Texas Supreme Court grants former judge removed from Pct. 4 commissioner ballot to be put back on

FORT BEND COUNTY, Texas -- Former Harris County District Court Judge Brittanye Morris is now allowed back on the May runoff ballot for the Precinct 4 County Commissioner seat in Fort Bend County, the Texas Supreme Court ruled.

An emergency stay order was granted on Thursday, restoring Morris to the ballot and replacing the third-place candidate, Nicole Roberts, who filed a lawsuit against Morris.

Morris had a majority of the votes in the March 3 Democratic primary, with another opponent, April Jones, finishing second. None of the candidates reached the required number of votes, leading to a runoff.

RELATED: Judge rules former Harris Co. official not eligible to run in Ft. Bend Co. commissioner runoff

The removal stemmed from Roberts' suit challenging Morris's eligibility, claiming she did not live in the precinct for which she was running.

As ABC13 previously reported, Morris did live on an estate within the Fort Bend County/Precinct 4 boundaries, but Roberts said that was not true and claimed she lived in a townhome in the Houston city limits.

The following week, a Fort Bend judge sided with Roberts, ruling that Morris did not meet the required residential requirements to run for the seat. In response, Morris was barred from running and removed from the runoff ballot in May 2026.

Morris' attorney filed an intervention to argue that his client did meet the requirements.

Candidate April Jones agreed with the judge's decision but said she would run a vigorous campaign against either candidate.

Neither Roberts nor Morris has commented on the new ruling from the Texas Supreme Court.