Ellis County Judge Suspected of Destroying the Era Segregation ‘Negro’ Sign in the Courthouse

The controversy that recently erupted over a historic segregation-era sign in the basement of the Ellis County Courthouse has taken an unusual turn following an act of vandalism.

Ellis County Judge Todd Little, along with another man, is a suspect in defacing the sign which, according to court documents, reads “Negroes.” The criminal investigation was turned over to Dallas County District Attorney John Creuzot after Ellis County prosecutors filed for an injunction to recant themselves, the data shows.

No one has been charged and is still under investigation. Little could not be reached for comment on Thursday.

Someone sprayed the plate last month, which hung over the site of a water fountain and was kept as a reminder of the mistakes of the past. The sign became the center of a controversy surrounding Constable Curtis Polk Jr., the only black person to serve in an elected position at the county level, after Polk objected to moving his office into the courthouse basement around mid-November and the sign had to be seen every day.

After Polk’s story sparked a wave of negative publicity, Little offered the agent a private office in the Waxahachie courthouse to solve the problem. Then a YouTube video appeared apparently showing Little urging another man, Ernest Henry Walker, to spray all over the board, according to Ellis County court records.

Patrick M. Wilson, the outgoing district attorney for Ellis County, wrote in a lawsuit requesting a refusal that the act of vandalism, recorded by Walker and posted online, took place on or about Nov. 17. The graffiti was an “attempt to obliterate historical signage from the segregation era,” Wilson said in the document.

Little is “conspicuously heard and seen” in the video, and he “encourages and directs” his alleged accomplice in the vandalism, the petitioner says. When Walker finished defacing the sign, Little told the nearby Ellis County sheriff’s deputies to “resign and take no action,” Wilson said in the filing.

“Little could also be considered a person with a legal duty to prevent the vandalism and who has made no reasonable effort to prevent the commission of the act,” Wilson wrote in the indictment.

And that could result in criminal liability against the district judge, the DA added.

Little and Walker have a “long-standing relationship,” the nature of which is unclear, Wilson wrote. Walker could not be reached for comment.

The Ellis County district attorney said preliminary estimates indicate it will cost $ 750 to repair the damage, meaning felony vandalism charges may apply. The county sheriff was investigating the case, and possible charges could include criminal mischief; reckless damage or destruction; or graffiti with a public monument, court records show.

Wilson said in his motion that an outside prosecutor should investigate the case to determine whether criminal charges are warranted because Little has authority over his office’s budget.

Creuzot was out of town and unavailable for comment. An official from his office said he just received the warrant for the appointment but did not see the file.

Lane Grayson, an Ellis County commissioner, said on Thursday that vandalism is not the answer.

“Any violation of government property is an absolute insult,” he said. “That sign was left as a historical reminder of a place we should never go again.”

Grayson said the sign will be restored to its original condition and worth staying in the courthouse.

“I am very sad that it happened, and the circumstances in which it happened,” he said. “What they did was correct to preserve that.”

The sign, which was located outside Polk’s office in a stairwell he used for storage, was discovered nearly 20 years ago during the renovation of the courthouse. The peeling black-and-gold letters were preserved and marked with a placard underneath, explaining that the sign was once likely dependent on segregated facilities for black people.

It was once covered with white paper and tape.

The Dallas County Records Building had a similar sign above a water fountain in downtown Dallas that read “ Whites Only. ” Several years ago, provincial officials hired an artist to turn it into a video installation. The fountain plays video clips of civil rights protests on a special screen before water is released.

Polk, 42, who has held the position of police officer for Ellis County’s Precinct 3 since January 2019, said he decided to discuss his move to the basement because he “ had to stand up for myself. ”

Little, an insurance business executive who has served as a district judge since January 2019, said in a public video statement at the time that he believed previous Ellis County leaders had kept the sign “so it hurts to demand that people drink a different color. an alternative water fountain would never happen again. “

Little also said that if the sign was “too painful for us to see in the future, we are open to change it.” Little said he has known Polk for years and that the commissioners’ decision on office relocations to make way for a new court in the building was not intended to offend the agent. He also said there was no political or racial motivation behind the move.