Bastrop commissioner sentenced to one day in jail for abusing office

Bastrop County Precinct 4 Commissioner Gary “Bubba” Snowden was sentenced to one day in jail and ordered to pay a $2,000 fine and $2,500 restitution after pleading guilty to one count of abuse of official capacity, court records show.

Snowden was indicted by a Bastrop County grand jury in December on three counts of abuse of official capacity — one was a third-degree felony for an amount of $30,000 or more but less than $100,000, and two state jail felonies for an amount of $2,500 or more but less than $30,000 — after being accused of misusing government property for personal gain.

According to the indictment, Snowden used county property and personnel to resurface 0.8 of a mile of Wilbarger Creek Drive and to put limestone base on Moon Brake Road, both private roads, “with the intent to obtain a benefit and harm and defraud another.”

It is illegal for the county to work on private roads without approval by the Commissioners Court.

Snowden admitted in December to doing the work but said he did not personally gain anything from it. He said the roadwork helped area residents.

He agreed to a plea bargain on June 29 that dismissed two counts of abuse of official capacity — the third-degree felony and a state jail felony — and pleaded guilty to a downgraded Class A misdemeanor charge of abuse of official capacity, records show.

“I’m glad that this is finally over. I might have made mistakes, but I never enriched myself or anyone else,” Snowden told the Bastrop Advertiser on Monday. “I intend to continue to work hard and to do my best for Bastrop County as I have always done.”

The Commissioners Court in 2015 approved emergency repairs on a low water crossing at Wilbarger Creek after a flood over