Houston Public Media/Melissa Enaje
At the beginning of the meeting of Fort Bend County Commissioners Court on June 25, the call to bring the court to order under Daniel Wong was brought to objection by Commissioner Grady Prestage.
Fort Bend County’s two Democratic commissioners, Grady Prestage and Dexter McCoy, along with Republican Daniel Wong, have signaled there will be a legal battle to settle their dispute over Wong’s appointment as interim county judge.
Prestage is the senior elected official on the county’s five-member commissioners court and said ahead of Thursday’s meeting that he would preside after a civil lawsuit tied to Wong’s appointment was dismissed earlier this month. But that did not end up happening as Prestage’s motion to remove Wong from office failed along party lines, and the meeting continued with Wong presiding over commissioners court.
Wong is the GOP nominee for county judge and will face McCoy, the Democratic nominee, in November’s election. McCoy and Prestage walked out of Thursday’s meeting after the 2-2 vote regarding Wong’s status.
“I’ve been here 36 years. This is not fun,” Prestage said. “This is the darkest day that I’ve seen in this county. It’s ridiculous. Our discourse has been infected by evil, hateful speaking, hateful actions. I don’t know where it’s coming from, but I hope it goes away.”
McCoy and Prestage said they plan to pursue legal action regarding Wong’s status as county judge.
In April, Galveston County District Court Judge Jeth Jones suspended the embattled KP George from his role as Fort Bend County’s top elected official and appointed Wong as county judge on an interim basis. The decision by Jones, a Republican serving as a visiting judge in the case, was in response to a civil lawsuit filed by a county resident against George in 2025, accusing him of incompetence and of violating her First Amendment rights during a commissioners court meeting.
Separately, George was convicted of felony money laundering in March and earlier this month was sentenced to 180 days in jail and five years’ probation. He has filed an appeal.
The civil lawsuit was dismissed June 17 — the day after George’s sentencing in the criminal case — at the request of the plaintiff, Sarah Roberts, according to Fort Bend County court documents.
“[Wong’s] appointment ended when that suit was dismissed,” Prestage said. “That’s the law and that’ll be proven as we go down. It’s his burden to prove that he belongs there, not us to prove that he didn’t belong there. The law is pretty clear.”
Lines of residents filed into the Richmond courthouse as Wong still presided over commissioners court Thursday, after a motion by Prestage to remove Wong failed by a 2-2 vote along party lines. Republican Commissioners Andy Meyers and Vincent Morales voted against the motion, while McCoy and Prestage voted for it.
“Because Judge Wong is present for today’s meeting,” Meyers said, “Commissioner Prestage’s unilateral attempt to assume the role of presiding officer of the commissioners court, to me, constitutes an unlawful usurpation of the county judge’s statutory authority.”
After the motion failed, Prestage and McCoy walked out of what they called an illegal meeting. McCoy said what occurred was heartbreaking.
Houston Public Media/Melissa Enaje
Commissioner Dexter McCoy is seen leaving the county courthouse while court was in session on June 25.
“If we continue the way we are today, it says to voters that your vote doesn’t matter,” McCoy said. “It says that a judge can come in and appoint someone on a separate matter and take over our county government and then, when that’s disposed of, that no one is going to stop someone who’s not duly elected from holding office. That’s a shame.”
As the two were leaving, cheers erupted in the courtroom. Wong and the two Republican commissioners proceeded to hold court and vote on agenda items, which included a budget transfer on the consent agenda from the county judge’s office to approve $2,640 from travel funds to information technology for the purchase of a laptop.
Multiple residents spoke during the public comment period on both sides of the issue, including Amina Ishaq.
“He was never elected to this position,” Ishaq said. “We should not be spending our taxpayer money on his discretionary spending, because I’m a school counselor, I don’t get a $2,600 laptop, and I work for a public school system that this county is supposed to be funding.”
Wong’s legal counsel, Chris Hilton, who spoke on his behalf Thursday, said Wong’s appointment remains in effect due to Jones’ April appointment. Hilton also said a holdover provision in the Texas Constitution requires Wong to perform the duties of the office.
“The fact of the matter is the order appointing Judge Wong did not have any limit or end to it,” Hilton said. “That order was never terminated and he’s the county judge and he’s here to get to work.”
Melissa Enaje/Houston Public Media
Fort Bend County Commissioner Grady Prestage walks out of Thursday’s commissioners court meeting in Richmond.
Fort Bend County Attorney Bridgette Smith-Lawson, a Democrat, countered those arguments on Thursday, saying the dismissal of George’s civil case has invalidated Wong’s appointment. She also said the holdover provision is only applicable to elected and appointed officers for a legally defined vacancy in the state.
“It was temporary, pending trial. There is no trial,” Smith-Lawson said. “The matter is closed. The matter is settled. There is nothing else to survive. I understand there is some ambition to be involved, but the same respect that we gave to the appointment, we must also give to the dismissal order.”
The county attorney said there’s an inherent legal risk for the county if Wong continues to preside over commissioners court before the November election.
“This is not partisan,” Smith-Lawson said. “I am not here to personally attack anyone. I am just doing the business of the county because if we get it wrong, everything that we do can be challenged by any interested person per the government code.”
Wong and members of his office said Thursday he will remain in the role as interim county judge.
“I remain committed to the rule of law,” Wong said, “and I remain committed to serving every resident of Fort Bend County with integrity, humility, and purpose.”