FORT BEND COUNTY, Texas – The attorney for Fort Bend County Judge KP George has filed a motion to quash and dismiss an indictment against George.
George was indicted by a grand jury on Sept. 26 on a Class A misdemeanor charge of misrepresenting the identity of a candidate.
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The charge stems from allegations of a coordinated social media imposture with his former chief of staff Taral Patel, who was arrested back in June for a felony charge of online misrepresentation for his role in a social media hoax.
During George’s successful re-election campaign in 2022, the incumbent county judge claimed he was being victimized by “racist and xenophobic” attacks. However, accusations claim that George coordinated with Patel to make some of the targeted posts in order to garner sympathy and support. Sources claim that one of the accounts they used for these posts had the screenname “Antonio Scalywag.”
On Thursday, Oct. 3, George’s attorney, Chad Dick, filed a motion to dismiss the indictment, arguing the state did not comply with a mandatory provision of Article III of the Texas Constitution, according to court records.
The records allege the Fort Bend County District Attorney’s Office did not have authority to invoke the jurisdiction of a trial court for a criminal prosecution when the case was indicted because the trial court lacked subject matter jurisdiction absent a final determination by the Texas Ethics Commission (TEC).
The records allege the prosecutor filed a sworn complaint with the commission two days before indicting the case and did “not allow TEC to initiate the administrative process much less exhaust all remedies.”
“We conclude that the relevant constitutional and statutory provisions establish that the Legislature intended for the TEC to have exclusive jurisdiction over the offenses listed in Chapter 571. Therefore, exhaustion of administrative remedies in the TEC is a jurisdictional prerequisite to the bringing of criminal charges against a political candidate for campaign-law violations,” the records read.
It is unclear at this time if a hearing is scheduled to decide on this motion.