(Texas Scorecard) – Court delays continue to stall a ground-breaking criminal electioneering case initiated by local voters against two Denton Independent School District administrators who urged their staff to vote for anti-school choice candidates in the Republican primary.
Denton ISD principals Lindsay and Jesus Lujan sent the political messages using the district’s taxpayer-funded email system.
Lindsay Lujan had a court date set for Wednesday morning in the Denton County criminal court of Judge Forrest Beadle, but her case was rescheduled for a third time. Court records show she is now scheduled for a plea hearing on August 14.
Lujan is the principal of Alexander Elementary and was recently promoted to director of special programs.
Her husband Jesus Lujan is the principal/head of school at Denton ISD’s Borman Elementary.
Both were charged in April with unlawful use of an internal mail system for political advertising—a Class A misdemeanor punishable by up to one year in jail and a $4,000 fine.
A grand jury indicted the Lujans after local voters submitted complaints to Denton County District Attorney Paul Johnson accusing the Lujans of engaging in criminal election interference.
The voters’ affidavits included copies of the emails sent by Lindsay Lujan and Jesus Lujan to school employees using the Denton ISD email system.
Arraignments for the Lujans were originally scheduled for May 13 but were reset for June and then delayed again until July.
Jesus Lujan’s case is in the Denton County criminal court of Judge Chance Oliver. His next court date is July 30, but that will likely be rescheduled as well.
The cases against the Lujans mark the first time Texas school officials have been criminally prosecuted for using district resources to electioneer.
In addition to the criminal charges against the Lujans, Denton ISD is one of several school districts accused of illegal electioneering in civil lawsuits filed by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.
Huffman ISD is another district sued by the attorney general for civil electioneering violations. Huffman Superintendent Benny Soileau is also under criminal investigation by Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg’s office in response to local voters’ complaints, but no charges have been filed.
Voters in Denton and Huffman received help filing their criminal complaints from the Liberty Justice Center, a nonprofit law firm that fights to protect fundamental rights including educational freedom.
The Lujans are represented by Attorney HL “Rick” Hagen, a Denton ISD graduate and senior partner with Jackson and Hagen. According to their website, they were named “best criminal defense firm of Denton County in 2020.”
State-issued teaching certificates show both Lindsay (Henderson) Lujan and Jesus Lujan are under investigation by the Texas Education Agency.
Texans regularly report school districts engaging in electioneering activities, particularly during high-stakes bond and tax increase elections. Criminal convictions in these cases may deter future violations by school officials tempted to sway elections using taxpayers’ money.