Houston Public Media/Melissa Enaje
Daniel Wong, center, spoke to media before the Fort Bend County Commissioners’ Court meeting on June 25, 2026. Wong was flanked by Republican congressional candidate and consultant Trever Nehls, left, and Bobby Eberle, communications director, right.
The legal battle over who has the authority to serve as Fort Bend County’s interim judge escalated Monday when Daniel Wong filed a lawsuit against Fort Bend County Attorney Bridgette Lawson-Smith, seeking to validate his interim appointment as judge and stop what his legal team calls a politically motivated effort to remove him from office.
“I did not seek this lawsuit. I sought to do the job the district court entrusted me to do,” Wong said in a July 6 statement. “The people of Fort Bend County deserve certainty, stability, and a government focused on serving the public — not political disputes.”
Wong is the GOP nominee for county judge and will face Democratic nominee Commissioner Dexter McCoy in November’s election. Wong was appointed to the role in April by a Galveston County district court judge after embattled Fort Bend County Judge KP George was suspended based on a civil lawsuit filed by a resident.
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The civil lawsuit was later dismissed on June 17, after George was sentenced to five years of probation and 180 days in county jail for money laundering. George was first elected as a Democrat in 2018. He switched parties last year as he planned to seek a third term in office. However, he placed last in the March Republican primaries.
In the 58-page lawsuit filed in Fort Bend County’s 240th Judicial District Court, Wong claims his appointment is still in effect, unless it is vacated by another court. The lawsuit also cites a law from the Texas Constitution called the “holdover provision,” which is a statute that allows appointed and elected officers to continue their duties in office until a successor is found.
Wong’s lawsuit attempts to address several arguments Smith-Lawson and her office previously raised.
In a June 25 letter to Wong’s attorney, Chris Hilton, Smith-Lawson argued that since the civil lawsuit against George was dismissed on June 17, the order appointing Wong as interim county judge was no longer valid.
Smith-Lawson, now serving in her second term, said in a statement to Houston Public Media that she’s disappointed and called the lawsuit a professional bullying tactic that has been occurring since George switched parties in 2025.
“This is a consistent, full frontal attack on me and my office, much of which has been inappropriate,” she said. “The court has been hostile towards me since the partisan shift. This is objectively verifiable. I am not surprised at this lawsuit, but I am disappointed.”
Smith-Lawson said she will be issuing a legal response shortly.
Courtesy Office of the Fort Bend County Attorney
In this 2025 photo from the Fort Bend County Attorney’s Office, Bridgette Smith-Lawson is seen speaking at the county courthouse.
“I am exercising the duties of this office, which is to inform the members of the court and employees, of information that would create legal exposure, which includes someone occupying an office without clear legal authority to do so,” Smith-Lawson said.
This comes just weeks after Fort Bend County’s two Democratic commissioners, Grady Prestage and McCoy, walked out of a public court meeting on June 25, in opposition to Wong presiding over court. After the walkout, both commissioners called the meeting illegal and argued that no legal quorum was in place to continue commissioners court that day, with only Republican commissioners Andy Meyers and Vincent Morales in attendance. Wong continued to preside over the meeting and passed several agenda items.
Hilton, Wong’s legal counsel, claims the county attorney is exceeding her office’s authority by declaring that Wong’s tenure is over. In the lawsuit, Wong claims that last month, Smith-Lawson directed county officials to terminate his access to county facilities and remove his access to county systems.
“Rather than serve her constituents, she is abusing her office by pushing ridiculous opinions that have no basis in law,” Hilton said in a statement.