Tyler

By CASEY KNAUPP
Staff Writer

Smith County Precinct 1 Constable Henry Jackson’s attorney asked a county court-at-law judge to recuse himself from presiding over his official oppression case, which is set to go to trial next week.

Jackson, who has served as constable for nine years, was indicted in May on three counts of official oppression/sexual harassment misdemeanor charges and seven felony tampering with governmental record charges.

During a pretrial hearing in County Court-at-Law No. 2 Judge Randall Rogers’ court today, defense attorney William Hughey, of Marshall, asked Rogers to recuse himself from the case.

“I do not voluntarily agree to recuse myself,” the judge said after reviewing the motion. He said a judge would hear the motion on Friday morning.

Hughey has also filed a motion for a change of venue, asking the court to move the trial out of Smith County. But the judge said he could not take up motions until the recusal issue was resolved.

Jackson, 55, is scheduled to go to trial on the first official oppression case Monday.
The constable was arrested May 23 after he was stopped by Texas Department of Public Safety troopers when he was driving at a "high rate of speed" in Van Zandt County the day after he was indicted. He was released on bonds totaling $425,000.

Jackson, who served as a Tyler Police Department reserve officer before he was elected to his current office, was charged with seven second-degree felony counts of tampering with a governmental record, for which he faces two to 20 years in prison for each charge if convicted.

The tampering charges arise from alleged false filings made by Jackson regarding his private security company Fail Safe Security Agency, said Tonda Curry, a Tyler defense attorney who has been appointed special prosecutor in the case.

According to the indictments, Jackson made false entries as to when noncommissioned and commissioned security officers were hired. The officers had worked for months or even up to a year in some cases before their recorded hire dates, the documents show.

Jackson was also charged with three misdemeanor counts of official oppression for alleged sexual harassment while acting under the color of his office as a public servant.

On Dec. 15, 2006, March 11, 2007, and July 1, 2007, Jackson made unwelcome sexual advances to three different women - "submission to which was expressly or implicitly made a term or condition of the exercise or enjoyment … of … her employment," according to the indictments.

Each misdemeanor charge could result in one-year confinement in the county jail and a fine not to exceed $4,000.

According to County Judge Joel Baker, Jackson’s arrest does not automatically remove him from office. He has remained acting as constable while out on bond.

Staff writers Kenneth Dean and Roy Maynard contributed to this report.

Smith County Precinct 1 Constable Henry Jackson
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