Hawk Cove, Texas, May 8, 2026. In Hawk Cove the office of Mayor is shared, in turns. By his own sworn account, Darren Evans was Mayor “from October 8, 2019 to November 3, 2020 and from May 17, 2022 through and including May 31, 2024.” The same affidavit puts Delores Spence in the chair at a June 1, 2021 special session, listing the officers present as “Spence as Mayor” and “Darren Evans (myself), Council Place 3.” From May 31, 2024, the Mayor was Ms. Spence again.
On November 18, 2024, the previous Mayor asked a court to remove the current one. “PETITIONERS’ ORIGINAL, SWORN, PETITION FOR REMOVAL,” by Amanda Bodiford and Darren Evans, asked the 196th District Court of Hunt County to remove “Respondent Delores Marlow Spence, Council Mayor,” together with Council members Rebecca Bernardi (Place 1) and Mark Beatte (Place 4) (petition, p. 1). Mr. Evans swore to it through his “former duties as Mayor” and “in my present official capacity as a resident voting citizen and Financial Consultant for The City of Hawk Cove, Texas” (pp. 24–25). It is signed “Ronna L. Hodges … Attorney for Petitioners Amanda Bodiford and Darren Evans” (p. 26). Ms. Hodges is the City Attorney.
What the petition says
Everything in this section is the petitioners’ sworn allegation. No court ruled on any of it.
- The respondents ran a “harassment and harm campaign against City and its Attorney” (p. 23, ¶92). One part of it, the petition says, was the respondents’ November 21, 2023 State Bar grievance against the City Attorney, which the State Bar’s Chief Disciplinary Counsel dismissed on December 28, 2023 (p. 5, ¶12). The grievance against the City Attorney is a ground for removal in a petition signed by the City Attorney.
- On October 16, 2024, Mayor Spence e-mailed demands for a special meeting “with the intent to remove” the Police Chief, Deputy Police Chief and Chief Building Official, and the City Administrator and City Attorney (p. 9, ¶24).
- On May 22 and May 23, 2024, the respondents posted “False Agenda Notices” for a special meeting, “by Respondent Spence taping them on City’s governmental notices board” (p. 6, ¶16).
- Ms. Spence “republished” Ms. Bernardi’s Facebook posts about Council business on her own page, “Dotty Spence,” on August 13, 18, 26 and 28, 2023, and so “engaged in, facilitated and promoted discussion and deliberation of Council business” outside a public meeting (pp. 12–13, ¶¶37, 39, 41, 43).
- As Mayor, she failed “to inspect the conduct of subordinate Respondent Council members Beatte and Bernardi, and to prosecute and punish them,” while being “a party to those violations” herself (p. 23, ¶91). One ground for removing the Mayor, then, was that she had not prosecuted the two other people the petition asked the court to remove.
- The offenses listed start with “Abuse of official capacity, a first degree felony” and end with “Harassment of City’s public servants” (p. 3, ¶9). We hold no record of anyone being charged with any of them.
The gavel
The filing contains two sworn accounts of the same executive session. They agree on the words and are one day apart on the date. We have no record that settles it.
| Record | Date it gives | What it says |
|---|---|---|
| Petition, p. 22, ¶84 | “Council’s August 20, 2024, Executive Session” | Ms. Spence “broke the gavel block beating it in physical threat as she repeatedly screamed, ‘I am the Mayor!’” |
| Bodiford affidavit (Exhibit A), ¶29 | “the August 21st, 2024, Council meeting” | Heard from outside the building: “She was banging loudly with her gavel and screaming several times ‘I’m the mayor! I’m the mayor!’” |
What it asked for
- That the three “be removed from their respective offices” (p. 25, prayer e).
- That “each be denied future election to the Council for the longest time period that the law allows” (p. 25, prayer f).
- Costs and attorney fees from the respondents, “jointly and severally” (p. 25, prayer g).
- Speed. Under “TIME OF THE ESSENCE,” the petition quotes the statute: “Disposition of this action by the district court shall take precedence over other civil matters on the court’s docket” (p. 24, ¶93; Loc. Gov’t Code §21.027).
Precedence, in practice
| Date | What happened |
|---|---|
| Nov. 18, 2024 | Petition filed (case summary). |
| Nov. 19, 2024 | All three served (case summary). |
| Nov. 21, 2024 | In a separate case, Mayor Spence and Council members Beatte and Bernardi turned themselves in on Open Meetings Act charges from the Texas Attorney General’s Office, according to eExtra News. Charged is not convicted. We hold no court record of how those charges ended. |
| Dec. 2, 2024 | Hearing on a temporary restraining order: “CANCELED” (case summary). |
| Feb. 12, 2025 | “ORDER DENYING PLEA IN ABATEMENT-DEF” (case summary). |
| May 3, 2025 | Ms. Bernardi, one of the three, re-elected to Place 1, 44 to 28 (Herald-Banner). |
| May 8, 2025 | Order “changing style of case” and “State’s Notice of Appearance”: the case becomes the State of Texas ex rel. Bodiford and Evans (case summary). |
| July 3, 2025 | “Order Granting Motion to Withdraw” (case summary). |
| Mar. 16, 2026 | “DEFENDANTS’ MOTION TO DISMISS AS MOOT” (case summary). |
| Mar. 27, 2026 | Set “FOR 05/08/2026 @ 9AM FOR MOTION TO DISMISS” (case summary). |
| May 2, 2026 | City election. Mr. Evans was the only candidate for Mayor (Herald-Banner preview; Mayor). Ms. Spence ran for Council Place 2 and received 48 votes to 55, unofficial count (Herald-Banner). |
| May 8, 2026 | “the Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss as Moot with prejudice is GRANTED” (order). The case summary closes it as “DISMISSED/NO PROSECUTION.” |
The petition asked for a trial that would “more fully expose Respondents’ patterns of incompetency” (p. 17, ¶60). The case summary shows no trial and no ruling on any allegation. The request that the respondents be “denied future election” was never decided. The next election was held on its regular date regardless, and Mr. Evans took the oath as Mayor at the May 19, 2026 canvass. The petition was dismissed eleven days before that, six days after election day.