Weeks after being accused of harassment, a Medina County justice of the peace has resigned to avoid being disciplined, according to records obtained by KSAT Investigates.
Precinct 3 Justice of the Peace Clyde “Bubba” Howse signed a voluntary agreement to resign on Nov. 1, 2024, according to records.
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The agreement says the state received three complaints last month about Howse’s “inappropriate behavior.”
One of the complaints came from a Medina County employee who described a conversation they had with Howse in early October.
According to the complaint, Howse told the county employee about a Brazoria County justice of the peace who’s having intimacy issues in his marriage.
Howse told the county employee about how the judge and his wife got massages, and a male masseuse “was a little frisky with his friend that is a judge,” according to the complaint. Howse said his friend and the masseuse started getting coffee together, but the relationship escalated to intimacy.
“Then Judge Howse says that it interested him, and he not been able to stop thinking about it since his friend told him,” according to the complaint. “That is all that he can think about since he is not getting sex at home.”
According to the report, Howse texted the employee and thanked them for listening to him.
“I just want to know what it’s like touching another man and what it’s like being touched by another man. Understand?” wrote Howse, according to the complaint.
The employee accused Howse of asking them to help him find someone.
The employee wrote in the complaint that they had previously reported Howse’s behavior to human resources.
“I am seriously worried about my safety since [Howse] had his last complaint and likely feels he could lose his bench,” wrote the complainant.
Howse had previously been reprimanded by the state and ordered to go through sexual harassment training in 2023 after telling a female county employee via text message that he sometimes has naughty thoughts about her.
A woman who answered the phone at the Precinct 3 Justice of the Peace’s office told KSAT Wednesday that Howse had “retired.”
Read more reporting on the KSAT Investigates page.
