Fred Anthony Burton, the mayor of Arcola, Texas, has been arrested on five felony charges, and honestly, the list reads like a bingo card of things you should not do while holding public office. As The American Tribune reported, Burton is facing two counts of illegal voting, one count of misuse of official information, one count of fraudulently securing the execution of a document, and one count of tampering with a government record to defraud or harm. That is an impressive portfolio of alleged misconduct for the mayor of a small Texas city.
Fort Bend County Jail records show Burton, who describes himself as "nonpartisan" (apparently his only loyalty is to creativity), was booked and later appeared before a magistrate judge. The illegal voting charges stem from two separate elections: the Arcola Municipal Runoff Election on June 7, 2025 and the City of Arcola General, Joint, and Special Election on April 23, 2026. Grand jury indictments accuse Burton of "helping, encouraging, or failing to prevent" three individuals from casting ballots while knowing full well they were ineligible. So not even his own votes, allegedly. He was apparently running a voting concierge service.
The remaining three charges date back to 2023, during his previous term. According to indictments, Burton allegedly used his mayoral access to obtain information that was not publicly available, then disclosed details about a competitive bid for a city contract to another person for non-governmental purposes. Fox 26 reported that he is also accused of knowingly presenting a false estimate connected to the Arcola Food Court Project. Additionally, another indictment claims he got Arcola City Council members to sign official documents affecting the city's financial interests without their consent, with the financial impact valued between $30,000 and $100,000.
This is not Burton's first rodeo when it comes to controversy. Houston Public Media noted that in 2024 he hired a private investigator to dig up dirt on Councilwoman Ebony Sanco's residency, paying for it with $8,000 in public funds. Nothing says good governance like using taxpayer money to play amateur detective on your own colleague.
Charann Thompson, chief of the Public Integrity Division with the Fort Bend County District Attorney's Office, explained the investigation was prompted by complaints backed by credible evidence and conducted with help from the Texas Rangers. "It is the very beginning stage," Thompson said. "A conviction only happens once the case is resolved, whether that's by a trial or whether that is by an agreement."
Residents were understandably rattled. Click 2 Houston spoke with Sherian Scott, who was dropping off her granddaughter for summer camp when she got the news. "I want honesty. I want everything to be confirmed. I want investigations for my grandkids who come over here," Scott said. A perfectly reasonable request that apparently counts as a high bar in Arcola city politics.
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