Former District Court Judge Guy Williams, who’s had multiple run-ins with the law, is asking a court to intervene in his fight to find out why he was denied a security badge at the Nueces County Courthouse.
Williams said he's been denied a lawyer's badge for access to the courthouse.
Courthouse employees and lawyers are issued badges in order to bypass the courthouse's security checkpoint.
Anyone without a badge has to walk through a metal detector and what they're carrying has to pass through an X-ray.
According to court documents, Williams hand-delivered a Freedom of Information request to County Judge Barbara Canales and Sheriff John Hooper on March 19, 2019 to find out why he was denied a pass. County Attorney Laura Jimenez acknowledged receipt of the initial request in a certified letter dated April 2, 2019, in which the county attorney refused to release the information and requested an opinion from the Texas Attorney General's Office. The Attorney General had 45 days to provide an opinion, which could be extended.
Williams states in his petition that, according to Texas Government Code Chapter 552.302, if a government body does not request an attorney general decision, the information requested in writing is presumed to be public information.
On Monday, Williams filed a petition for a writ of mandamus, asking a court to set a hearing ordering Canales and Hooper to release records pertaining to the courthouse's badge policy, and why the county has refused to give him a badge.
He also asks that Canales and Hooper pay for his attorney's fees.
Nueces County Commissioners were scheduled to discuss the matter during the executive session portion of their meeting Wednesday morning.
According to Williams, the commissioners have not contacted him.
"I have never been given an opportunity to participate in any meeting or given any notice I was on the agenda or topic to be discussed," Williams said. "The Sheriff and commissioners will not give me a reason for the denial of my security pass. So, I will be moving forward with my writs."
KRIS 6 News reached out to the County Judge's Office and they referred us to Nueces County Sheriff's Office. Hooper said on the advice of the county attorney he could not make statement.
