The deal calls for the suspension of Cunningham’s and Smith’s Texas Commission on Law Enforcement Officers Standards and Education (TCLEOSE) licenses.

TCLEOSE licenses are required before someone can become a law enforcement officer in Texas. Once an officer loses their license, they can never get it back.

In exchange for their licenses, the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office agreed to drop their case against the two.

Their trial was scheduled for later this month.

The plea comes a little more than a year after Cunningham and Smith were placed on administrative leave by the city of Magnolia after being indicted by a Montgomery County grand jury for retaliating against two of their officers.

Those officers, Corporal Mike Alexander and Lt. Bo Crabtree said they were targeted for claims they made against the chief and Smith.

They accused Cunningham of instructing officers of the Magnolia Police Department to target and arrest certain city council members.

According to Alexander and Crabtree, Cunningham ordered his officers to arrest former councilman Richard Anderson without cause.

Alexander submitted a letter to the DA’s office outlining specific orders from Cunningham and Smith to department officers to “find anything to arrest (Anderson) on.”

The letter also claims that Cunningham and Smith ordered officers to arrest current councilman Sammie Scott in fear of being fired.

Alexander stated in his letter that he felt it was his duty to report the allegations.

The DA’s Office said they heard Cunningham and Smith’s plea bargain almost two weeks ago, but waited to speak with Crabtree and Alexander to finalize the agreement to make sure they were satisfied with all the conditions of the plea bargain before they accepted it.

Alexander and Crabtree’s lawyer, Sheila Haley, said that her clients were pleased with the outcome.

“These gentlemen (Cunningham and Smith) will not be placed in positions of authority ever again,” Haley said. “Everyone is pleased by that outcome.”

She added, “Although they lost their TCLEOSE licenses, I’m not sure if the people’s interest were served by the defendants not serving any time.”

Haley said she did not know if her client’s were going to pursue a civil case against Cunningham and Smith.

During the ongoing trial, both Smith and Cunningham fervently denied the allegations.

When asked by the Tribune in 2007 if he had given orders to arrest Anderson or Scott, Smith said, “No, absolutely not. What we instruct our officers is that nobody is immune to Texas law.”

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