Ernest Wilkerson, the Democratic nominee for Bell County Commissioner PCT. 4 promotes his time as veteran and former state employee. However, personnel records from his time working for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice show a slew of issues that resulted in two demotions and being put on probation multiple times.
In March, Wilkerson won the 2026 Democrat primary against incumbent Louie Minor. Wilkerson is now running against Republican Curtis Emmons.
The Personnel File
A Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) document lists Ernest L. Wilkerson as “separated” with an original hire date of 2-1-94. The date of separation is listed as 10-12-2022. His rehire eligibility lists: “determined upon reapplication.”
First Demotion
In 2019, Wilkerson was a Captain at Woodman Unit. In December of 2019, TDCJ said he failed to timely notify the warden and Major that a heater in the housing area was not functional. Wilkerson initially claimed he documented the problem on a AD-84 form, though this was determined to be false. Wilkerson then claimed he told maintenance staff about the heater issue but staff denied this.
The reprimand in his file says he “presented deceiving statements” and violated Core Values policy. Wilkerson was demoted from Captain to Sergeant and probation beginning January 2020.
Second Demotion
In April of 2020, TDCJ opened two cases regarding Wilkerson on the same day.
One case alleged he violated policy by letting offenders stay in the command area for an hour after finishing their phone calls, essentially giving them “special privileges” they were not entitled to. Wilkerson said he didn’t notice because he was busy making phone calls.
The second case was a use-of-force paperwork issue where investigators said he omitted that he told a coworker to retrieve a video camera and that, when she returned, he began narrating the use-of-force. The reports states video later showed him narrating while his coworker recorded. Wilkerson stated he requested the camera but never saw the video and forgot to list his coworker as the operator.
Wilkerson was recommended for dismissal but mediation instead demoted him to a Correctional Officer and a transfer to a different unit. Wilkerson was also given 12 months of probation and no back pay.
Wilkerson went back to work in July of 2020 and was still a Correctional Officer when TDCJ separated him in October 2022.
Put on Disciplinary Probation Five Times
First Disciplinary Probation:
July 2017 to September 2017 - Wilkerson turned in an incomplete investigation related to an “Offender Sexual Harassment” case. TDCJ stated he did not complete a thorough investigation.
Second Disciplinary Probation:
April 2018 to August 2018 - An offender was not placed in the proper status or moved into proper housing past the required deadline. Wilkerson admitted he did not check to confirm the move assignment was completed.
Third Disciplinary Probation:
April 2019 to July 2019 - Wilkerson failed to complete a use-of-force packet. Injury photos of a staffer and offender were not taken the day of the incident as required and video was not pulled in time and was no longer available. Wilkerson passed the buck saying a sergeant took the photos but by the time TDCJ needed them the officer was no longer with TDCJ.
The fourth and fifth disciplinary probations were connected to his demotions listed above.
Current Revolt reached out to Ernest Wilkerson for comment and any context surrounding the multiple demotions and probations during his tenure at TDCJ. Wilkerson did not respond.
It should be noted that this is an internal personnel record and not a criminal case file.
The Texas Department of Criminal Justice did repeatedly find that Wilkerson failed in his job duties enough to justify two demotions and five instances of being put on probation.
On Wilkerson’s Ballotpedia survey he leans heavily on “nearly 20 years” as a correctional officer. However his time as a correctional officer was not clean by any means.
I wonder why they promoted him in the first place. Potential DEI race quotas?
This article is very misleading. As someone who worked at TDCJ for 10 years and who’s husband has been there for 15 as a Sergeant, I can verify that people get written up, demoted, and put on probation all the time there. This is normal. And looking at the types of write-ups he got, they are all really stupid. And I noticed they were all written by the same warden with the same signature on them. This is also very common in TDCJ. The “good ol’ boy” system subs rampant there. One supervisor can have it out for you and decide to target you and take your job. This is a frequent tactic used by power-hungry, vengeance-seeking, egocentric administrators. For him to have gotten fired over such minor write-ups when most people do way worse just shows that he rubbed somebody the wrong way. An employee there can be doing their best and working hard, but anyone can always still find some small thing to write them up and fire them for. To see that he was there for almost 30 years, and the worst thing he did was not follow-up on his sergeant to make sure they actually submitted the footage from a use of force shows that this guy was an exemplary employee.