Smith County district clerk jailed on civil contempt of court charge

Published 1:52 pm Thursday, July 25, 2024

By Zak Wellerman, CBS19

Penny Clarkston, the Smith County District Clerk, appears at a meeting of the Smith County Commissioners Court on March 27, 2018 in Tyler. (Tyler Morning Telegraph File Photo)

Smith County District Clerk Penny Clarkston was booked into the Smith County Jail on Thursday morning and released that afternoon after a judge found her in civil contempt of court for failing to provide requested information.

Clarkston, 68, of Flint, was arrested on a civil contempt of court charge after appearing in the 114th District Court in connection with a hearing for the case of convicted murderer William George Davis, who is on death row.

On July 17, an order was issued by Judge Austin Reeve Jackson for Clarkston to produce information that the Office of Capital and Forensic Writs requested. She was given a deadline of no later than 8 a.m. on July 22.

Read more from our news partners at CBS19.



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