Presiding Judge Randy Clapp of Wharton County’s 329th District Court is expected to decide on Friday if a portion of the Texas Open Meetings Act is unconstitutional—thus dismissing the case against Montgomery County Judge Craig Doyal and other officials—or if the case will continue to a jury trial. The case, which is being heard in Montgomery County’s 221st District Court, brings to question whether Doyal, Precinct 2 Commissioner Charlie Riley, Precinct 4 Commissioner Jim Clark and political consultant Marc Davenport violated the Texas Open Meetings Act while negotiating details of the November 2015 Montgomery County road bond. Over the past week, attorneys have questioned a mix of expert witnesses and government officials about their experience with the TOMA and questioned the constitutionality of one statute in particular—Texas Government Code 551.143. The statute states that members of a governmental body cannot knowingly conspire to circumvent the TOMA by meeting in numbers less than a quorum for the purpose of secret deliberations. During Monday’s hearing, presiding Judge Randy Clapp of Wharton County’s 329th District Court heard testimony from Rodriguez and White, who disagreed with previous witnesses and asserted that subsection 551.143 of the TOMA is not burdensome and difficult to understand, and that it is constitutional, special prosecutor Chris Downey said. Former Harris County Sheriff was scheduled to testify but instead submitted a statement regarding his experience with the law as well. After the hearing was over, Clapp said if he rules the statute unconstitutional then the case would be dismissed. If he rules that the statute is constitutional the case would instead go to a jury trial. He also said he expects to make his decision on Friday.