Larry McDougal Sr. Larry McDougal Sr. Photo: State Bar of Texas.

One of the most controversial proposals out of Monday's State Bar of Texas board of directors meeting would have stripped President Larry McDougal of his role as the agency's spokesman because of his online comments that have offended many Texas lawyers.

The issue lead to the bar board's first tie vote in three years, and ended with an agreement to postpone a vote until a future specially called meeting in either August or September. The delay will give the board's legal counsel a chance to review the idea and advise the board about potential legal issues.

McDougal's online comments said wearing a Black Lives Matter T-shirt to the polls violated a state law against electioneering. Another comment from 2015 called Black Lives Matter a "terrorist group." Another comment wrote that a female attorney was "hot" in one image but looked like a "meth head" in another. A fourth Facebook post was a photo of a police officer kneeling on a man's neck with a caption, "Justice happens before the trial."

He has apologized and pledged to take action to heal the division that his words have caused.

Noting that the bar president acts as a spokesman for the bar, Director Alistair Dawson said that McDougal can't be the bar's spokesman when there are serious questions about his appropriate judgment and communications. Dawson called on McDougal to resign.

He said the board has the authority to decide McDougal's duties, and it should no longer allow him to speak on behalf of the state bar. Dawson made a motion for the board to take the public spokesman duties away from McDougal and reassign them to the bar's executive director, board chairman, past president and president-elect.

But Director Rob Crain said that while he agreed with the sentiment, he opposed the motion because it wasn't presented in writing to the bar board's attorney. The motion may have First Amendment implications and bring potential litigation, he explained, which is why the board should get the advice of its attorney first.

Dawson did not oppose the delay, and the bar board voted to table his motion, send it to the board's attorney for review and issue a report at the board's next meeting on Sept. 24.

Later in the meeting, Director Santos Vargas moved that the bar board hold a special meeting, before the September board meeting, to again consider Dawson's motion to remove McDougal's spokesman duties.

Vargas' motion asked bar staff to schedule the special meeting during a time that McDougal, who will be getting cancer treatment in the near future, could attend.

Many directors spoke out against the motion, preferring to wait until September. But others said the board needed to take urgent action.

"Our members … have taken an entire day to listen to us today and they probably feel that nothing was accomplished. We have to push this to a finish line, to the goal post," said Director Diane St. Yves.

Director Andres Almanzán added that if Dawson's motion passed and McDougal's spokeman role was removed, then other representatives would begin speaking for the bar sooner rather than later.

Almanzán said, "How many opportunities is the president going to be given to speak on behalf of the Texas bar between now and Sept. 24?"

Director Steve Fischer said that punishing someone by suspending their right to speech as an elected official could violate legal precedent. It could bring liability to the bar, he said, which is why Fischer was opposed.

The board took a roll call vote on the motion to have an earlier meeting to vote on the motion to slash McDougal's spokesman role.

It was a tie.

"We haven't had a tie on a vote in three years," said Chairman Charlie Ginn.

When there's a tie, the chairman of the board must cast a vote to break it.

The motion passed when Ginn voted yes. He explained that bar staff told him they were willing and able to hold the earlier meeting.

He noted, "The motion, as presented, is to work with Mr. McDougal to find a date."

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