners court meetings.

Judge James S. Johnson of the 431st Judicial District Court dismissed the petition Monday, saying the facts presented by Burnam and his attorney were not sufficient in proving official misconduct or incompetency. Instead, Burnam’s allegations “present a dispute about the lawful scope of meeting control,” Johnson wrote in a court filing.

O’Hare celebrated the dismissal in a news release sent by his reelection campaign Monday.

“The court dismissed the case at the cost of radical activist Lon Burnam, leaving Burnam responsible for the costs of the failed removal effort,” the release stated.

Reached by phone Monday afternoon, Burnam said he needed to consult his attorney before commenting.

His petition alleged that O’Hare “intentionally used or caused the use of official authority” to have Burnam removed from the Aug. 4 commissioners court meeting and banned from returning for 180 days.

Burnam’s removal came after O’Hare repeatedly warned attendees to follow the commissioners court’s posted rules of decorum and ordered everyone other than county staff and reporters to leave the courtroom after some of them laughed and clapped.

Later in that meeting, four sheriff deputies carried Burnam out of the courtroom, holding him by his wrists and ankles, when the former legislator refused to leave. O’Hare had instructed Burnam to stop holding the microphone during Burnam’s allotted public comment time.

Under the Texas Constitution, a district judge may remove an elected county official from public office for “incompetency, official misconduct, habitual drunkenness, or other causes defined by law upon the cause being set forth in writing and its truth being found by a jury.”

Burnam’s petition alleged O’Hare justifies removing speakers from public meetings by labeling critical public comments as “disruptions.” During the meeting in which he was carried out of the courtroom, Burnam had criticized O’Hare for not allowing a previous speaker to hold the microphone as a disability accommodation.

At a meeting with the conservative activist group True Texas Project last week, O’Hare dismissed criticism of his continued removal of public speakers and slammed local media for covering the incidents. He told members of the group that “in any courtroom in America,” people get removed and even arrested for not following the judge’s orders.

“So what about when one repeatedly does it, and then when they’re asked to leave the building, they fall on the floor and go ‘wet noodle.’ What do you think should happen?” O’Hare told attendees at the True Texas Project meeting. “Do you think we should just stop the meeting until they decide to stop being a wet noodle?

Do you think we should just keep going while they keep laying on the floor? No, but these outfits will write stories about how bad I am.”

Burnam faces two criminal charges from the Aug. 4 meeting: hindering proceedings by disorderly conduct, a Class A misdemeanor, and disrupting a meeting or procession, a Class B misdemeanor.

Source: Fort Worth Report.

Sources

fortworthreport.org