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Thursday, June 28, 2007 , Updated 12:23 a.m., June 29, 2007

Dallas County Constable Mike Dupree resigns in face of trial

by David Webb of Dallas Voice , John Wright of Dallas Voice

UPDATE: This afternoon, Matt Pulle at the Dallas Observer reported that Constable Mike Dupree resigned from office, avoiding a removal hearing and copping a plea with the Attorney General's office. Our content partners at the Dallas Voice had already gone to press, but had the details about what was brewing at the trial. You'll see why Dupree cut his losses. -Mike Orren

Investigation reveals lurid allegations

An investigative report released Tuesday concludes that gay Dallas County District 5 Constable Mike Dupree has sexually harassed several employees and created a hostile work environment in his office.

The report, completed for the county by outside investigator Maryellen W. Hicks of Fort Worth, was made public Tuesday morning by Commissioner John Wiley Price.

According to testimony in the report, Dupree has made a habit of inviting young Hispanic employees on dates, trips and cruises; taking them to the basement and making advances; touching them inappropriately; making sexually explicit comments; and demoting or reassigning them when they rebuffed his requests.

In addition to the alleged victims, the evidence is corroborated by affidavits from dozens of other employees.

“I have concluded that Constable Dupree’s conduct toward various employees was unwelcome and that it was regarded by them as being both offensive and abusive,” Hicks wrote.

Dupree did not return a phone call, but his attorney John Weddle said the allegations are fueled by misperceptions among employees and a lack of communication within the constable’s office.

“The things that they’re complaining about were happening, they just were not sexually motivated,” Weddle said. “I think he (Dupree) believed that this was like one big happy family, and very obviously that was not the case. … I don’t think Mike realized the things he was saying and doing were being so graphically misinterpreted.”

Weddle also said he believes homophobia is a major factor, both among Dupree’s employees and county officials who brought on the investigation.

“If Mike were straight and these were women I don’t think anybody ever would have said a word,” Weddle said. “I really do think that the fact that he’s openly gay is the major problem with all of this. I don’t think a tenth of it would be going on if he weren’t.”

The commission did not vote as scheduled Tuesday whether to increase Dupree’s surety bond of $1,500 on the premise that he is a liability to the county. Surety bonds are posted by elected officials in connection with holding office.

Commissioner John Wiley Price said the commissioners court had to cancel its regularly scheduled meeting because only two of five members — Price and Mike Cantrell — were present, which does not constitute a quorum.

While two commissioners were on vacation, Price blamed County Judge Jim Foster, chairman of the commission, for failing to attend. Price suggested that Foster, who is also openly gay and has worked for Dupree as an unpaid reserve deputy, wanted to avoid a vote on the matter.

“The issue is, why the hell was he not here?” Price said. “The fact of the matter is, he’s lethargic in his duties. Give me a break. You’ve been on the court five months. Just show up.”

On Wednesday, Foster told the Voice he did not attend because he had a severe migraine headache.

“The truth of the matter is that I think he should have had some knowledge about what he was talking about before he started talking,” Foster said of Price. “He didn’t know if I was sick or not. He didn’t talk to me. The truth of the matter is, I was sick.”

Foster also rejected claims that he had requested that the Dupree item be pulled from Tuesday’s agenda. Rather, he said he merely requested that a vote on Dupree’s bond be delayed until commissioners had a chance to review Hicks report, which was to be distributed shortly before the scheduled vote.

“How you going to vote on something when you don’t know the details?” Foster said.

The meeting was rescheduled for Friday, June 29, but commissioners won’t be able to vote on the surety bond until Tuesday, July 3, to allow six days notice. In addition to the increased bond, commissioners want to assign a monitor to Dupree’s office and require that he have all personnel actions approved by the county’s District Attorney’s Office and Human Resources Department.

John Wright of the Dallas Voice

DALLAS — Dallas County Constable Mike Dupree will face a jury trial to determine whether he should be removed from office unless his lawyer negotiates a settlement with the Commissioner’s Court and the Texas Attorney General’s office.

That settlement would likely include the gay constable’s resignation, according to Dallas lawyers John Weddle, who represents Dupree, and Dan Wyde, who filed a lawsuit on behalf of three county employees and the state of Texas in March to oust the constable from office.

“I’m trying to work out a deal,” said Weddle, who appeared for Dupree in a hearing on Thursday, June 28, in 101st District Court before retired Judge Richard Mays to determine whether there was sufficient cause to put the constable on trial. “My client has to get something out of it.”

The Texas Attorney General’s office’s civil and criminal investigation departments are involved in the Dupree’s case, Weddle noted. Considerations about possible criminal prosecution and attorney’s fees would need to be a part of the settlement, he said.

Mays ruled in the hearing that multiple affidavits of complaints presented to him by Wyde met the guidelines for issuing a citation for a civil trial. Mays was appointed to hear the case in an effort to ensure impartiality because it involves a Dallas County official.

Wyde amended the original petition this week to increase the number of plaintiffs from three to 10. The petition alleges that Dupree had created a hostile work environment because of sexual overtures he made to several male employees, that he had threatened and retaliated against employees who rebuffed his advances and that he had ordered one or more employees to commit criminal acts, such as falsifying reports, according to the lawyer.

“He has caused irreparable harm and damage to Dallas County and his department,” Wyde told the judge. “This conduct cannot stand. It imperils Dallas County.”

Weddle made a motion for a continuance of the hearing, but it was denied.

After Mays issued the citation, Weddle, Wyde and two representatives from the Texas Attorney General’s office met privately with the judge to discuss procedures and a possible settlement. Mays swore in the Texas Attorney General’s office representatives, Karen Matlock and Kent Richardson, as deputy special prosecutors following the private meeting.

Matlock told the judge during the hearing that the Texas Attorney General’s office planned to seek an immediate temporary restraining order removing Dupree from office and appointing an interim constable if he ordered the citation for a trial.

Wyde said that if a settlement is not reached in the case, Mays would likely approve the restraining order and appoint an interim constable by the close of business Friday, June 29. The judge planned to interview as many as four candidates for the position, who were not identified.

If the temporary restraining order is issued, a hearing would be held in 14 days to consider a temporary injunction suspending Dupree from office until the trial. At that point Dupree would lose his salary, according to county officials.

Wyde said he does not expect the case will reach trial.

“I don’t see this making it to a jury trial,” Wyde said. “I believe some agreement between the county and the constable will be reached.”

Wyde said if a jury trial was held, it would be the first time anyone can recall a Dallas County elected official being put on trial for removal from office.

“I got involved because this is a once in a lifetime, very unique legal matter,” said Wyde, who noted he had heard of elected officials being placed on trial for removal from office in other parts of Texas.

Commissioner John Wylie Price, who attended the hearing along with several other county officials, said Dupree had been given the option to resign before the employee’s complaints became public, but the constable refused.

“He’s had plenty of opportunities to resign,” Price said. “A resignation would be the best for everybody’s interest.”

The complaints against Dupree originally involved a small number of employees complaining about sexual harassment, but that has grown to include a larger number of employees making more serious allegations of wrongdoing, according to Commissioner’s Court administrator Allen Clemson.

“The more you look, the more you find,” Clemson said. “It’s been a snowball effect. I would have done almost anything to avoid the public revelation of what we’ve found.”

Clemson said there have also been complaints that Dupree used taxpayer’s resources for personal gain, such as helping him get re-elected.

Price dismissed Dupree’s claim that he is being railroaded as part of a conspiracy to rid Dallas County of gay officials as illogical.

“It’s a red herring,” said Price, who noted Dupree has been in law enforcement for 27 years, including five years as constable. “I’ve always known he was gay. Why would it start now?

“He can’t hide behind that. That dog doesn’t hunt.”

This week, gay District Clerk Gary Fitzsimmons called on Dupree to resign because of the results of a county personnel investigation released this week that claimed the complaints against the constable were substantiated.

The Dallas County Democratic Party Chair Darlene Ewing and Stonewall Democrats of Dallas president Jesse Garcia released statements saying Dupree should immediately resign if the allegations are proven true.

Weddle, who has alleged Dupree is the victim of a conspiracy orchestrated by disgruntled employees who were reprimanded for wrongdoing, said the constable may be ready to settle because he is concerned about the effect the controversy is having on his mother’s and sister’s health. Dupree’s mother, who along with his sister were displaced by Hurricane Katrina, is battling cancer.

Weddle said he thinks Dupree could prevail in a jury trial.

“I don’t think they would be able to prove it,” Weddle said.

David Webb of the Dallas Voice