Jesus "Jesse" Nevarez Admonished

Jesus "Jesse" Nevarez, a Tarrant County, Texas family law judge (231st District Court), was publicly warned by the State Commission on Judicial Conduct after an investigation found he engaged in a pattern of sexually charged conduct toward a fellow judge, Lindsay DeVos Slinkard, and an attorney. The Commission's ruling cited text messages Nevarez sent DeVos between December 2021 and June 2022 referring to her as "babe," "hon," and "beautiful." When DeVos resigned from the bench in August 2022 and made an audio recording of her resignation conversation, Nevarez referred to her as "baby" twice during that call and told her he had "loved her forever." Separately, a family law attorney reported that Nevarez made persistent unwanted advances, including giving her his personal cellphone number; when she missed a hearing, Nevarez proceeded without her rather than following the typical practice of contacting her, which she believed was retaliation for not responding to his advances. The Commission concluded the conduct did not rise to the level warranting removal or suspension, but issued a public warning and ordered Nevarez to complete four hours of instruction with a mentor, two hours of additional education on demeanor, and two hours of additional education specifically on sexual harassment.