Saturday, April 20, 2024
Van Vernon — a former Republican precinct chair and a current elected member of the Acton Municipal Utility District board — has been charged in the theft of three Granbury School Board candidates’ campaign signs.
Vernon was served with three Class C misdemeanor citations at around 1:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 20, according to Sheriff Roger Deeds.
The Hood County News was unable to reach Vernon for comment before this article was posted, but will update it if he provides a statement.
Deeds said that the cases will be handled by Precinct 1 Justice of the Peace Roger “Cotton” Howell.
In Texas, Class C misdemeanors do not carry jail time. Punishment is a fine up to $500.
Deeds said that his office consulted with County Attorney Matt Mills on whether to charge Vernon with three separate Class C misdemeanor counts or one Class B misdemeanor count and Mills wanted to go with three smaller counts.
A Class B misdemeanor carries the potential for up to 180 days in a county jail and a fine of up to $2,000.
An example of a Class B offense is theft of property valued at $100 but less than $750.
The signs belong to Place 5 candidate Billy Wimberly, Place 6 incumbent Barbara Townsend, and Place 7 incumbent Paula McDonald.
The collective value of the signs is about $120, based on what the candidates said they cost.
McDonald said that her sign is valued at just over $34, Wimberly said that his is worth about $40, and Townsend placed the value of hers at $45.
Deeds said that Vernon must get with the JP’s office before Nov. 3 and either pay the fine set by the court or, if he pleads not guilty, set a court date.
If that happens, Mills said that he will have a special prosecutor handle the cases.
CHURCH NIGHT
Campaign signs seem to disappear during every election cycle, but this time there was a witness.
McDonald related to the HCN how the events unfolded. She also provided details in a written statement to the Sheriff’s Office. She provided the newspaper with a copy of that statement.
Here is what happened, according to McDonald:
The signs had been placed near Lakeside Baptist Church at the permission of the property owner.
The alleged theft took place on the night of Wednesday, Oct. 5.
Lakeside has church activities on Wednesday nights.
A man who attends Lakeside and who knows McDonald phoned to tell her that he had witnessed a man removing the campaign signs as he was leaving church. He told her that he when he lowered his window and verbally confronted him, the man threw the signs into the back of a maroon GMC pickup truck and drove away.
When McDonald related the incident to fellow School Board member Courtney Gore, Gore said that she knows someone who lives in nearby Indian Harbor and drives a maroon truck: Vernon.
McDonald said that Gore texted her a photo of Vernon, which she then showed to her church friend. He identified Vernon as the man who took the signs.
McDonald, Wimberly, and Townsend filed complaints with the Sheriff’s Office.
A deputy went to Vernon’s home and recovered the signs, Deeds said.
Wimberly said that the signs were undamaged. He said that the “zip strips” that held them to the T-posts had been cut. The T-posts were left standing.
“We have lost some signs and maybe, you know, there might be signs lost on both sides,” he said, adding that some candidates’ signs might be removed by authorities or property owners if their placement violates rules.
“But, you know,” Wimberly continued, “when you can catch somebody in the act of doing something like that, I think it’s an important message to say that, you know, that’s not something you should be doing.”
McDonald stated, “It’s important that justice is served when people decide to do something as nefarious as remove someone else’s political signs.”
Townsend provided this statement via email: “I am pleased that Mr. Vernon was caught, we recovered our signs and that there will be consequences for his actions.”
The HCN reached out to AMUD General Manager Richard English via email to ask whether there are any implications for a board member who is charged with a crime or who is found guilty of a crime.
He responded that he would have to “check with legal.”
The HCN did not receive an answer by the time this article was posted but will update it if English provides further information.
