Henderson County prosecutors will no longer accept cases investigated or filed solely by the Trinidad Police Department as state regulators audit the agency following controversial arrests, questions over warrant practices and years of reported policing problems.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
Prosecutors in Henderson County, Texas, have stopped accepting criminal cases investigated or filed solely by the Trinidad Police Department, a significant restriction on the small East Texas agency as multiple controversies involving arrests, warrant applications and department practices remain under review.
The Henderson County district attorney and county attorney informed Trinidad police that, until further notice, they will not accept cases for prosecution when those matters were investigated or filed exclusively by the department.
Criminal investigations within Trinidad’s city limits will instead be handled by the Henderson County Sheriff’s Office, while existing Trinidad police cases will be evaluated individually.
The decision comes as the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement, or TCOLE, conducts an audit of the department. Henderson County prosecutors requested that review, according to FOX 4.
The scrutiny follows a series of events in Trinidad, a community of fewer than 1,000 residents about an hour southeast of Dallas, including the arrests of two citizen journalists, disputes surrounding the city’s troubled water system, the removal of a municipal judge and subsequent resignations by city employees.
Trinidad has faced longstanding complaints about its water, including discoloration, sediment and strong odors.
The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality later identified major deficiencies in the system, including chemical readings reported at more than 300% above federal limits and problems with the city’s distribution infrastructure.
Citizen journalist Jennifer Combs, who operates the Southern Belle Watch Facebook page, became involved after posting that she had received reports of residents being hospitalized because of bacteria in the water.
Combs asked residents to share what they were observing so that the information could be forwarded to state regulators.
Then-Police Chief Charles Gregory subsequently had Combs arrested on a state jail felony charge of false alarm or report.
Gregory alleged that her post “creates fear, panic, or unnecessary emergency response within a community.”
Combs, who had no prior criminal record, was arrested at her home, placed in handcuffs and spent 23 hours in jail.
A Henderson County grand jury later declined to indict her.
Combs subsequently filed a federal civil-rights lawsuit against Trinidad and several officials in the Eastern District of Texas, alleging First Amendment retaliation, malicious prosecution and an intentional effort to punish her reporting.
Those claims have not been adjudicated and remain pending in Combs v. Gregory et al.
Questions later arose over how Trinidad police obtained a search warrant connected to Combs’ Facebook activity.
Henderson County Judge R. Scott McKee wrote that two Trinidad officers omitted material information concerning resident complaints, water concerns and the context surrounding Combs’ statements when they applied for the warrant.
McKee subsequently ordered the officers to appear personally when seeking future warrants so the court could question them under oath when necessary.
KLTV reported that McKee said omissions can distort a probable-cause determination in the same way affirmative misrepresentations can.
The controversy widened one day after FOX 4 aired its first report about Combs.
YouTube journalist Winston Noles, who operates online as Otto the Watchdog, traveled to Trinidad to protest the arrest.
Noles stood outside City Hall carrying a profane sign criticizing “bad cops” while livestreaming the demonstration.
Police arrested him approximately 18 minutes into the livestream on a misdemeanor disorderly conduct charge.
Municipal Judge Shellena Bivens later dismissed the case against Noles.
The Trinidad City Council subsequently fired Bivens.
The city administrator also lost the position, and a series of employee resignations followed. City Hall temporarily closed amid the upheaval.
Bivens and her attorney have maintained that her removal was improper and legally defective. Coverage of the City Council meeting documented the dispute surrounding her dismissal.
Gregory later resigned as police chief.
Interim Chief Cameron Beckham has since publicly acknowledged broader problems within the Trinidad Police Department, telling local reporters that the TCOLE investigation involves “bad policing for 15 years.”
TCOLE is now auditing the department, while the Texas Rangers are separately investigating city officials.
The city’s water system also remains under state scrutiny.
Against that backdrop, Henderson County prosecutors have now taken the additional step of refusing cases generated solely by Trinidad police.
The restriction does not automatically dispose of pending criminal matters. Those cases will instead be reviewed individually, while the Sheriff’s Office takes responsibility for new criminal investigations inside Trinidad.
The county’s action substantially limits the police department’s ability to independently initiate cases that can move forward to prosecution while the review remains in effect.
The controversies surrounding Combs and Noles have also placed the department’s handling of constitutionally protected speech at the center of the continuing dispute.
Combs alleges in federal court that her arrest was retaliation for reporting on the community’s water concerns, while Noles was arrested while publicly protesting police conduct before the misdemeanor charge against him was dismissed.
Neither Combs’ civil-rights allegations nor Bivens’ claims concerning her removal have received a final judicial determination.
A video report on the prosecutors’ decision details the latest development.
With TCOLE examining department practices, the Texas Rangers investigating city officials and county prosecutors declining to take cases developed solely by Trinidad police, the series of disputes that began around the city’s water problems and controversial arrests has grown into a broader examination of policing and municipal government in the small Henderson County community.
Original article
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