The top elected official in Loving County, Texas, charged with cattle theft 

Lawmen got here to remote Loving County, Texas, on Friday to arrest the county choose, a former sheriff’s deputy and two ranch fingers on one among Texas’ oldest crimes — cattle theft. 

Judge Skeet Jones, 71, the highest elected official since 2007 within the least populated county in the continental United States, is facing three felony counts of livestock theft and one rely of partaking in criminal activity, accused of gathering up and promoting stray cattle, authorities stated. 

Jones, the scion of a strong ranching household that settled in Loving County within the Nineteen Fifties, was booked into Winkler County Jail on Friday and released on $20,000 bond, records present. He didn't return cellphone calls in search of comment. 

Authorities additionally arrested former Loving County deputy Leroy Medlin Jr., 35, on one count of partaking in legal activity — a second-degree felony that carries a most sentence of 20 years. Medlin didn't return phone calls, but his wife despatched an e-mail that questioned the motives behind the arrests. “We are being focused,” she wrote, “at full drive.” 

Officers with the Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association, the lead company on the case, provided few specifics concerning the alleged crime. Commissioned by means of the Texas Department of Public Safety, the affiliation has “special rangers” —  licensed peace officers — who examine livestock theft and other agriculture crimes. 

Jeremy Fuchs, a spokesman for the affiliation, mentioned the yearlong investigation is ongoing and extra costs are attainable.

The idea that the choose — who is paid $133,294 yearly — would get picked up for cattle rustling was just an excessive amount of for Susan Hays, a Texas election lawyer who’s wrangled with the Joneses prior to now.

“You possibly can’t make this shit up,” she stated. “It’s a pain in the ass to round up cattle and take them to market. And then to risk real bother for it? It’s just asinine to me.”

Phrase of the arrests unfold faster than a prairie fireplace with a tailwind through this West Texas county, inhabitants 57 as of the final U.S. Census Bureau estimate. Unfold over 671 square miles of mesquite-studded desert, Loving County has no school, no church, no grocery store and no financial institution. The few youngsters who reside there board the bus in the only town, Mentone (inhabitants 22), and journey about 35 miles each morning and afternoon to attend college.

For decades, a handful of distinguished families in Loving County have feuded bitterly for control of the local authorities, with the Joneses lastly largely popping out ahead. Skeet Jones has served because the decide for greater than 15 years. His sister is the county clerk. His cousin’s husband is the county attorney. His nephew is the constable. 

However some not too long ago elected county officials have been butting heads with the Joneses and their allies, making for colorful commissioner’s court conferences and a much-anticipated November election. 

And blood is now not holding the Jones family collectively. 

“He’s had free reign for the entire time since he’s been the choose,” mentioned Skeet Jones’ nephew, Constable Brandon Jones, who was elected in 2016. “That’s given him a sense of power and impunity that he can do no matter he wants each time he wants.  Even the sensation of self-righteousness. That he can do no fallacious.” 

When Skeet Jones was sworn in as choose in 2007, most of the caliche roads have been rutted like washboards and residents nonetheless had to line up to get potable water distributed from a community tank. 

But he presided over a period of unprecedented progress, as fracking boomed in the Permian Basin, feeding cash into the county’s coffers. The parched landscape is dotted with large fuel plants, water crops and salt water disposal systems. Lots of the surviving working ranches have “frac pads” for horizontally drilled wells that reduce by means of the caliche and bedrock to unencumber the lifeblood for Loving County’s financial system: oil and fuel. 

The tax base hovers around $7 billion to $9 billion. And the county’s finances has grown from about $2 million in 2008 to more than $28 million. 

The salaries for lots of the top officials in town — the decide, auditor, treasurer, clerk, justice of the peace, county legal professional, constable and sheriff — are $100,000 or larger. 

Jones’ father, Elgin “Punk” Jones, and mother, Mary Belle Jones, began the P&M Jones Ranch in 1953, settling into a wood-frame home with no running water. “Once I first came to Mentone in 1953, it was quite a shock,” Mary Belle Jones told the Texas Month-to-month in 1997. “I mentioned to my husband, ‘Punk, how long are we going to stay on this godforsaken place?’” 

But she got here to like Loving County’s vast, open skyline. She served as the county’s chief appraiser for years. Punk Jones, the sheriff for 28 years, is credited with discovering the freshwater effectively subject that feeds Mentone. 

Skeet Jones has gotten into bother before, however nothing like this. In 2016, the state Commission on Judicial Conduct decided Jones didn't follow the regulation by charging steep charges — about $600 to $750 — for lowering tickets together with speeding and marijuana possession down to parking tickets.

The judge denied any involvement in negotiations over tickets and instructed the commission he just authorized the plea offers presented to him. He was issued a public warning and ordered to take 10 hours of further education.

Medlin previously worked as a detective for the San Antonio Police Division, where information show he was issued indefinite suspensions — the department’s equal of being fired — thrice. 

In 2015, he was positioned on indefinite suspension for a 100-plus mph pursuit of a driver who had a toddler in the again seat, information present. Medlin was reinstated after an attraction. 

Then in 2018, Medlin engaged in another high-speed pursuit after telling dispatchers the driver “nearly ran me over,” data present. However physique and sprint camera footage contradicted Medlin’s account, in response to internal affairs reviews. He appealed once more, telling supervisors he felt threatened, even if it wasn’t evident from the videos.

He was later issued another indefinite suspension after supervisors decided he issued tickets for violations he didn’t witness, data show. 

Medlin joined the Loving County Sheriff’s Workplace in January 2019 and “separated” from the agency less than two years later, records present. (Sheriff Chris Busse declined to say why.) 

Medlin also labored on Jones’ ranch earlier than being hired by Loving County as a janitor and groundskeeper. 

Two ranch hands additionally were arrested on Friday. Cody Williams, 31, was charged with three counts of livestock theft and engaging in organized prison exercise, information present. He did not return a reporter’s cellphone call.

Jonathon Alvarado, 23, faces one rely of theft of livestock, which carries a sentence of up to 10 years in prison. He hung up on a reporter searching for remark.

In addition to the decide, Medlin, Williams and Alvarado posted bond and had been released from jail.