Granite Shoals councilor’s vandalism hearing reset to Sept. 29
Granite Shoals City Councilor Phil Ort is embroiled in an ongoing felony criminal mischief case for allegedly vandalizing a vehicle in October 2021. The case has had five delays and date changes. The next set hearing date is Sept. 29, nearly two years after the reported incident took place. Staff photo by Dakota Morrissiey
Judgment on a felony criminal mischief charge against Granite Shoals City Councilor Phil Ort was delayed yet again during a status hearing on Friday, Aug. 25. At the request of Ort’s attorney, the case was pushed to Sept. 29 at 9 a.m. This is the fifth time it has been delayed since the councilor’s first status hearing on April 14.
Ort’s court-appointed attorney, Perry Thomas of Llano, negotiated with 33rd Judicial District Court Judge J. Allan Garrett at the bench on Friday morning, walking away with another date reset. The Sept. 29 hearing is nearly two years after Ort was accused of keying a car in the Marble Falls H-E-B parking lot in October 2021. He was arrested that December.
The charge against him was originally a Class A misdemeanor and the case was sent to Burnet County Court at Law. Hearing dates were reset three times between July and November 2022. The charge was upgraded to a felony and the case moved to district court because damages to the vehicle ended up being more than $2,500, putting the offense in the State Jail Felony category.
Punishment for a state jail felony is from 180 days to two years in jail and/or a fine not to exceed $10,000.
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What happened to swift justice? The people, not just the perpetrator, deserve swift justice. This is a mockery of the entire judicial system.