Medina County Justice of the Peace rearrested over election fraud charges

Although the election fraud case against Medina County Pct. 4 Justice of the Peace Tomas Ramirez III was dismissed in late December, he found himself arrested again earlier this month after the charges were refiled.

Records showed Ramirez was arrested on the election charges on Jan. 15. Because of the arrest, the State Commission on Judicial Conduct issued an order suspending Ramirez from his elected duties on Wednesday, according to documents obtained by KSAT 12 News.

Ramirez was first arrested on Feb. 13, 2021. The arrest was touted by the Texas Attorney General’s Office.

However, after months of delays, a judge dismissed those charges against Ramirez in December.

It’s unclear why the attorney general’s office refiled the charges against Ramirez, who is charged with one count of engaging in organized election fraud, 17 counts of unlawful possession of a ballot or ballot envelope and 17 counts of unlawfully assisting voter voting by mail.

After the initial charges were dropped, Ramirez issued a lengthy statement against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, chalking up his arrest to Paxton’s efforts to find election fraud in the aftermath of the 2020 election.

“I can never be fully free from the ramifications of Paxton’s decision to unjustly and maliciously prosecute me,” Ramirez wrote.

Ramirez has filed to run for reelection in the 2022 midterm. He will be facing three other candidates in the Republican primary.

Late last year, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals issued an opinion that confirmed the attorney general cannot unilaterally prosecute election cases. Instead, the attorney general can only investigate a case when asked to by county and district attorneys. It’s unclear if that ruling will affect Ramirez’s case.

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