Justice of the Peace, Precinct 1 Judge Donna Thomson ▲

Former Bastrop County Justice of the Peace Donna Thomson is demanding a $4.25 million payment from the county after accusing it of failing to follow proper procedures in two recent court cases involving her.

In a demand letter sent to the county in mid-March, Thomson's attorney Jose Rivas claims that the county neglected to file oaths of office for visiting judges assigned to a real-estate fraud case against Thompson, in which she was ordered to pay a $1 million judgement, as well as in her divorce case, which resulted in her serving a jail sentence.

"Ms. Thomson has been able to determine that neither of the judges assigned to the above named cases took the required oaths of office," Rivas wrote. "Furthermore, the District Clerk has a duty to ensure that the oaths for judges in its county of responsibility are on file and reported to the Texas Secretary of State."

Rivas claims that it's the Bastrop County district clerk's duty to keep the judges' oaths of office on file as well as report the oaths to the Secretary of State's office. He claims Bastrop County District Clerk Sarah Loucks failed to perform those required duties in both of Thomson's cases.

"This failure constitutes gross negligence in that this is a legally mandated job function of the any district clerk in Texas," Rivas wrote.

Bastrop County District Attorney Bryan Goertz contends that all oaths were properly filed for both judges and said that the legal claims made by Thomson's attorney are "completely inaccurate."

The letter Rivas sent to the county "has no basis in Texas law," Goertz said. "How that would entitle her to $4.2 million from the county is a stretch that makes absolutely no sense to me."

Last year, a jury found that Thomson lied to a man to whom she was selling her home by telling him that the home was "free and clear" when she in fact had a mortgage on the property. The jury levied a $1 million judgement against Thomson in May 2018. The case was presided over by visiting Judge J.D. Langley after Bastrop County District Judge Reva Towslee-Corbett recused herself from the case.

In 2017, visiting Judge David Squier sentenced Thomson to a 15-day jail sentence after he found that she had failed to return several firearms to her ex-husband as part of a divorce settlement agreement. Although she had testified she was not in possession of the guns, the judge found that Thomson had sold one of the firearms to the same man she later sold her house to. Squire was appointed to the case after District Court Judge Chris Duggan recused himself from the case.

The Bastrop County District Clerk's office said last week that the oaths of office for Bastrop County visiting judges are filed in the Second Administrative Judicial Region of Texas, which assigns visiting judges to cases throughout its 22-county region. The Texas Secretary of State's office has on file three oaths of office for Langley from Brazos County filed between 2003 and 2011. Three oaths of office were filed in the Secretary of State's office for Squire between 2003 and 2011 for Brazos and Harris counties.

The Secretary of State's office also has Statements of Appointed Officer — which are commonly referred to as the "anti-bribery statement" and are typically filed in conjunction with the oaths — filed between 2012 and 2018 for both visiting judges, according to documents obtained by the Advertiser.



Goertz said that the oaths and statements are good for the entire state and are not restricted to any one particular case. He also questions why Thomson would be seeking a $4.2 million settlement instead of seeking to void the judgements through an appellate court.

The letter, which was emailed to the county on March 15, gives county officials 30 days to respond before a suit is filed. Goertz said he has no plans to respond.

"I don't think that (Thomson's) alleged claim has any basis in Texas law," he said.