Judge Franklin Suspended Over Perjury Indictment

What He Is Accused Of

Franklin went to court to reduce what he owed in child support. In that proceeding, according to the indictment, he said under oath that he had not participated in the purchase or sale of any property. The indictment then names multiple properties it alleges he participated in buying or selling across a roughly seven-month window, with family-trust transactions in the background.

Nothing about that theory requires proving he hid a fortune or that his support obligation was wrongly reduced. The State has to prove he said something false, under oath, knowing what he was saying, meaning to deceive, in an official proceeding, about something that mattered. Franklin did not comment when asked. A pretrial hearing is set for November 5, 2026.

Aggravated Perjury

Texas builds this offense in two layers. Section 37.02 defines plain perjury: with intent to deceive and with knowledge of the statement’s meaning, making a false statement under oath where the law requires or authorizes the oath. That is a Class A misdemeanor on its own. Section 37.03 adds two elements and raises the grade. If the false statement was made during or in connection with an official proceeding, and if it was material, the offense becomes a third-degree felony, punishable by two to ten years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000.

So, the difference between a misdemeanor and a decade of exposure is: official proceeding and material. A hearing in a family court is an official proceeding. That leaves materiality.

Why Perjury Is Easier to Charge Than People Think

Materiality is not a high bar. Under section 37.04(a), a statement is material “if it could have affected the course or outcome of the official proceeding,” and it counts “regardless of the admissibility of the statement under the rules of evidence.” The lie does not have to have worked. It does not even have to have been admissible. It only has to have been capable of mattering.

Thinking it did not matter is no defense. Section 37.04(b) says it is no defense that the declarant mistakenly believed the statement was immaterial. A witness who shades an answer because it seemed like a side issue has no refuge there.

A judge decides materiality, not a jury. Section 37.04(c) makes it a question of law.

You can take it back, but only immediately. Section 37.05 gives a retraction defense, and it is narrow by design: the witness must withdraw the false statement before the testimony at that proceeding is finished, and before it has become manifest that the falsity would be exposed. Correct yourself while you are still on the stand and ahead of being caught, and you have a defense. Realize it in the parking lot, and you do not.

Depositions, sworn inventories, financial affidavits, and modification hearings all run on oaths, and the questions that feel least important are often the ones with documentary answers sitting in a county clerk’s records. Property transfers are recorded. So are deeds, liens, and corporate filings. An answer that is wrong about something recorded is the easiest kind of false statement to prove, because the proof does not depend on anyone’s memory or credibility.

The Suspension

Article V, section 1-a(6)A of the Texas Constitution lets the Commission suspend a judge from office, with or without pay, once that judge is indicted for a felony or charged with a misdemeanor involving official misconduct. The trigger is the charge. The Commission did not investigate this conduct, hold a hearing, or find that Franklin violated anything, and the order is not a public sanction. It runs until the charges are dismissed, he is acquitted, or the Commission orders otherwise.

The Commission chose without pay. That is a discretionary call and it is not uniform. Every one of these orders issued in 2026 under the same provision, and the Commission went both ways. Midland County Judge Terry Johnson was suspended with pay on August 26, 2026, and Colorado County Justice of the Peace Donald Clark also with pay on July 2. On the same day, Kleberg County Justice of the Peace Brandon Barrera, facing a third-degree felony, was suspended without pay, as was Bexar County Judge Rosie Speedlin Gonzalez in February 2026, months before she resigned. A felony indictment tends to draw the harder order, which is where this one landed.

He Has Been Here Before

This is Franklin’s second suspension. In June 2025 the Commission suspended him under Rule 15a after he was indicted on two misdemeanor counts of official oppression and two felony counts of tampering with a witness. The allegations involved a remark to a defendant in his court in October 2023 and, separately, pressure on his own chief clerk to sign a false affidavit. The non-judge parties are referred to here by role rather than by name.

Those charges did not survive. On November 21, 2025, the district attorney handling the case dismissed both felony witness-tampering counts, saying publicly that they could not be proved beyond a reasonable doubt because witnesses she would have had to rely on lacked credibility. Franklin did plead guilty to a separate misdemeanor count of disorderly conduct, for displaying a firearm in his courthouse office in 2023. That plea is a conviction and is not an allegation. The Commission lifted his suspension on January 27, 2026, and he returned to the bench.

An interim suspension is a holding action tied entirely to the life of a criminal case. When the case collapses, the suspension lifts and the judge goes back to work, which is what the rule is supposed to do and what happened here. It also means the public record of the first episode ends without any judicial-conduct finding either way.

The Charge

An indictment is a grand jury’s conclusion that the evidence warrants a trial. It is not a verdict, it is not evidence, and it settles nothing about guilt. Franklin’s earlier case is a reminder that indictments do not always hold.

How It Played in the Press

KLTV and KETK in Tyler carried both the indictment and the suspension, and KLTV had the detail from the indictment itself about the property transactions. The ABA Journal picked it up nationally. Texas Scorecard and Fox 4 had covered the earlier case and its collapse in 2025. Most of the current coverage treats this as a fresh indictment rather than the second chapter it is, and one outlet described him as a former justice of the peace, which appears to reflect the suspension rather than a resignation.

Where Things Stand Now

Franklin holds the office and is suspended from it without pay. A pretrial hearing is set for November 5, 2026. Three things end the suspension on their own terms: dismissal, acquittal, or a further order from the Commission, exactly as happened in January.

A conviction would open a separate door. A felony conviction, or a misdemeanor conviction involving official misconduct, is its own basis for the Commission to act, and removal in Texas runs through a Review Tribunal of appellate justices rather than the Commission alone. None of that is in front of anyone yet. The Gavel of Shame will follow up when the criminal case resolves, whichever way it goes.

Sources

PRIMARY SOURCE

• State Commission on Judicial Conduct: suspension orders, including the June 5, 2025 order for the Hon. R. Jenkins Franklin and its lifting on January 27, 2026. As of publication this page does not list the September 30, 2026 order, so the current suspension is sourced to news reporting rather than to the order itself. scjc.texas.gov
• State Commission on Judicial Conduct, Order of Suspension, In the Matter of the Hon. R. Jenkins Franklin (June 5, 2025). scjc.texas.gov

NEWS COVERAGE

• ABA Journal: Judge suspended after indictment over alleged perjury. abajournal.com
• KLTV: Indictment says former Rains County JP lied to reduce child support payments (Sept. 29, 2026). kltv.com
• KLTV: Rains County JP suspended following aggravated perjury charge (Oct. 2, 2026). kltv.com
• KETK: Rains County judge suspended after arrest for perjury in child support hearing. ketk.com
• Texas Scorecard: Felony charges dropped against East Texas judge accused of witness tampering (Nov. 2025). texasscorecard.com
• KLTV: Rains County justice of the peace suspended without pay (July 3, 2025). kltv.com

REFERENCE

• Texas Penal Code section 37.03, Aggravated Perjury. law.justia.com
• Texas Penal Code section 37.02, Perjury. texas.public.law
• Texas Penal Code section 37.04, Materiality. texas.public.law
• Texas Penal Code section 37.05, Retraction. texas.public.law
• Deandra Grant Law: Who Polices Texas Judges? The SCJC Explained. texasdwisite.com
• State Commission on Judicial Conduct, Order of Suspension, In the Matter of the Hon. Terry Johnson, CJC No. 26-1425 (Aug. 26, 2026), suspension with pay. scjc.texas.gov
• State Commission on Judicial Conduct, Final Order of Suspension, In the Matter of the Hon. Donald Clark, CJC No. 26-1213 (July 2, 2026), suspension with pay. scjc.texas.gov
• State Commission on Judicial Conduct, Final Order of Suspension, In the Matter of the Hon. Brandon Barrera, CJC No. 26-1214 (July 2, 2026), suspension without pay. scjc.texas.gov
• State Commission on Judicial Conduct, Amended Order of Suspension, In the Matter of the Hon. Speedlin-Gonzalez (Feb. 5, 2026), suspension without pay, later closed with a resignation agreement. scjc.texas.gov

This post summarizes a publicly filed suspension order, a charging instrument, published statutes, and news reporting for general informational purposes as of publication. It is not legal advice. Judge Franklin has been charged and not convicted on the aggravated perjury count; an indictment is an accusation only, he is presumed innocent, and nothing here should be read as a statement that he committed that offense. The felony charges described from his earlier case were dismissed by the prosecution. Non-judge parties are referred to by role rather than by name.