Curtis Traylor-Harris
Traylor-Harris maintained his innocence during his trial in Tyler
DAVID TAFFET | Senior Staff Writer
taffet@dallasvoice.com
Curtis Traylor-Harris wasn’t expected to win his election for constable in Tyler: He’s Black; he’s gay — not your typical elected official in conservative Smith County. But it was an open seat that was previously filled by an appointed constable. And Traylor-Harris had gained some experience running for office when he challenged Lee Kleinman for his Dallas City Council seat in 2019.
The Smith County courthouse in Tyler (Michael Barera, via Wikipedia)
And when all the votes were counted. Traylor-Harris had won. But his victory didn’t last. Traylor-Harris was convicted last week on charges of theft by a public servant, and on Monday, Dec. 12,, the Smith County jury sentenced him to probation. District Judge Jack Skeen set the probation period for five years and ordered Traylor-Harris to pay a $10,000 fine.
If Traylor-Harris violates the terms of his probation at any point during the five-year probated period, he will go to jail for two years.
And as a convicted felon, he can no longer pursue a career in law enforcement.
But Traylor-Harris has maintained his innocence throughout the trial, saying that the charges were part of bias against him.
Traylor-Harris became constable in January 2021 after coming in third in the Democratic primary the previous March. Willie Mims, the top vote-getter, was declared ineligible to run because of questions about signatures on his petitions. So Traylor-Harris moved into second place to face Bobby Garmon, the person who had been serving in the post since 2017.
Traylor-Harris won the primary and was declared winner in the race, because there was no Republican challenger.
Seven months after taking office, Smith County opened an investigation into his residency. Questions about the relevancy of questions asked of a department employee during an exit interview prompted Traylor-Harris to write in response, “I am asking that the subtle nit picking of me and my office ceases immediately from the County Judge, the Counties [sic] Civil Attorney, and anyone else in purview of the County Annex or I will be forced to fill [sic] a Civil Rights and harassment suit against the county.
After he was sworn into office, Traylor-Harris said he found his office full of old equipment and cars that needed maintenance. So he went to commissioners court and asked for money. That, according to his attorney, Andrew Dammann, made the commissioners unhappy. They told the new constable to “Go learn the law then come back and ask us for money,” Dammann said.
Then a year ago, in November 2021, Traylor-Harris was serving a writ of possession — an eviction — and, items were taken from the home where the eviction notice was being served. The family being evicted filed a report, despite marijuana being among the items taken.
Traylor-Harris contends his chief deputy, LaQuenda Banks, took the items — including some makeup, cash, ammunition, sunglasses and marijuana — from the home. According to Dammann, the theft was captured on the deputy’s body cam.
But Banks, the third time she was interviewed by investigators, claimed Traylor-Harris told her to take whatever she wanted. That’s when charges were filed against Traylor-Harris.
He was arrested by Texas Rangers and charged with official oppression, abuse of official capacity and theft between $750 and $2,500 by a public servant. Banks and a sergeant in the constable’s office were arrested and charged with official oppression, abuse of official capacity and property theft.
The two employees of the constable’s office were fired. Traylor-Harris, because he was an elected official, was suspended from office.
Traylor-Harris was booked and released. But then a YouTube video caught him outside the county — at his police academy graduation in Navarro — carrying a gun. Dammann said it was a “blue gun,” which is a non-functional training weapon fully or partially made of rubber or plastic.
Nevertheless, Traylor-Harris was again taken into custody. Bail was set at $1 million on the misdemeanor charge.
The bond was challenged in an appeals court in Tyler, which “found it egregious,” Dammann said, adding that the appeals court reduced bond to $20,000.
The case was scheduled for court and put ahead of seven other cases that were ahead of him where the accused was sitting in jail, because they couldn’t make bond. And that, Dammann said, “shows bias.”
Dammann and his client went into the trial this week already expecting that, thanks to quite a bit of local publicity that assumed Traylor-Harris actually did authorize his deputy to take whatever she wanted, Traylor-Harris wouldn’t get a fair trial. As of Dallas Voice’s deadline, there was no word on whether Traylor-Harris plans to appeal.