Felony charges of stalking, tampering with a witness and tampering with evidence led to the arrest of Dimmit County Sheriff Marion Boyd by Texas Rangers, according to court documents.
Boyd, 41, was taken into custody Wednesday and the charges stem from three incidents last year, records obtained by KSAT 12 Defenders show.
On Aug. 16, Boyd is accused of coercing a witness of a motor vehicle crash to stop his investigation, in an attempt to “delay or discontinue the prosecution of another,” the documents state.
In the second charge, Boyd is accused of tampering with physical evidence on Aug. 14.
Just a few months prior, on April 3, Boyd allegedly sent explicit images of another man’s genitals to a woman, causing her to feel “harassed, annoyed, alarmed, abused, tormented, embarrassed or offended.”
Each of the charges is listed as a third-degree felony with a bond amount of $7,500 each in the court documents.
The Texas Department of Public Safety confirmed to the Uvalde Leader-News that there is an active investigation into Boyd’s charges.
“As this is an active and ongoing investigation by the Rangers, no additional information is available at this time,” DPS officials said.
KSAT 12 reached out to DPS and the sheriff’s office for further details but did not hear back by this publication.
Boyd has served as sheriff since 2013, and his term was set to end in 2024, according to the Uvalde newspaper.
As of Thursday, the sheriff’s web page appears to have been removed from the county’s website.
With Boyd in custody, it’s unknown who is running the sheriff’s office and the jail in the meantime, the newspaper reports.
Boyd has served in law enforcement for nearly 22 years and is also a former county constable.
Nearly three years ago, Boyd faced scrutiny by the Texas Commission on Jail Standards after its executive director questioned his practice of allowing inmates’ families to visit them while working at outdoor job sites, according to the Uvalde Leader-News.
Boyd defended the practice, claiming the inmates that were allowed to see their families weren’t “high risk” and that he and his deputies knew some of the inmates personally.
The Dimmit County jail and county seat are in Carrizo Springs, located about a 2-hour drive south of downtown San Antonio on Interstate 35. The county is about 50 miles east of Eagle Pass and the U.S.-Mexico border.
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