CIBOLO, Texas – City of Cibolo leaders have spent well over $100,000 on outside legal fees defending an officer whose peace officer license was stripped regarding a decade-old family violence case, as well as several supervisors involved in his background screening, records obtained by KSAT Investigates reveal.
The Texas Commission on Law Enforcement (TCOLE) canceled Officer Arnulfo Cortez’s license in February 2024 after an audit uncovered a 2014 misdemeanor family violence case.
Cortez, who became a licensed peace officer in 2018, was moved to an administrative role within the department while Cibolo contested the license cancellation, records show.
He resigned from Cibolo PD in June, days after a tense hearing in which TCOLE voted to keep the license cancellation in place.
Cortez and his then-wife demonstrated ‘violent behavior with each other’ in front of Cibolo police
Cibolo police responded to Cortez’s home in the 100 block of Hinge Path on July 4, 2014, according to multiple incident reports included in Cortez’s city personnel file.
Cortez, who was listed as the caller, told arriving officers that his estranged wife came to the home, took one of his loaded handguns and locked herself in a bathroom.
A Cibolo police sergeant was eventually able to detain the woman, records show.
Cortez told police his then-wife had knocked his cellphone out of his hand while he tried to call 911.
The couple then scuffled in front of police, and Cortez grabbed the woman and tried to “prevent her from walking freely inside the residence,” an incident report states.
Police also witnessed the couple physically struggle with each other over a suitcase, the report shows.
Cortez and his then-wife demonstrated “violent behavior with each other” and were placed under arrest, according to the report.
Cortez and his then-wife were both charged with a Class C misdemeanor charge of assault-family violence (unwanted touching), court records obtained by KSAT show.
A Class C misdemeanor is the lowest level criminal charge in Texas and is used only when the assault victim has no visible injuries.
Cibolo PD also charged the woman with interfering with an emergency call, a Class A misdemeanor.
Police issued her a separate summons to municipal court after witnessing her shove her back and shoulder into Cortez in a separate incident inside the home the following day, records show.
Cortez pleaded no contest months later in Cibolo Municipal Court and was given a six-month deferred disposition, TCOLE audit records show.
In 2015, the case was dismissed from Cortez’s criminal record after he completed the terms of the deferred disposition, TCOLE records show.
The clerk of Cibolo Municipal Court told TCOLE that court records from the case had been purged after the dismissal, records show.
Cortez and the woman formally divorced in early 2015, records show.
Besides suspending Cortez’s peace officer’s license, TCOLE issued a warning letter in March 2024 to Bryan Hugghins, Cibolo’s former police chief who now serves as the city’s executive director of safety and infrastructure.
Three Cibolo PD supervisors — Lt. Brian Nipper, Sgt. Homero Balderas and Cpl. Mark Van Rosendael — received letters of reprimand from TCOLE that same month.
All four men were familiar with Cortez’s background screening leading up to him being hired by Cibolo police in July 2022, court filings show.
‘I’m sorry. I’m speaking now.’
Hugghins, Nipper, Balderas and Van Rosendael, who has since retired, were denied hearings by TCOLE in front of the State Office of Administrative Hearings (SOAH), according to court records.
Van Rosendael did not respond to a phone call from KSAT seeking comment for this story.
Cortez was granted a hearing before SOAH, which took place in November 2024, but it did not include witness testimony, records show.
During a subsequent hearing before the TCOLE in June, an attorney representing the City of Cibolo said an administrative law judge sided with Cortez but TCOLE staff had declined to move forward with reinstating Cortez.
During the TCOLE hearing, an attorney for the state argued that Cortez’s deferred disposition in the criminal case qualified as deferred adjudication, making Cortez ineligible to hold a peace officer’s license.
“No one is infallible. And this is a situation where the executive director (of TCOLE), respectfully, just got it wrong,” attorney George Hyde, who represents Cibolo, told the commission.
Hyde argued that TCOLE misapplied the rules on background screenings and that the deferred disposition in the criminal case was a pretrial diversion, not a final conviction and that the cancellation should be reversed.
Hyde pointed out that Cortez completed his peace officer training in 2018 without being flagged and had gone on to work for both the Universal City Police Department and the Guadalupe County Sheriff’s Office before being hired in Cibolo.
“If the complaint gets dismissed, there is nothing. There is nothing at all,” Hyde said.
An attorney for TCOLE countered that a deferred disposition is not the same as pretrial diversion.
Attorneys for the state also argued during the hearing that “deferred disposition” in family violence cases had been used by TCOLE to take action against a license six times since 2021.
Cibolo Police Chief Thedrick Andres, who declined a request to be interviewed for this story, told the commission that Cortez was a leader and mentor within his department.
“He has valiantly served and protected our community with honor, professionalism and dedication,” Andres said.
Nipper, who briefly addressed the commission, said he was not concerned when TCOLE first flagged Cortez’s file.
“I am deeply concerned with what has taken place since February of 2024. He had nothing in his background which would prevent him from holding a Texas peace officer license,” Nipper said.
Hyde and commissioners then sparred for several minutes over how much time was given to each side to present their arguments.
“I’m sorry. I’m speaking now,” said Commissioner Patricia Burruss. “This is not a changing of eligibility standards or moving of the goalposts halfway through. These are what the standards have been at least the 10 years that I have been here.”
A second commissioner then stated that the commission had canceled peace officer licenses in the past over the same issue.
Commissioners then voted 4-1, with one member abstaining, to keep Cortez’s license suspended.
Cortez submitted his resignation eight days later, stating in a letter that TCOLE’s decision posed significant challenges to his law enforcement career.
Universal City PD’s chief told KSAT via email that Cortez’s hiring there occurred before his tenure and that TCOLE’s stance on family violence charges would likely prohibit Cortez from being rehired.
Guadalupe County Sheriff Joshua Ray told KSAT via email that Cortez should never have been hired by the previous administration.
Cortez removes himself from appeal
The attorney listed for Cortez in court filings declined to comment for this story.
The City of Cibolo has spent more than $104,000 on outside legal fees fighting the actions taken by TCOLE against Cortez and the four supervisors.
A legal challenge filed on behalf of the officers against TCOLE is currently before the 15th Court of Appeals.
Cortez, who was named in the original case, removed himself from the appeal in early October.
Read more reporting on the KSAT Investigates page.
If you or someone you know is in an abusive relationship, there is a long list of resources on KSAT’s Domestic Violence page which includes a breakdown of what abuse is, and how it builds gradually.
If you are in crisis, you can:
- call or text 911
- call the Domestic Violence Hotline at 800-799-7233
- call the local Family Violence Prevention Services, which runs the shelter (Crisis Number: 210-733-8810, Programs and Administration: 210-930-3669)
- call the Bexar County Family Justice Center at 210-631-0100.