SAN MARCOS, Texas — A Hays County judge is in hot water for allegedly using his adjunct professor position at Texas State University to encourage students to vote for him and help with his campaign.
Judge Tanner Neidhardt, who also teaches at Texas State, is now on leave after sending emails that appear to have broken state law.
Last week, he sent multiple emails from his university account, asking students to vote for him and encourage their friends to do the same. Texas state law expressly prohibits the use of state programs and resources to support or oppose a candidate for public office or to influence an election.
In the email sent on Oct. 21, he promised students campaign t-shirts and pizza if they helped with his campaign by volunteering to hold signs.
"I've always told you that you will make a difference in the future of our justice system," Neidhardt wrote. "In fact, you can make a difference right now when you support a judge committed to a better justice system, I can keep working to improve it."
A second email, sent on Oct. 25, asked students to vote for him and outlined his actions as a Texas State adjunct professor and district judge.
"It is clearly electioneering. He's asking them to vote for him," Chevo Pastrano, a lawyer for Neidhardt's opponent Alicia Key said. "It's not just a general encouragement to exercise your right to vote. It is a clear request in the email to vote for me."
Gov. Greg Abbott appointed Neidhardt to the 483rd Judicial District Court in Hays County, and he has taught at Texas State since Fall 2023. Over the weekend, Pastrano sent a letter to university leaders outlining what Neidhardt had written in the emails.
"Number one, it gives him an unfair advantage as an adjunct professor at the Texas State. The second reason that it's so important as a public institution that educates young students is it puts him in an unfair advantage over those students," Pastrano said. "He's putting them in a very awkward position as his students because he then has the ultimate authority on their grade at the end of the semester."
Two weeks before Neidhardt sent the two emails, Nelly R. Herrer, the Vice Chancellor and General Counsel of the Texas State University System, emailed faculty, reminding them it is illegal to use university systems, like email, to influence elections.
Brian Bakers, a San Marcos lawyer and adjunct professor at Texas State, said the university frequently reminds them about the rules and makes it clear that using university email for political action violates policy.
"I was disappointed in my colleague for doing that because I would think they wouldn't need to be reminded of it and would know that already. It seems to exploit the teacher-student relationship somewhat," Baker said. "In many cases, the students look up to the people that teach these classes, and that someone uses that relationship for their own benefit, in my opinion, clearly, knowing that was improper, that's something that I was disappointed in."
In a statement to KVUE on Monday, Neidhardt said he takes responsibility for sending the emails asking students to vote for him, but that he did not see the reminder email for university leaders about political messages.
"My understanding is that Beto O'Rourke also did this when he was a professor, which is why I thought it was allowed," Neidhardt said. "I apologize for any inconvenience my emails caused to the recipients or the University. After I learned of the policy, I did not send another."
Pastrano said he does not feel that excuses the conduct.
"He is a judge. He's supposed to know that that's wrong," Pastrano said. "He's supposed to have a moral compass that knows this situation puts me in an unfair advantage."
Texas State University told KVUE it will not comment on personnel matters. Neidhardt was placed on leave on Monday.
"I have loved my time as an adjunct professor at Texas State," Neidhardt said. "While I have challenged my students to think critically, I have learned a great deal from them at the same time."
The Democrat challenger, Key, said she felt Neidhardt had an unfair advantage with how he used his position and direct access to communications with the student population.
"A fair and free election is very critical to our democracy, and that's why our state legislature enacted very specific laws in the election code about how a fair election should progress," Key said.
According to Key, she is more concerned about the effect on the students and called the idea of asking students to perform favors for political gain "inexplicable."
"Maybe some of them were happy to do it, but there are many students that likely felt uncomfortable with the requirement, knowing that he was going to know whether or not they wouldn't campaign for him," Key said.
Pastrano said election law violations like this can be enforced criminally or civilly but are most commonly handled civilly through the ethics commission or complaints to the Commission on Judicial Conduct. But with less than a week between now and Election Day, Pastrano said they don't have time to go into civil court.
"Our best results are going to be through stopping his conduct by making sure that law enforcement knows that he is under investigation and they're watching his conduct from this point forward," Pastrano said.
Using an internal mail system to distribute political advertising is a Class A misdemeanor. It is a third-degree felony for a public employee to use information like student email addresses for a non-government purpose.
They have filed a report with the Texas State University Police Department and Pastrano said he has spoken to the Hays County District Attorney's Office about it. KVUE reached out to both on Tuesday to ask about the case status moving forward but did not hear back.
"These are crimes. Any other crime gets prosecuted," Pastrano said. "This should be no difference. Equal Justice applies to judges as well."
Neidhardt is running to defend his seat for the first time this November. It is now up to Hays County voters to decide whether to give him another term.
"In the week that remains, I hope we can return the focus of this campaign to the candidates' qualifications to handle jury trials for the most serious felony crimes and civil matters," Neidhardt said. "Hays County residents deserve judges who can faithfully administer justice and defend the Constitution."
"My entire career, I've been guided by the principles of integrity, dignity and treating people with respect. I will bring that to the 483rd District Court in Hays County if I'm elected," Key said.