A chair of the local Republican Party is saying that the Hood County Sheriff’s Department is using their power against people who disagree with a local school's bond proposal. This happened after he got arrested and accused of a serious crime for using a school bus to campaign against the bond.
Granbury ISD has recently suggested a $161 million bond which has caused worry in the community, as it was reported by The Dallas Express. Early voting for the special bond election took place from April 22 to April 30. Election Day is May 4.
Opponents of the bond arranged a “No Bond Bus Tour,” led by Steve Biggers, the Hood County Republican Party chair.
Biggers told The Dallas Express that he got the school bus from a “close friend” and drove it around town “to inform the community about the bond election and raise awareness.”
He was arrested on April 19 for allegedly messing with a government record. The Hood County Sheriff’s Office claims that he put in “false information into a government record to get a temporary registration [for the bus] from the Hood County Registration/Tax Assessor’s Office,” as per a press release from the sheriff’s office.
Biggers said to DX that he was arrested in an attempt to silence the opposing side, stating that there was no justification for his arrest and that the Hood County Sheriff’s Office was using their power unfairly.
According to the sheriff’s office, Biggers “provided additional false information indicating the gross vehicle weight of his vehicle was under 10,000 pounds, however, records showed it to have an empty weight of about 10,300 pounds,” CBS News Texas reported.
Biggers also claimed that he had been “targeted by the county judge on free speech violations, removed from the county commissioners court twice, by the sheriff, when trying to address issues.”
In April 2023, Biggers filed a federal lawsuit against Hood County Judge Ron Massingill. Biggers claimed his First Amendment rights to share his viewpoint and petition the government during public meetings at Hood County’s bi-weekly commissioners court had been violated, per Hood County News.
The case was “DISMISSED with prejudice,” according to an order by Mark T. Pitmman, a U.S. district judge, per HCN.
Biggers created a site to raise money to help him with his legal problems.
“If law enforcement can do this to citizens and try to muzzle them for expressing opposing views, then our country and freedoms are finished,” his website states.
Biggers was let out of jail after paying a $1,000 bond.
“The case is still under investigation,” Hood County Sheriff Roger Deeds told DX.
Following Biggers’ arrest, the bus tour continued.
