Precinct 5 Constable Jaime Cortes, who succeeded openly gay Constable Mike Dupree and represents Dallas’ most heavily LGBT neighborhoods, stepped down today amid ongoing civil and criminal investigations of his office. According to WFAA, the District Attorney’s Office planned to subpoena Cortes for a removal hearing on Thursday, but he opted instead to resign late Wednesday afternoon. Cortes was defeated in the April Democratic runoff by Beth Villarreal, who would have taken office in January since there is no Republican in the race. Villarreal will now likely be appointed to the position by the Commissioners Court before then. Brett Shipp has the scoop.
