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Justice of the Peace Jacquelyn Wright

Justice of the Peace Jacquelyn Wright is like the bad gift that keeps being re-gifted – a stale fruitcake in the local judicial system, re-elected time and again despite her seemingly best efforts to sledgehammer her career. Since 1991, she has been presiding over administrative hearings and civil and criminal cases for Precinct 4, an area that includes portions of 15 municipalities and 10 school districts in Northwest Tarrant County. And in that time, she has also managed to take money unfairly from a couple in a personal house sale, sue the Tarrant County Republican Party, be sanctioned by the State Commission on Judicial Conduct for a quid pro quo offer to a political opponent, call a political opponent an obscene word on Facebook, and file for personal bankruptcy.

Her latest curious action was to stop processing documents for the Lake Worth Police Department. Typically, justices of the peace sign off on warrants, allowing them to be served by police. But Lake Worth’s police chief said Wright put an end to that practice after Detective Christopher Gregory announced plans to run for justice of the peace in 2018.

Police Chief Jimmy Womack said Wright has not signed any warrants for Lake Worth cops in a couple of months.

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“She felt like there was a conflict of interest between her office and the candidacy of one of our officers,” Womack said. “I don’t agree with it.”

The police department on Adam Grubb Street is across from the county sub-courthouse where Wright pounds her gavel. Getting the judge to sign off on warrants was as easy as taking a short stroll across the street, Womack said.

Now police are driving more than an hour round-trip to a Benbrook sub-courthouse to get warrants signed by another justice of the peace.

Womack said he has discussed the situation with Wright on two occasions since February, but the judge won’t budge. Her reasoning regarding a conflict of interest with the detective made little sense to Womack, who characterized Wright’s explanation as “convoluted.”

A couple of weeks ago, I called Wright to discuss her alleged refusal to sign warrants for Lake Worth cops. The clerk who answered the phone said the judge would call me back. She didn’t. I called again. The judge, speaking through an assistant, said she had sent me an email saying that she was not refusing to sign warrants.

I have no record of receiving such an email and asked the clerk to ask Wright to re-send it or to give me a call. Instead, the clerk read the email to me over the phone earlier this week. Here is what Wright had written: “I got a message from one of my clerks that you wanted to talk to me about my not signing papers for the city of Lake Worth. That’s not true. You do know, don’t you, that the city of Lake Worth has their own court, judge, and magistrate? I don’t work for the city of Lake Worth. I adjudicate for county and state offices.”

I was confused. I had asked if she was refusing to sign warrants as alleged by the chief and others. She responded with “that’s not true” but then followed by saying that Lake Worth had their own judge and that Wright judicates for the county and state.

Was she signing warrants or not?

I asked to speak with Wright for clarification. The judge did not return the call or provide further clarification via email.

For years, Womack said, Wright has signed warrants on a weekly basis for Lake Worth police but has not signed any since the detective announced his intention to seek election. Lake Worth’s magistrate is contracted by the city to work one day a month, which is too long to wait for warrants to be signed, Womack said.

Charity DeVille has also announced her intention to run against Wright in 2018. DeVille, a paralegal and stepdaughter of former Precinct 4 Constable Dub Bransom, described Wright’s refusal to sign warrants as “an injustice.” 

16 COMMENTS

  1. Hello, I’m Roger A. Brinlee and I’m running for Justice of the Peace Precinct 4 in Tarrant County.

    I am a Deputy Sheriff, Master Peace Officer and Former ICE / HSI Special Agent with the Department of Homeland Security. I believe the skills, experience, and education I’ve obtained throughout my career make me the best and most qualified candidate for Justice of the Peace. I look forward to serving my community and I hope you will cast your vote in 2018.

    • WOW! This is an all new low! This reporting had absolutely NOTHING to do with YOU nor your silly “campaign!” This story is specifically about the current judge retaliating agent a Lake Worth Police Detective and the entire police department because HE is running against her! Clearly not only does she ride the bench but you are trying to ride someone else’s campaign coat tails! PATHETIC!!!

  2. I disagree, J Shriver. Unlike national and state elections, smaller, local level government positions that are filled via election campaigns do not receive nearly as much publicity, and these lower level municipal and precinct roles are typically financed by the campaigning person, which gets extremely expensive. I think it is fortunate that advancements in technologies have created numerous avenues in which campaigners can add to their campaign publicity without additional expenditure. It allows them to reach a wider population of voters and better communicate their missives and missions to more of the public, without adding more debt to their limited political budgets. Where better to capitalize on opportunities for free campaigning than on negative news reports about incumbents who are currently abusing their elected positions by engaging in misconduct, dereliction, neglect and inappropriate legal business that is completely outside the scope of permissible judicial discretion?

    Judge Wright is a disgrace to her role as Justice if the Peace, Tarrant County Precinct 4, and she doesn’t seem to care that she is, in effect, thumbing her nose at all the citizens who voted for her, especially since she likely has heard cases involving citizens who voted for her and were ultimately mistreated or ruled against in direct violation to legislative code. She is negligent, derelict, and either totally ignorant of local, county, and state legislative codes and statutes, or she’s completely lost her mind, because she doesn’t seem to have the slightest clue about civil dispute law and procedures in Texas. So I for one think thatthr comment section under this article is an ideal venue for qualified persons to share how they might improve the JP Pct 4 bench, improve public perceptions and relations between citizens and local government, and convince citizens that they won’t continue to perpetuate the judicial train wreck that Wright seems to have artfully honed to a psychologically manipulative masterpiece among those who may still support the crazy bat.

  3. This story is a complete lie. Over 57% of the warrants I sign are for the City of Lake Worth.
    I’ve offered to show the records to the Weekly but the truth never stands in the way of a good story.
    Check out the real story in my website JP4wright.com
    Jacquelyn Wright, JP, Pct. 4

    • It is interesting that the judge waited so many months before declaring this story a lie. The truth is (as the story states), the judge never offered to show the Weekly any records and refused to be interviewed for this story.

      We will update this story and other situations involving Wright in an upcoming edition of Fort Worth Weekly.

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