(The Center Square) – Six Frio County officials, including the county judge, have been indicted and arrested for election fraud crimes related to a vote harvesting scheme.
Named after the Frio River which runs through it, the county is located south of San Antonio and has a population of roughly 18,000.
The Frio County Sheriff’s Office said six suspects were arrested on Friday after the Frio County District Attorney’s Office received indictments from a three-year investigation jointly conducted with the Office of the Attorney General’s Election Integrity Unit.
KSAT 12 News reported the Frio County District Clerk’s Office was “delaying the release of search warrants, a public record, for several elected officials charged in connection with a voting investigation.”
Days later, on Wednesday, Attorney General Ken Paxton, announced the indictment and arrest of six county officials and one alleged vote harvester.
Frio County Judge, Rochelle Camacho was charged with three counts of Vote Harvesting; Former Frio County Elections Administrator, Carlos Segura, was charged with one count of Tampering with or Fabricating Physical Evidence; Pearsall City Council members Ramiro Trevino and Racheal Garza were charged with one count each of Vote Harvesting; Pearsall ISD Trustee Adriann Ramirez was charged with three counts of Vote Harvesting; alleged Frio County vote harvester, Rosa Rodriguez was charged with two counts of Vote Harvesting.
Vote harvesting and tampering with evidence are third-degree felonies that carry a penalty of up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000.
“The people of Texas deserve fair and honest elections, not backroom deals and political insiders rigging the system,” Paxton said. “Elected officials who think they can cheat to stay in power will be held accountable. No one is above the law. My office will continue to work with Frio County District Attorney Audrey Louis to protect the integrity of our elections.”
The investigation began in 2022, after the OAG’s Election Integrity Unit received a referral from 81st Judicial District Attorney Audrey Louis regarding allegations of election fraud and vote harvesting during the 2022 elections. A two-year investigation was launched that produced enough evidence to obtain search warrants.
Last August, the OAG’s Election Integrity Unit executed multiple search warrants in Frio, Atascosa, and Bexar Counties as part of the investigation, The Center Square reported.
On May 1, 2025, Frio County District Attorney Audrey Louis and the OAG’s Election Integrity Unit presented a criminal vote harvesting case to a grand jury in Frio County. The grand jury indicted seven individuals. The next day, each suspect was arrested by the sheriff’s office, “with the exception of Rochelle Camacho, who will be processed at a later date,” the OAG said.
The OAG and Frio County DA are continuing to investigate the case.
Last year, the OAG’s Election Integrity Unit also launched investigations into organizations operating in Texas that “may be unlawfully registering noncitizens to vote in violation of state and federal law,” The Center Square reported. Investigators conducted undercover operations in metropolitan areas to identify if noncitizens were being registered to vote. They also “confirmed that various nonprofit organizations” set up booths outside of Texas Department of Public Safety Driver License offices in an attempt to register to vote those who arrived regardless of citizenship status, the OAG said last year.
The OAG encourages members of the public to report suspected violations of Texas election law through an email tipline: illegalvoting@oag.texas.gov.
The Texas Constitution’s separation of powers clause prohibits the OAG from independently and unilaterally initiating prosecution of alleged election fraud because it is part of the executive, not judicial branch. The OAG can only investigate and prosecute alleged election fraud or any other crime after county or district attorneys request it to.
