Just hours after interim County Judge Daniel Wong sued County Attorney Bridgette Smith-Lawson on Monday, Smith-Lawson responded with a legal action seeking to remove Wong from office.
The fight has played out in news conferences, contentious Commissioners Court meetings and now competing lawsuits.
In her filing, Smith-Lawson asks a judge to rule that Wong has no legal right to remain county judge. She’s also asking the court to stop him from acting as county judge while the case moves forward and to fast-track the dispute.
The latest legal clash stems from Wong’s appointment in April after visiting Judge Jeth Jones temporarily suspended then-County Judge KP George during a civil removal lawsuit filed by Fort Bend County resident Sarah Roberts.
Jones appointed Wong to perform the duties of county judge while that case was pending.
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Smith-Lawson in the lawsuit contends that Wong should never have been appointed in the first place because the lawsuit that put him in office was prosecuted by a private citizen instead of the State of Texas. Because of that, she argues, the judge who appointed Wong didn’t have the legal authority to do so.
Even if the appointment was valid, Smith-Lawson adds, Wong’s authority ended when Roberts dismissed the lawsuit that led to his appointment.
Smith-Lawson is also asking the court to issue emergency orders preventing Wong from acting as county judge while the legal fight plays out.
“As Fort Bend County Attorney, I am acting squarely within my statutory duty to represent the State in District Court and to bring quo warranto proceedings when someone is alleged to be unlawfully holding a public office,” Smith-Lawson said in a statement.
See here, here, and here for some background. According to Houston Public Media, the two lawsuits were filed in different courts, so I’m not sure how that will play out logistically. Normally, I expect multiple filings like these to get consolidated, but I don’t know how that might work here. Seems to me if they proceed separately there might be some incentive to be the first to get a ruling, and it feels like it might get messy from there. I will note that in the comments to the previous post there is a note about a quo warranto filing; I will leave it to the people who have access to the Fort Bend County District Clerk’s filing system whether the Smith-Lawson suit uses that statute. I can hardly wait to see what comes next.
Indeed, Smith-Lawson’s petition is styled “The State of Texas v. Daniel Wong,” and is captioned, “The State’s Petition for Leave to File an Information in the Nature of Quo Warranto.” It also cites Civil Practice and Remedies Code chapter 66.
Nailed it!