The leadership of remote, desolate Loving County, Texas, the least populous in the United States at 64 as of the 2020 census, was in trouble even before their top elected official, County Judge Skeet Jones, was arrested in May along with three other locals on charges of cattle rustling, finding their rule shaken up by the provisions of the new Texas voter suppression law requiring people to actually live where they’re registered to vote, NBC News reports.
Long and complicated story short, because of the oil extraction going on in the area, a county of 64 people has an annual budget of more than $28 million and county elected officials’ salaries are often in the six figures. Dem Commissioner Ysidro Renteria – who actually lives in neighboring Reeves County – makes $55,000 a year for the part-time job, but cleaned up $4.7 million in road maintenance contracts since 2015. Renteria is registered to vote in the county, despite his address being a flooded out and abandoned ranch house. Ten other voters are also registered at the place.
Sheriff Chris Busse says for years he couldn’t do anything about the voters like Renteria, but now that the state laws. Now Busse filed a complaint with corrupt scumbag Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s office challenging Renteria’s eligibility for office on the basis of his fraudulent registration. The case could have major implications for Loving County going forward.