Jefferson County Precinct 8 Justice of the Peace Tom Gillam reportedly resigned Oct. 2, one day before a criminal complaint alleging official oppression was dismissed by state prosecutors in Jefferson County Judge John Stevens’ Criminal District Court. As read into the court record Oct. 3, Gillam agreed to resign his judicial seat – and not seek election to the bench at any time in the future – in exchange for prosecution dropping felony criminal charges dating back to a 2023 grand jury indictment.
Earlier this year, an attorney for Jefferson County Pct. 8 Port Arthur Justice of the Peace Tom Gillam III case appeared, without the defendant, to hear an announcement that the sitting elected official has been indicted – again – this time to clear up wording in the original charging instrument approved by a Jefferson County grand jury in August 2023.
Prosecutors Pro Tem, acting as special prosecutors on the case, appeared on behalf of the state.
“We are doing our best,” the special prosecutor advised the court of plans to move forward. As the attorney delved more into the matter, she said, the lawyer believed more time will be needed to present the case before a jury.
The charge, classified as a misdemeanor but heard in felony court, alleged Gillam committed “official oppression” related to sexual harassment, as investigated by the Texas Rangers beginning in 2022. As alleged in the original indictment, Gillam subjected a female employee in the Port Arthur Justice of the Peace office “to sexual harassment by making unwelcome sexual advances, making requests for sexual favors, and physical conduct of a sexual nature, knowing that the advances or requests was not welcomed by the complainant,” while acting under “the color of his office or employment as a public servant.”
With a trial date in March canceled, the matter was called before the bench on occasion – with attorneys always requesting, and being granted, more time. Gillam faced up to one year in the Jefferson County Jail and a fine up to $4,000. While awaiting his day in court, the Texas Commission of Judicial Conduct ordered Gillam suspended without pay pending the outcome of the criminal case.
Gillam, as per the deal fashioned between the judge’s former-judge attorney and state prosecutors, will not be required to admit any guilt in the case and the case will go away without any mark on the accused’s criminal record. Gillam’s current JP position is not for election again until November 2026.