A Wilson County grand jury has indicted Precinct 1 Justice of the Peace Jared Shaw on six counts of official oppression, accusing the 55-year-old judge of using his office to have three people unlawfully arrested and restrained. Among the allegations: that Shaw jailed a mother for three days after reprimanding her daughter for missing too much school, without ever holding a hearing or letting her speak to an attorney.
The case centers in part on what happened to Evelyn Fleming Tolle in April 2025. According to records cited by KSAT, Shaw had Tolle jailed after reprimanding her for her daughter's frequent school absences, ordering her to serve three days behind bars without a show-cause hearing or access to counsel. Records show Shaw told the State Commission on Judicial Conduct that Tolle and her daughter had not taken the court proceedings seriously, and that he eventually held Tolle in contempt.
What happened next only deepens the strangeness of the case. The same day he had her jailed, Shaw visited Tolle at the jail, and that evening he personally signed the note releasing her from custody, per the records described by KSAT. The indictment does not spell out, in the material reviewed, why Shaw reversed course so quickly after ordering the jailing himself.
Six Counts, Tied in Part to a February Reprimand
At least two of the six official-oppression counts against Shaw trace back to a public reprimand he received from the State Commission on Judicial Conduct in February, according to the same KSAT report. The indictment broadly accuses Shaw of using his public office to have three separate people unlawfully arrested and restrained, though the specific allegations tied to each count were not detailed in the records reviewed by the station.
Texas law gives justices of the peace real authority over contempt in their courtrooms, but that authority has limits. Under a Texas Court of Criminal Appeals opinion, punishment for contempt in a justice or municipal court can run no higher than a $100 fine, confinement of up to three days in the county or city jail, or both — the same three-day ceiling that shows up in the allegations against Shaw, according to Texas Judiciary records. Separately, Texas Judiciary materials describing the role note that a justice of the peace can issue search and arrest warrants, hold preliminary hearings, act as an ex officio notary, perform marriages and serve as coroner in counties without a medical examiner — a wide swath of power that critics of the case may point to when questioning how it was used here.
Suspended Without Pay, Still on the Ballot
Following the indictment, the State Commission on Judicial Conduct suspended Shaw without pay. That suspension stays in place until he is acquitted, the charges against him are dismissed, or the commission issues a new order, the commission said.
Shaw declined to comment on his arrest and referred questions to his criminal defense attorney, the station's report notes. Despite the pending charges and his unpaid suspension, Shaw is running unopposed for another term as Precinct 1 justice of the peace in the Nov. 3 election, meaning Wilson County voters have no alternative candidate to consider at the ballot box regardless of how the criminal case unfolds.
