Harris County Treasurer Carla Wyatt arrested on DWI charge in Galveston County

Harris County Treasurer Carla Wyatt was arrested Saturday in Galveston County on a DWI charge, a case that puts one of the county’s top financial offices under immediate scrutiny. Jail records show Wyatt was booked into the Galveston County Jail and held without bond.

The arrest carries unusual weight because the treasurer is not a ceremonial figure. Under Texas Local Government Code Section 113.001, the county treasurer is the chief custodian of county funds and must account for county money. The Harris County Treasurer’s Office says the role includes receiving and depositing county monies and handling key treasury functions, responsibilities that make any criminal case involving the officeholder matter to taxpayers well beyond the booking sheet.

Wyatt is also the first African American elected to the Harris County treasurer position, according to her office biography. That history, combined with her current reelection campaign, gives the new arrest a direct political impact as voters begin paying closer attention to who controls county finances and how the office is being managed.

This is not Wyatt’s first DWI case. Court records show a 2023 DWI charge that was later dismissed after she completed a pretrial diversion program. ABC13 reported that prosecutors documented a blood-alcohol concentration of at least .15 in that earlier case and that Wyatt violated bond conditions in 2024 before finishing diversion. The latest arrest adds a second drunk-driving allegation to a record already marked by court supervision.

Wyatt has also faced another criminal case in recent months. Houston Public Media reported that a Harris County grand jury declined to indict her on a burglary-of-a-vehicle charge tied to a December 28, 2025 arrest in Houston. In that case, investigators said she entered an unlocked minivan on Washington Avenue. Wyatt said she had permission to be in the vehicle, while the owner said she did not know Wyatt and had not given permission. Prosecutors later no-billed the case on April 2, 2026.

The DWI arrest comes as county leaders are already weighing the future of the office itself. In February, Harris County Commissioners Court voted unanimously to strip the treasurer’s office of key functions and pursue dissolving it altogether. Wyatt was seeking reelection in November as those moves advanced, leaving her campaign, her legal exposure and the survival of the office on the same political track.

ABC13 said it contacted the office of Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo after the arrest. For Harris County voters, the next questions are straightforward: whether Wyatt can continue to serve effectively, whether the county will keep the treasurer’s office in place, and how much more strain the office can withstand before public trust breaks further.