The Evidence · The Vault
Twice the accused was one of their own. Twice the case vanished.
Four files, drawn entirely from the public record. Every figure links back to a primary source. Read them, and judge the pattern for yourself.
Case File 01 · Sealed — Grand Jury
The DA Who Was Never Charged
In March 2017, Hunt County District Attorney Noble Walker struck and killed Christine Sandlin, an 87-year-old school crossing guard, in a school zone. Because a District Attorney cannot prosecute himself, a judge appointed a “special prosecutor” from the neighboring county: Rockwall County DA Kenda Culpepper.
Rather than a public trial, the matter went to a grand jury. In November 2017 the grand jury returned a “no-bill.” No charges. By law, the witness statements, forensics, and the official’s own account remain sealed from the public unless an indictment is returned — and none was.
Case File 02 · Rockwall ISD
Why did the evidence disappear on the DA’s watch?
A Rockwall ISD family reported abuse and trusted the system to investigate, preserve the evidence, and hold the right people accountable. According to Texas Scorecard’s reporting, hallway surveillance video confirming the child had been kept in the classroom was never preserved by investigators under the DA’s purview. When the case reached a Rockwall County grand jury, the jurors never saw it, and the case was “no-billed.”
The DA’s office then notified the district the case was closed. The teacher returned to a classroom with no parent notification. One year later, the accused teacher was reported working at another Rockwall ISD campus.
The Timeline
-
Family reports abuse to authorities
A Rockwall ISD family reports allegations of abuse involving a teacher. The case falls under the jurisdiction of the Rockwall County District Attorney's office.
Texas Scorecard (Aug 12, 2024) -
Investigation begins under the DA's purview
Law enforcement investigates the allegations. The Rockwall County DA's office oversees the case and determines what evidence is gathered and preserved.
Texas Scorecard (Aug 16, 2024) -
Hallway surveillance video never preserved
Hallway surveillance footage confirming the child was kept in the classroom existed but was never preserved by investigators under the DA's purview. This video would later be unavailable when the case reached the grand jury.
Texas Scorecard (Aug 12, 2024) -
Case sent to grand jury without the video
The DA's office presents the case to a Rockwall County grand jury. The hallway surveillance video that would have confirmed the child was kept in the classroom is not among the evidence presented.
Texas Scorecard (Aug 16, 2024) -
Grand jury “no-bills” the case
Without the video evidence, the grand jury declines to indict. The case is effectively closed. The family is left without justice, and the public is left without answers about how evidence was lost.
FOX 4 Dallas-Fort Worth -
DA's office notifies school the case is closed
Kenda Culpepper's office informs Rockwall ISD that the case has been closed. The teacher returns to a classroom. Parents of children at the school receive no notification that the accused teacher is back.
Texas Scorecard (Aug 16, 2024) -
Parents protest at Rockwall ISD board meeting
Rockwall ISD parents pack a school board meeting to protest the handling of the case. They demand answers about how evidence was lost and why they were never notified about the teacher's return.
Texas Scorecard (Aug 12, 2024) -
Teacher resurfaces at another Rockwall ISD school
One year after the grand jury no-billed the case, the accused teacher is found working at a different Rockwall ISD school. The DA's office has taken no further action.
Texas Scorecard (Aug 11, 2025)
Case File 03 · TEC Filings
Who does the DA answer to?
Campaign finance reports are public record. Every figure below comes directly from filings submitted to the Texas Ethics Commission by Kenda Culpepper’s campaign, verifiable from the linked PDFs. The campaign war chest roughly quadrupled in 18 months.
$71,012
Campaign war chest (Jan 2026)
$18,006
War chest 18 months earlier (Jul 2024)
4x
War chest increase in 18 months
$32,170
Raised in 6 months (Jul-Dec 2025)
Cash on hand, by filing period
Cash on hand roughly quadrupled in 18 months — figures from Texas Ethics Commission filings.
| Filing Period | Contributions | Expenditures | Balance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 2024 (Jan-Jun 2024) | ~$0 | $3,614 | $18,006 |
| Jan 2025 (Jul-Dec 2024) | $8,550 | $11,008 | $12,195 |
| Jan 2026 (Jul-Dec 2025) | $32,170 | $15,311 | $71,012 |
Data from cover sheets of TEC campaign finance filings. Spending on filed schedules includes Republican Women’s Club galas, golf-tournament sponsorships, and travel to Austin and San Antonio. Review the originals below and draw your own conclusions.
Case File 04 · Open Questions
Where does the office end and the politics begin?
The items below are framed as open questions. Where public documentation is available we update them with sourced claims; until then they remain areas of inquiry.
A political power couple — who couldn’t file their own appeal.
Kenda Culpepper's husband is Jim Pruitt — a former judge, former prosecutor, and former Mayor of Rockwall. In 2019 the two of them appealed their own property-tax appraisal to the Texas Court of Appeals — then missed the filing deadline, never filed the brief the court ordered despite a written warning, and had the appeal dismissed for want of prosecution, with the couple ordered to pay the appraisal district's costs. Two lawyers who could not manage their own paperwork — running the county's justice.
Pruitt & Culpepper v. Rockwall Central Appraisal District ARB, No. 05-18-01065-CV, Tex. App.—Dallas, May 20, 2019 (appeal dismissed).
The mayor’s ordinance — and his wife, the DA, as his witness.
In May 2016, then-Mayor Jim Pruitt pushed a citywide ordinance and called his wife — Rockwall County DA Kenda Culpepper — before the City Council as a “resource witness” to support it, where she warned that “sex predators … will use this issue as an excuse to get into the bathroom to possibly assault children.” A sitting district attorney lending her office’s authority to her husband’s political measure is the intersection of executive and prosecutorial power inside one household. The council rejected the ordinance without a second.
Reported by KERA, WFAA, NBC 5 DFW, and the Texas Observer, May 2016.
What civil lawsuits and ethics complaints have been filed?
Have civil lawsuits or ethics complaints been filed against the DA's office during Culpepper's tenure? What were the outcomes, and what do they reveal about how the office operates?
Court records and bar complaint data are being researched.
Have a document, a docket number, or firsthand knowledge? Submit it in confidence →