Public speakers hurl expletives in challenge of Tarrant County’s new decorum policy
The Tarrant County Commissioners Court approved a new policy regulating public comments and other issues of decorum on Tuesday, Jan. 28.
The policy passed along party lines, despite opposition from Democrats on the court and several Tarrant County residents who spoke out on the change.
The policy creates barriers to citizens’ ability to practice their First Amendment right and gives Tarrant County Judge Tim O’Hare too much power over their Constitutional right to free speech, opponents argued.
Several said they believed the move was meant as retaliation for criticism the court has received over many issues that have become contentious in recent years, from deaths in the county jail to the proposed elimination of early voting sites on college campuses.
The policy allows O’Hare to limit speaking time to two minutes in the case of 20 or more people signing up to speak on a single agenda item. It allows him to cut it down to one minute if 40 or more sign up.
The policy also changes the deadline to sign up to 5 p.m. the day before a scheduled meeting. The previous policy allowed people to sign up to speak all the way up to the beginning of a session at 10 a.m.
Before the vote, Precinct 2 Commissioner Alisa Simmons called the policy a “barrier” to free speech, as requiring people to sign up the day before creates a burden for working people who do not have internet access and would have to make two trips downtown in order to speak.
“We’re asking them to take two days out of their lives to come up here and participate in a process that should be very accessible,” she said.
O’Hare responded by saying that anyone who is unable to sign up either in person or online can call his office by the new deadline and sign up to speak that way. Anyone can sign up this way, independent of party affiliation, he said.
“No matter who you are, what party you’re from, whether you support me, don’t support me, we won’t check, we won’t know, we won’t care,” O’Hare said.
He also addressed Simmons’ statement that he has the ability to call speakers out of order by saying that he has done so twice: once for State Sen. Royce West, a Dallas Democrat, and once for Tarrant GOP Chair Bo French.
“I believe I run a fair meeting,” O’Hare said. “It’s strict when it comes to yelling out. I will continue to run a fair meeting. This is not designed to somehow give me the ability to pull some fast one. I’m a firm believer in free speech. Free speech is not the ability to disrupt a meeting.”
The policy also gives sheriff’s deputies the power to issue criminal trespass warnings to those who violate rules of decorum, which can come with a 180-day ban from the county administrative building.
Several removed from court for decorum violations
During discussion of the policy, O’Hare ordered the removal of a man for clapping and outbursts after issuing him a warning. Charlie Hermes, a senior lecturer in philosophy and humanities at UT Arlington, was also forcibly removed from the court and arrested at the Jan. 14 session after multiple instances of shouting.
Hermes was arrested by sheriff’s deputies on Tuesday, according to the Tarrant County inmate search tool. No charges were listed on the site as of publication.
Later during general public comments, gun rights activist Christopher J. Grisham was removed from the court after using profanity during his comments. Grisham was also detained and put in handcuffs at the Jan. 14 session after arguing with bailiffs over his right to carry a firearm in the court.
Grisham has demanded the county pay him and another man arrested that day be awarded damages. He has threatened to sue the county if his demands are not met by Feb. 14.
As he argued with deputies over his rights, Simmons asked the court’s lawyer Mark Kratovil if Grisham’s curse words were protected speech. He advised that while the First Amendment protects such speech, it does violate court policy.
When Simmons asked if court policy — at one point dropping an f-bomb of her own — superseded the First Amendment, Kratovil said he would look into it.
Speaking after Grisham, police watcher Carolina Rodriguez said a number of expletives and was also removed. She was arrested, per the county inmate search tool, but no charges were listed.
This story was originally published January 28, 2025 at 1:49 PM.
