Paxton was indicted on felony securities fraud charges and paid $271,000 in restitution to avoid trial

What happened

In July 2015 a Collin County grand jury indicted Paxton on two counts of securities fraud and one count of acting as an investment adviser without registering with the state. Prosecutors said that in 2011 he recruited investors for a McKinney tech company, Servergy Inc., without telling them he was being paid to bring them in. He surrendered for booking on Aug. 3, 2015, and said he would plead not guilty. ⁰¹

The case stalled for years over fights about paying the court-appointed special prosecutors and about where the trial would be held. It moved to Harris County in 2017. A judge ordered it back to Collin County in 2020 ⁰⁴, and in June 2023 the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals ruled 6–3 that it would stay in Houston. ⁰⁵

On March 26, 2024, less than three weeks before trial, Paxton entered an 18-month pretrial intervention agreement. He did not enter a plea. He agreed to pay $271,000 in restitution, perform 100 hours of community service and complete 15 hours of legal ethics education. ⁰⁶ All three charges were dismissed on June 18, 2025, after he met the conditions. ⁰⁷

Separately, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filed a civil fraud case over the same conduct in 2016. A federal judge dismissed it with prejudice on March 2, 2017, ruling that Paxton had no legal duty to disclose his compensation to investors. ⁰³

Why it matters

Texas’s top law enforcement officer served almost his entire time in office under felony indictment, including through his 2018 and 2022 re-election campaigns. ^{06 07}

The case never reached a jury because Paxton agreed, weeks before trial, to repay the investors, do 100 hours of community service and take legal ethics classes. ⁰⁶

What the sources show

The indictment contained allegations that a grand jury found sufficient to bring charges. No court ever tested them at trial or found guilt. The pretrial agreement required restitution, community service and ethics training without a plea, and the charges were then formally dismissed. ^{06 07}

The SEC dismissal was a legal ruling that the agency had not shown a duty to disclose. It was not a finding that the underlying conduct did not happen. ⁰³