Texas Rangers investigate Coryell County commissioner, judge in corruption probe

The Texas Rangers are investigating Coryell County Commissioner Scott Weddle and County Judge Roger Miller, placing the county’s top budget-makers under state scrutiny just as voters are already angry about taxes, fees and spending.

The Texas Department of Public Safety says the Rangers handle major violent crime, public corruption, cold case and officer-involved shooting cases. In Coryell County, that means the probe now sits over the same courthouse where tax rates, street maintenance fees, budgets and other county decisions are still being made.

The investigation lands after months of backlash in Gatesville and across Coryell County. On Sept. 23, 2025, residents packed commissioners court to protest an 8.6% property tax hike after county leaders first floated a 21.1% increase. The proposed rate was 47.52 cents per $100 of assessed value, up from 44.82 cents, and county officials said the change would have added about $183 a year to the bill for the county’s median-valued home of $224,318.

Residents called that fight the county’s eighth tax increase in nine years. They also criticized salary supplements for county officials, what they described as a toxic workplace and what they saw as mismanaged spending. In October 2025, county leadership followed with a street maintenance fee and raised taxes by more than eight percent, widening the gap between courthouse leaders and a frustrated public.

The political fallout has continued into 2026. Coryell County voters are heading to runoff elections for two commissioner seats and the county judge seat, with challengers arguing the county needs new leadership and incumbents defending the tax decisions as the result of confusion and difficult budgeting choices.

Miller has repeatedly pointed to the county’s structural revenue pressure. He said about 25% of Coryell County’s land mass is owned by the federal government because of Fort Cavazos, and he said a 2023 disabled-veterans property-tax exemption cost the county nearly $2 million after more than 2,100 disabled veterans with a 100% disability rating filed for the exemption. Miller has said the county is not trying to reduce that exemption, only to win state help to make up the lost revenue.

With the Rangers now involved, the pressure on Weddle and Miller will not be limited to the courthouse steps. It reaches the county’s credibility, its upcoming meetings and the trust residents place in the people still casting votes on their tax bills.