Former Texas state lawmaker Lon Burnam was carried out of the Tarrant County Commissioners meeting Tuesday at the request of Judge Tim O’Hare.
Christine Vo/Fort Worth Report
A former Texas state lawmaker is seeking the removal of Tarrant County Judge Tim O’Hare, one month after protests erupted at a contentious commissioners meeting.
In a lawsuit filed last week in district county court, former Democratic state representative Lon Burnam accused O’Hare, a Republican, of official misconduct and violating his freedom of speech rights at an Aug. 4 commissioners meeting.
That meeting — which drew hundreds of residents opposed to a plan to cut the number of voting sites — thrust Tarrant County into the national spotlight, ignited a debate over freedom of speech and led to two arrests, including Burnam’s.
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About two hours into the meeting, O’Hare kicked citizens out of the courtroom after some in the crowd giggled when a speaker compared Texas to Russia. Residents who packed the chambers chanted “Shame, Shame, Shame,” and “Vote them out” as they left the courtroom.
O’Hare later ordered the removal of Burnam, who picked up the microphone while speaking, an apparent violation of court decorum. Sheriff’s deputies hauled the 73-year-old man out by his hands and feet.
Fort Worth activist EJ Carrion, who was also removed, was arrested a week later outside his home, accused of disrupting the public for cursing at the meeting. Photographs and videos of the extraordinary scenes spread on social media and received a flurry of news coverage.
O’Hare, a Southlake attorney, did not immediately respond to an email Monday afternoon seeking a response. Ruth Ray, O’Hare’s chief of staff, told Fort Worth Report last week that Burnam attended commissioners court “with plans to disrupt the meeting.”
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Commissioners were debating a contentious proposal to cut the number of Election Day voting sites nearly in half this November from the 2022 midterms, from 316 to 176, and early voting sites from 50 to 42. Commissioners tabled the proposal following the outcry.
At the next meeting, commissioners voted 3-2 to cut 92 Election Day sites, to 224, and three early voting sites, to 47, over the objections of dozens of residents.
Commissioners voted along party lines, with Republicans — O’Hare and commissioners Matt Krause and Manny Ramirez — supporting the list. Democratic commissioners Alisa Simmons and Roderick Miles Jr. voted against.
O’Hare is running for re-election this November against Simmons.
Related: Fort Worth activist arrested, jailed after cursing at Tarrant County Commission meeting
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Voting rights advocates criticized the move. Tarrant County is home to 1.3 million registered voters. In comparison, Dallas County has more than 1.4 million registered voters and 438 Election Day sites and 84 early voting sites.
Removal petition
The Texas Constitution authorizes a district judge to remove a county officer for incompetency or official misconduct.
Burnam said O’Hare frequently interrupts, admonishes or removes speakers who criticize him or the court. He has “administered public-comment rules harshly and inconsistently, creating a reasonable fear that criticism may lead to expulsion, exclusion from later meetings, or arrest.”
At the August meeting, Burnam picked up the microphone while speaking to support a previous speaker, Base Mego, who was removed for picking up his own microphone. Mego said he has autism and trouble with public speaking and was previously granted an accommodation to hold the microphone.
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Almost immediately, O’Hare ordered deputies to remove Burnam, who then lay on the ground.
Tarrant County District Attorney Phil Sorrells filed two charges against Burnam: disrupting a meeting and hindering proceedings by disorderly conduct, punishable by up to one year in jail and a fine of up to $4,000. In a statement, the district attorney said Burnam “chose chaos.”
Attorneys for Burnam filed a petition last week to have the charges dismissed.
Related: Tarrant County judge orders courtroom cleared, removes former state lawmaker
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