Former Temple mayor pro tem Judy Morales received a sentence of deferred adjudication probation Wednesday after pleading no contest to a charge of destroying or altering public documents. Morales, who resigned from the Temple City Council on Thursday, March 20, must also serve 24 hours of public service, pay a fine of $750 and cover $240 in court costs.

Morales could have faced up to 180 days in jail and a fine of up to $4,000.

The class-B misdemeanor charge stemmed from an investigation of allegations that Morales instructed an employee of the Temple HELP Center to destroy emails and documents linking her to the use of county resources to aid in her 2011 city council campaign. Morales did not face charges for the use of those resources because the statute of limitation had expired by the time the allegations came to light. She was arrested for the misdemeanor charge on Tuesday, March 11.

Morales was the director of the HELP Center until last fall, meaning her time on the city council violated Section 4.9 of Temple’s city charter which prohibits public officials from receiving taxpayer funds as compensation while holding office. Mari Paul, a former employee of Morales, circulated a petition to recall Morales and the rest of the city council, but was inhibited by the lack of adequate information concerning how many signatures she would need to be successful.

Morales’ resigned three days after a March 17 special meeting of the council in which fellow councilors urged her to step down. Morales initially refused, prompting the council to schedule a public hearing. Morales resigned hours before that hearing.

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