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Ron Reynolds (politician)

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Ron Reynolds
Reynolds in 2021
Member of the Texas House of Representatives
from the 27th district
Incumbent
Assumed office
January 11, 2011
Preceded byDora Olivo
Personal details
Born
Ronald Eugene Reynolds

(1973-09-18) September 18, 1973 (age 51)
Jackson, Tennessee, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
Spouse
Jonita Wallace
​
(divorced)​
Children3[1]
Residence(s)Missouri City, Texas, U.S.
EducationTexas Southern University (BS)
Texas Tech University School of Law (JD)
Occupation
  • Politician
  • judge
  • professor
Criminal information
Criminal status
Conviction(s)
Criminal penaltyServed 120 days of a 365 day sentence

Ronald Eugene Reynolds (born September 18, 1973) is an American politician and disbarred lawyer who represents District 27 in the Texas House of Representatives. He was first elected in 2010.[3] Reynolds is the first African American elected to represent Fort Bend County in the Texas House of Representatives since the Reconstruction era.

Prior to his disbarment,[4] he was a managing partner and attorney in private practice with the Brown, Brown & Reynolds law firm. He specialized in personal injury law, Social Security disability and family law. He was an adjunct professor at Texas Southern University, a Houston Associate Municipal Judge, and was the president of the Houston Lawyers Association[5] and president of the Missouri City & Vicinity National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).[6] Currently, he is a National Board Member of the NAACP[7] since his appointment to the board in February 2024.[8] He is also a principal at Civitas Engineering and Group Vice President of Business Development.

One day after U.S. President Joe Biden's performance in the June 27, 2024, presidential debate, which he called a "train wreck",[9] Reynolds became one of the first Democratic politicians to call for Biden to be replaced at the 2024 Democratic National Convention.[10]

Early life and education

[edit]

Reynolds moved from Tennessee to Missouri City, Texas, as a child with his single mother.[11] He attended the local schools of Fort Bend County.[12] Reynolds graduated from Texas Southern University in 1996 with a Bachelor of Science degree in public affairs. He then attended Texas Tech University School of Law, graduating in 1999, with a Juris Doctor degree.[13]

Political career

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Reynolds first vied in the 2008 Texas House of Representatives Democratic party primary election for District 27, against the incumbent, Dora Olivo.[14]

Reynolds garnered 14,634 votes (49.7%) to Olivo's 14,821 (50.3%). In 2010, he vied in the Democratic primaries again and unseated Olivo after polling 5,158 (57.6%) to 3,791 (42.4%).[15] In the same year's general election, he beat Derek Dean Grayson of the Libertarian party.[16] He was sworn in on 10 January 2011 as State Representative, House District 27.[6]

In 2012, he ran unopposed in the Democratic party primaries and won re-election with 69% of the votes in the general election.[16] Reynolds was elected for a third term during the 2014 general election after polling 24,326 (67%) against David Wayne Hamilton's 11,990.[16] Reynolds was opposed by Angelique Bartholomew in the runoff for the Democratic party primaries for the 27th district in 2016. Reynolds led in the March 1, 2016, primary but came up about 250 votes short to avoid a runoff election. He finished first in the four candidate primary with about 48.5% of the vote. Angelique Bartholomew received 24.1%. The runoff election occurred on May 24, 2016.[17] Reynolds was supported by Al Green, Sheila Jackson Lee, Sylvester Turner, and the Democratic party chair of Fort Bend County in what was his first primary challenge since he had been elected and won the runoff election[18] by a vote of 53% to 47%.[19] He survived the low-turnout runoff election by 225 votes.[20] He faced the Republican party politician Ken Bryant in the 2016 general election.[21] During the Democratic primaries in 2018, he beat his opponent Wilvin Carter with 61.37%. He won the 2018 general election unopposed as the Republican party did not field a candidate.[22]

During the 2020 general election, he defeated Tom Virippan to win re-election.[23] Reynolds was arrested with U.S. congressman Al Green during a voting rights protest in front of the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington D.C. in 2021.[24][25] He was one of many Democrats who had arrest warrants issued to them after they refused to join a special session ordered by Greg Abbott in August 2021.[26] He founded the Texas House Progressive Caucus in 2021 and in 2022, he polled 70.3% of the votes to beat the Republican party candidate, Sohrab Gilani.[27] Reynolds was elected Chair of the Texas Legislative Black Caucus in August 2022.[6] He led the charge to form the first-ever Texas Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) Legislative Caucus in 2023.[28]

Political views

[edit]

Abortion

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Reynolds is in favor of abortion rights and is pro-choice.[29]

Justice system

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When his conviction was overturned in 2014, Reynolds offered a critique of the justice system of Montgomery County, saying "I have a very strong conviction I didn't get a fair trial, but even bigger I believe it's difficult for [an] African-American to get [a] fair trial in Montgomery County, Texas".[30]

Reynolds has supported criminal justice reform bills such as grants to police departments for police body cameras, grand jury reform, and James White's bill to decriminalize truancy.[31] He supported a bill that would require a special prosecutor in cases of officer-involved shootings. Reynolds believes that his legal problems were politically and racially motivated,[32] and that he is the victim of selective prosecution.[33] In 2015, Reynolds likened a criminal case against him as a "modern day lynching".[2]

Medicare

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Reynolds had indicated his support for the expansion of Medicare to address the amount of uninsured residents in Texas, which has the highest percentage of uninsured people in the United States.[12]

Minimum wage

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In 2019, Reynolds proposed a bill to raise the minimum wage of Texas to $15 an hour. He said, "We need to close the economic gap here in Texas, working full time and trying to support a family on less than $15,000 a year is impossible."[34]

Reparations

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Reynolds proposed legislation that would have Texas pay reparations amounting to $95 million to descendants of the Sugar Land 95, which were 95 19th-century African Americans that were forced to work in a plantation in Sugar Land, Texas, under the convict lease system. He suggested that identification could be done by testing DNA.[35]

Gaza-Israel conflict

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In November 2023, Reynolds was a signer of a letter urging the Biden administration to secure additional humanitarian aid[36] and push for a ceasefire in Israel's war on Gaza.[37] He signed a later letter urging the administration "to reassess the unconditional aid provided to Israel" in the hope that they would "not hesitate to halt the provision of offensive weapons in order to prevent any future human rights violations."[38]

Awards and honors

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Reynolds has been awarded with the EEOC Civil Rights All Star Award, the American Red Cross Humanitarian Award, the Houston Black Chamber of Commerce Pinnacle Award (twice), the Missouri City Juneteenth Community Service Award, and the DMARS Business Journal Top Lawyer & Public Servant Award. He was named in Houston's Top 40 Leaders Under 40, named Houston’s Top Lawyer by HTexas Magazine, and recognized in Who's Who in Black Houston.[39] He was voted by the House Democratic Caucus as Freshman Legislator of the Year in 2011[40] and was named Public Servant of the Year by the Houston Minority Contractors Association.[41]

He has also received the American Red Cross Humanitarian Award, the YMCA Minority Achievers Award, the NAACP Drum Major for Justice Award,[42] and the Texas Association of African American Chamber of Commerce's Legislator of the Year Award.[43]

[edit]

Reynolds was sanctioned twice by the State Bar of Texas[44] in 2005 for professional misconduct.[29] He was suspended from practicing law from April 1, 2005,[45] to June 30, 2006, and placed on a probated suspension ending on June 30, 2009.[46]

During his first political campaign in 2008, the Texas Ethics Commission terminated his campaign treasurer. Reynolds afterwards continued to raise and spend campaign funds, although the Texas Election Code prohibits candidates from doing so until a campaign treasurer report is filed with the Texas Ethics Commission. He hired a new campaign treasurer six months after his initial treasurer was removed.[40]

Reynolds turned himself in to Harris County authorities on April 24, 2012 after he was accused of barratry or "illegally pursuing clients for his law office". He was arrested and in jail for one day before he was freed on a $5,000 bond. An undercover investigation by the Harris County district attorney's office determined that a chiropractic business was persuading patients to sign attorney client contracts before the patient had been examined or had met Reynolds.[47] The case was dropped by prosecutors in February 2013 after some investigators were charged with stealing evidence from other cases.[48]

On March 25, 2013, the Houston law office of Reynolds, the offices of seven other attorneys, and two chiropractic offices were raided by authorities in connection to a $25 million kickback scheme.[49] Reynolds turned himself in to the Montgomery County Jail the next day and was arrested on two counts of barratry. His bond was set at $5,000 for each count.[50] He was indicted by Mongomery County grand jury and accused of participation in a Conroe-based scheme with seven other attorneys to pay a four-time convicted felon to steer accident victims to their practices by looking through Houston police traffic accident reports to find potential clients.[11] Reynolds and the seven other attorneys were accused of paying kickbacks. He was charged with barratry, a third-degree felony with a maximum of 10 years in prison.[51] Investigators said they had procured about 12,000 pages of documents, including hours of recorded audio interviews, phone records, and statements from four separate banks, that had tied Reynolds to the barratry scheme.[52]

Reynolds denied the charges, saying that he had also "voted for new laws holding lawyers guilty of barratry more accountable to their victims." The assistant Montgomery County district attorney said that it seemed Reynolds had returned to the scheme after his first case was dismissed.[53] He was convicted of six counts of solicitation of professional employment, a misdemeanor.[54] However on November 10, the judge declared a mistrial after a juror reported she had been influenced by outside information[55] during deliberations.[56] A new trial was scheduled for January 5, 2015, about a week before the beginning of the 84th legislative session.[30]

In August 2015, it was reported that the prosecutors had looked into retrying Reynolds with the felony barratry charge, but ended up agreeing with the defense that it would have constituted double jeopardy so instead prosecutors filed misdemeanor charges.[57] In November 2015, Reynolds represented himself in court precedings, later saying, "Everybody advised me not to do it, but who would best represent me other than me? I know the most about this case". Reynolds was the only one of the eight attorneys charged who did not accept a plea deal and took the case to trial.[58] During the trial, the Texas Ethics Commission's enforcement director testified that Reynolds had failed to file eight campaign finance reports by the legally required deadline, he had also owed $20,000 in fines and had three default judgements against him.[59] The organizer of the scheme testified that he was paid thousands of dollars to find accident victims for Reynolds' law firm to represent.[60]

He was convicted of five counts of illegal solicitation of legal clients on November 16, 2015, given a $4,000[61] or $20,000 fine, and sentenced to one year in prison. He had represented himself previously in the trial, but Harold Dutton joined him at the defense table on November 16.[62] Reynolds planned to appeal the decision.[61]

In April 2016, Reynolds was ordered to pay a former client $504,000. He was accused of winning a monetary settlement for a client whose daughter died in a car crash and then keeping her share of the money.[63] Also in the same month, a Harris County judge ordered Reynolds to pay more than $95,000 to a couple after he had reached a settlement without informing them or having their consent.[17] The next month it was reported that his law license had been suspended[64] by the Supreme Court of Texas's Board of Disciplinary Appeals. It was also reported that he missed the filing deadline of May 16 to report his campaign fundraising information and that he owed over $30,000 in fines to the Texas Ethics Commission for failing to file campaign and personal financial statements on time.[65] Reynolds filed for chapter 7 bankruptcy in 2016.[19] He listed he owed $3,000 in unpaid Houston-area tolls, $15,000 to the Texas Ethics Commission for failing to file financial disclosure forms,[20] and faced $1.3 million in debt.[66]

A three-judge appellate panel upheld his 2015 conviction for misdemeanor barratry in November 2017. Reynolds said he would continue to appeal the conviction and remain free on a $25,000 appeal bond.[67] When he filed two campaign financial reports in February 2018 after missing nine filing deadlines, it had been two years since he had filed any reports.[68] The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals refused to review his case in May 2018.[69]

Reynolds became Montgomery County jail inmate number 232573 on September 7, 2018, the first day of his year-long sentence.[70] Reynolds was released on January 4, 2019, just days before the beginning of the 86th legislative session.[71] He was formally disbarred by the State Bar of Texas on July 29, 2019, after having been in an interlocutory suspension for 2 years and 2 months.[4][72]

Reports have named Reynolds as owing the most in fines to the Texas Ethics Commission compared to any other lawmaker in 2017,[73] 2018[70], and 2024. As of July 2024, Reynolds owed over $77,000 in fines to the Texas Ethics Commission.[74] In 2017, Reynolds said he was on a payment plan of $1,000 a month with the Texas Ethics Commission.[73] However, later in the year his total fines had only increased and he still had the highest fine on the Texas Ethics Commission's list of owed fines from delinquent filers.[75]

References

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  1. ^ "DISTRICT 26 State Rep. – David Hamilton (Republican), Ron Reynolds (Democrat)". Fort Bend Star. October 28, 2014. Archived from the original on January 4, 2015. Retrieved December 13, 2014.
  2. ^ a b Gill, Julian; Scherer, Jasper (January 4, 2019). "State Rep. Ron Reynolds released from Montgomery Co. Jail after serving nearly 4 months". Chron.
  3. ^ "Ron Reynolds". Texas Legislators: Past & Present. Legislative Reference Library of Texas. Retrieved December 12, 2014.
  4. ^ a b "Mr. Ronald Eugene 'Ronald' Reynolds". State Bar of Texas. Retrieved July 2, 2024.
  5. ^ Lodha, Pooja (April 25, 2012). "Ft. Bend County state rep. charged with barratry". KTRK-TV. Archived from the original on May 1, 2012.
  6. ^ a b c "Rep. Reynolds, Ron District 27". Texas House of Representatives. Retrieved July 2, 2024.
  7. ^ "Rep. Ronald Reynolds". National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. Retrieved July 2, 2024.
  8. ^ "Representative Ron Reynolds Joins NAACP National Board of Directors". Houston Style Magazine. February 21, 2024.
  9. ^ McCardel, Michael (July 7, 2024). "National delegate to Democratic National Convention says there is time to replace President Biden on the ticket". WFAA.
  10. ^ "Houston-area lawmaker among first to call for President Biden to be replaced at convention". KHOU. June 28, 2024. Retrieved July 2, 2024.
  11. ^ a b Schleifer, Theodore (November 22, 2014). "Reynolds says legal troubles do not define him". Houston Chronicle. (subscription required)
  12. ^ a b "Q&A with candidates for Texas House District 27". KTRK-TV. October 14, 2020.
  13. ^ "Rep. Ron Reynolds (D)". Texas State Directory Online.
  14. ^ "Texas Consultants Power Rankings Score". Mike Hailey's Capitol Inside. Retrieved November 7, 2023.
  15. ^ Ramshaw, Emily (March 4, 2010). "Surprise!". The Texas Tribune. Retrieved November 7, 2023.
  16. ^ a b c "Ron Reynolds". Ballotpedia. Retrieved November 7, 2023.
  17. ^ a b Rocha, Alana (April 30, 2016). "Embattled State Lawmaker on Losing End of Malpractice Suit". The Texas Tribune.
  18. ^ Foxhall, Emily (May 25, 2016). "Returns show embattled House member Ron Reynolds winning primary race". Chron.
  19. ^ a b Rocha, Alana (September 12, 2016). "State Rep. Ron Reynolds: Sued, Convicted and Now Bankrupt". The Texas Tribune.
  20. ^ a b Kragie, Andrew (September 7, 2016). "State Rep. Ron Reynolds files for bankruptcy". Associated Press.
  21. ^ Rogers, Brian (April 29, 2016). "State rep hit with $500K court judgment". Houston Chronicle. (subscription required)
  22. ^ McCullough, Jolie (November 7, 2018). "State Rep. Ron Reynolds wins re-election from Montgomery County jail cell". KHOU. Retrieved November 7, 2023.
  23. ^ Shoop, Claire (March 3, 2020). "Updated: Democratic State Rep. Ron Reynolds, Republican Tom Virippan to compete in general election for Texas House District 27". Community Impact. Retrieved November 7, 2023.
  24. ^ Vasquez, Lucio; DeBenedetto, Paul (August 3, 2021). "Houston U.S. Rep. Al Green Given Citation During Voting Rights Rally In Washington D.C." Houston Public Media.
  25. ^ Eltohamy, Farah (August 3, 2021). "State Rep. Ron Reynolds and U.S. Rep. Al Green arrested while demonstrating for federal voting bill at U.S. Capitol". Denton Record-Chronicle.
  26. ^ "'Extraordinary abuse of power': State representatives from Houston respond to arrest warrants". KHOU. August 11, 2021.
  27. ^ "Texas Rep. Ron Reynolds". The Texas Tribune. Retrieved November 7, 2023.
  28. ^ "HBCU Students and Texas State Representative Ron Reynolds Lead Charge in Forming First-Ever Texas HBCU Legislative Caucus". Huston–Tillotson University. Retrieved November 11, 2023.
  29. ^ a b Rocha, Alana (June 12, 2014). "Republicans See Potential Opportunity in House Democrat's Legal Troubles". The Texas Tribune. Archived from the original on July 4, 2020.
  30. ^ a b Cooper, Nakia; Archer, Phil (November 10, 2014). "Judge overturns conviction of state Rep. Ron Reynolds". KPRC-TV.
  31. ^ Langford, Terri (February 14, 2016). "Rep. Ron Reynolds Fending Off Conviction, Challengers in Primary". The Texas Tribune.
  32. ^ Rocha, Alana (May 10, 2016). "Convictions, Lawsuits Don't Slow Ron Reynolds Re-Election Bid". The Texas Tribune.
  33. ^ Goldenstein, Taylor (August 8, 2019). "State Rep. Ron Reynolds is disbarred months after jail release". Houston Chronicle. (subscription required)
  34. ^ "Texas representative proposes bill to raise minimum wage to $15/hr". KTRK-TV. January 22, 2019.
  35. ^ Ortiz, Alvaro "Al" (March 5, 2019). "State Representative Proposes Paying $95 Million In Reparations To Descendants Of Sugar Land 95". Houston Public Media.
  36. ^ Salhotra, Pooja (November 12, 2023). "Texans fill downtown Austin streets to demand ceasefire in Gaza". The Texas Tribune.
  37. ^ Abrams, Cameron (November 8, 2023). "Texas House Democrats Urge Party Chair to Request Biden Call for Ceasefire in Israel-Hamas Conflict". The Texan.
  38. ^ Waltons, Brandon (April 24, 2024). "Democrats in Texas House Call on Biden to End 'Unconditional Support' to Israel". Texas Scorecard.
  39. ^ "Ron Reynolds". Texas Black Expo. November 17, 2023. Retrieved January 2, 2024.
  40. ^ a b Tennissen, Marilyn (April 25, 2012). "Texas state rep. named 'Freshman of the Year' jailed on barratry charges". Southeast Texas Record.
  41. ^ "State Rep. Ron Reynolds named House Democratic Whip". Houston Chronicle. February 6, 2013.
  42. ^ "Ron Reynolds plans to seek re-election". Fort Bend Independent. September 16, 2015. Retrieved December 22, 2023.
  43. ^ "State Rep. Ron Reynolds files for re-election in the Democratic Party primary". Fort Bend Independent. December 3, 2019.
  44. ^ Jordan, Jay R. (November 24, 2015). "State Rep. Reynolds barred from practicing law on appeal bond". The Courier.
  45. ^ "Reynolds' Feb. 2005 Public Sanction" (PDF). The Texas Tribune. Archived (PDF) from the original on December 25, 2022.
  46. ^ "Reynolds' Nov. 2005 Public Sanction" (PDF). The Texas Tribune. Archived (PDF) from the original on May 25, 2022.
  47. ^ Wrigley, Deborah (April 25, 2012). "More details emerge about Rep. Reynold's arrest". KTRK-TV. Archived from the original on May 1, 2012.
  48. ^ Miller, Doug (February 27, 2013). "First charges dropped in prosecutor mess". KHOU. Archived from the original on May 1, 2013.
  49. ^ McCullough, Jolie (September 7, 2018). "State Rep. Ron Reynolds turns himself in to serve year-long jail sentence". The Texas Tribune.
  50. ^ Rocha, Alana (March 26, 2013). "Reynolds Booked Into Montgomery County Jail". The Texas Tribune.
  51. ^ Rogers, Brian (March 26, 2013). "Lawmaker, several lawyers charged in ambulance-chasing scheme". Chron.
  52. ^ Zaveri, Mihir (November 7, 2014). "State Rep. Reynolds convicted in solicitation of professional conduct case". Chron.
  53. ^ Rocha, Alana (March 25, 2013). "Arrest Warrant Issued for Reynolds Over Alleged Barratry Scheme". The Texas Tribune. Archived from the original on July 29, 2013.
  54. ^ Goldenstein, Taylor (August 8, 2019). "State Rep. Ron Reynolds is disbarred months after jail release". Greenwich Time. Retrieved January 2, 2024.
  55. ^ Horswell, Cindy; Zaveri, Mihir (November 11, 2014). "Judge overturns conviction, sets new trial in legislator's solicitation case". Houston Chronicle. (subscription required)
  56. ^ Rocha, Alana (November 10, 2014). "Mistrial Declared in Reynolds' Barratry Case". The Texas Tribune.
  57. ^ Zaveri, Mihir (August 1, 2015). "Democratic lawmaker faces misdemeanor, not felony, charges of 'ambulance chasing'". Chron.
  58. ^ Horswell, Cindy (November 17, 2015). "State Rep. Reynolds facing new trial on barratry allegations". Chron.
  59. ^ Horswell, Cindy (November 20, 2015). "Fort Bend lawmaker convicted of barratry in 'ambulance chasing' scheme". Houston Chronicle. (subscription required)
  60. ^ Horswell, Cindy (November 18, 2015). "Key player in 'ambulance chasing' scheme testifies at lawmaker's trial". Chron.
  61. ^ a b Ramsey, Ross (November 21, 2015). "State Rep. Reynolds Guilty of Ambulance-Chasing". The Texas Tribune.
  62. ^ Tresaugue, Matthew (November 24, 2015). "Lawmaker gets jail sentence, fine for 'ambulance chasing'". Houston Chronicle.
  63. ^ Keith, Damali (April 29, 2016). "$504,000 judgment against State Representative Ron Reynolds". Fox 26.
  64. ^ "More legal troubles for State Rep. Ron Reynolds after unpaid settlement". KTRK-TV. May 17, 2016.
  65. ^ Rocha, Alana (May 18, 2016). "State Rep. Reynolds' Law License Suspended as He Appeals Convictions". The Texas Tribune.
  66. ^ Snyder, Mike (September 29, 2016). "The curious case of Ron Reynolds, poised for re-election despite 'bad acts'". Houston Chronicle. (subscription required)
  67. ^ Carpenter, Jacob (November 30, 2017). "Appeals court upholds Rep. Ron Reynolds' 'ambulance chasing' conviction". Chron.
  68. ^ McCullough, Jolie (February 6, 2018). "Texas lawmaker didn't file a campaign finance report for two years. Why didn't the state make him?". The Texas Tribune.
  69. ^ McCullough, Jolie (May 23, 2018). "Democratic state Rep. Ron Reynolds likely headed to jail after Texas Court of Criminal Appeals refuses to review his case". The Texas Tribune.
  70. ^ a b Barr, Jody (September 7, 2018). "Texas lawmaker with largest ethics fines sent to jail". KXAN-TV.
  71. ^ Platoff, Emma (January 4, 2019). "Texas Rep. Ron Reynolds released from jail — just in time for the legislative session". The Texas Tribune.
  72. ^ Barr, Jody (August 8, 2019). "TX lawmaker who won re-election from jail cell stripped of law license". KXAN-TV.
  73. ^ a b Wang, Jackie (February 22, 2017). "House member marks one-year anniversary of filing zero campaign finance reports". The Texas Tribune.
  74. ^ Despart, Zach (July 23, 2024). "In Texas, violating campaign ethics laws rarely yields repercussions. The attorney general's office is to blame". The Texas Tribune.
  75. ^ "Delinquent Filer Lists". Texas Ethics Commission. August 7, 2017. Archived from the original on September 3, 2017.
[edit]
Texas House of Representatives
Preceded by Member of the
Texas House of Representatives
from District 27 (Missouri City)
2011– 		Succeeded by
Incumbent
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