Tarrant judge faces felony charges involving property taxes, theft of services

A Tarrant County judge was indicted Wednesday on charges of theft of service and tampering with a government record.

Jacquelyn Wright, who has been a justice of the peace for 27 years in Tarrant County, is accused of falsifying tax exemption claims from October 2010 to January 2018, according to court records.

On Tuesday, a grand jury voted to indict Wright on one count of theft of service and three counts of tampering with a government record.

According to the charges, Wright falsely applied for and received a residential homestead exemption in December 2015, December 2016 and January 2018 for a home where she did not reside.

She is also accused of unlawfully taking more than $2,500 but less than $30,000 worth of services from Tarrant County labor and utilities.

Tampering with government records and theft of service are felonies punishable by up to two years in a state jail.

The Tarrant County District Attorney’s Office began an investigation by its Public Integrity Unit after receiving information concerning potential violations.

“The cases will be filed with a Tarrant County criminal court, which will set them in the future,” Smid said.

Wright, 71, has been a judge in Tarrant County since 1991 and previously served on the Texas State Supreme Court’s Rules Committee.

In February, Wright apologized after her husband was caught on video pulling up her opponent’s campaign signs. Wright sent the apology to Chris Gregory, a Lake Worth police sergeant who was running against Wright in the Republican primary.

In 2015, Wright also received a public warning from the State Commission on Judicial Conduct after offering an opponent a favor on a court case if she dropped efforts to kick Wright’s name off the Republican Party primary ballot last year.

The commission ruled Wright failed to comply with the law and was involved in activity that cast doubt on her ability to be impartial when she offered in an email to make sure that her opponent Vickie Phillips’ “brushes with the law are not an issue, ever.”

Wright surrendered to Parker County Jail on Wednesday and was released on bond.

This story was originally published September 19, 2018 at 4:19 PM.