Hawk Cove, Texas, March 26, 2019. Hawk Cove’s Municipal Judge kept his resignation brief and to the minute. “AS OF THE 26TH DAY OF MARCH AT 09:00 HRS. I HAVE OFFICIALLY RESIGNED MY POSITION AS MUNICIPAL JUDGE FOR THE CITY OF HAWK COVE, TEXAS,” wrote Anthony C. Cuciniello, Municipal Judge, in a letter addressed “TO THE SITTING COUNCIL MEMBERS”: Alderman Place 1 Kelly Reeves, Place 2 Mark Collins, Place 3 Roger Vance, Place 4 Darren Evans and Place 5 Judy Fowler.
Four days earlier, the posted agenda for a special session on Friday, March 22, 2019 listed item 6: “DISCUSS/CONSIDER/ACT ON POSSIBLE REMOVAL OF MUNICIPAL COURT JUDGE.” The same item appears again under executive session and again under “ACT ON EXECUTIVE SESSION.” We hold no minutes of that meeting, so we cannot say what, if anything, the Council did with it. The judge did not wait to find out in writing.
His reasons, in his words
The letter gives them. The judge says he “NOTIFIED AUSTIN TMCEC AND THE TEXAS JUDICIAL COMITTEE [sic] OF MY REASONS FOR MY RESIGNATION,” and then lists them for the Council:
- “IN DECEMBER I NOTIFIED THE SITTING MAYOR, BRIAN PROCK THAT ORDINANCE 100-11 WAS CHANGED WITHOUT THE CONSENT OF THE COUNCIL AND IT WAS INSTRUCTED BY THE CHIEF OF POLICE VIA THE CODE ENHANCEMENT OFFICER TO MAKE THE CHANGE.”
- “THE PURPOSE OF THE ILLEGAL CHANGE WAS TO EFFECT THE OUTCOME OF AN UP COMING COURT CASE. MAYOR PROCK IGNORED MY FINDINGS.”
- “THE CHANGE WAS NEVER BROUGHT AND PLACED ON THE AGENDA UP FOR REVIEW UNTIL FEBUARY [sic]. I HELD COURT ON JANUARY 9TH OF 2019 AND THE ILLEGAL ORDINANCE 100-11 WAS STILL IN PLACE.”
- “I THEN BROUGHT THE MATTER TO THE COUNCILS ATTENTION THROUGH A FORMAL COMPLAINT ASKING FOR RESOLUTION IN THIS MATTER. I RECIEVED [sic] NO REPLY BUT WAS MET WITH RETALIATION.”
These are the judge’s statements in his letter, not findings by any court or agency. The letter does not name the Chief of Police, the code enforcement officer or the court case. We hold no reply from the City, no copy of the formal complaint, and nothing from the Mayor or the Chief answering it.
What the City’s own papers show
Our copy of Ordinance 100-11, the master fee schedule, lists a “5th Revision 12/11/2018”. Its passage block reads “PASSED AND APPROVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF HAWK COVE, TEXAS, ON THIS 12th DAY OF December, 2018,” one day after the date on its title page, and the Mayor and City Secretary lines are blank (p. 5). A second printing of that last page in our copy leaves the date blank as well (p. 4). The full timeline is in Fee Ordinance Revised in December, Put on the Agenda in February.
The February 12, 2019 regular agenda then carried, under Old Business, “Discuss/Consider/Act on modification and amendments to Ordinance 100-11 Regarding Fees,” and under New Business a meeting “discussing Outstanding Warrants and Solutions. (Judge Cuciniello).” Another copy of 100-11 in our library lists a “6th Revision 02/12/2019”; its passage block is blank. February, as the judge wrote.
Highlights
- December 2018: by the judge’s account, he told the Mayor that 100-11 had been changed without the Council’s consent.
- January 9, 2019: the judge says he held court with the changed ordinance “STILL IN PLACE.”
- February 12, 2019: 100-11 on the agenda, along with a meeting about outstanding warrants, “(Judge Cuciniello).”
- March 22, 2019: “POSSIBLE REMOVAL OF MUNICIPAL COURT JUDGE,” listed three times on one agenda.
- March 26, 2019, 09:00: resignation.
The letter closes: “AS PER REQUEST OF THE DISTRICT ATTORNEY’S OFFICE, ALL DOCUMENTS ALONG WITH THE LETTER OF RESIGNATION, WILL BE TURNED OVER FOR REVIEW.” It does not say which district attorney’s office. We hold no record of what was turned over, to whom, or what became of it.
Where the bench is now
The Council went on to approve an agreement with a Municipal Judge on May 25, 2023 (minutes, p. 4). One of the five aldermen the 2019 letter was addressed to, Place 4 Darren Evans, is Mayor today. At the September 28, 2026 special session he told the Council: “As judge I do not take salary because I donate my time to the city” (meeting video, 0:33:18). The position, in other words, is now donated. More on who holds which title is on Who Does What.