Dallas City Wire

A law firm owned by Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins received up to $2 million in Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans this spring, according to a ProPublica report.

Car Wreck Masters PLLC received "$1-2 million" in PPP loans via lender Frost Bank in a deal approved April 9, according to the ProPublica article.

Car Wreck Masters, described in the ProPublica report as "offices of lawyers," formerly belonged to the late super-attorney and personal injury lawyer, Brian "the Strong Arm" Loncar of Dallas.

Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins | https://twitter.com/JudgeClayJ/

The PPP funds retained jobs for 83 Car Wreck Masters employees, according to the ProPublica report.

The PPP originated as part of last spring's Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, originally providing about $350 billion to small businesses for cash-flow assistance in 100% federally guaranteed loans. The loans are backed by the Small Business Administration.

PPP loans to companies and nonprofit organizations may be forgiven if certain criteria, such as retaining employees for a period of two month, are met. Applicants also are required to attest they cannot continue to operate without the loans.

Brian Loncar, known throughout North Texas for his TV commercials and online posts promoting his personal injury law firm, died in early December 2016, two days after his 16-year-old daughter's funeral following her death by suicide the previous month.

In January 2017, Loncar's death from a cocaine overdose was ruled accidental.

Jenkins, executor of Loncar's estate, reportedly worth tens of millions of dollars, was soon locked in a bitter legal struggle with heirs of the estate. Among other property, Jenkins gained control of Loncar's Car Wreck Masters.

ProPublica's report said it received data regarding the $1-to-$2 million PPP loans for Car Wreck Masters from the Small Business Administration. That data includes lender-approved PPP loans of at least $150,000. Other loan programs, including the Economic Injury Disaster Loans, were not included in the Small Business Administration's database.

Jenkins, a Democrat, received his law degree from Baylor University in 1987 and has been a Dallas County Commissioners Court Judge since 2011. He was re-elected in November 2018 and his current term expires in 2022.

In addition to receiving the PPP funds, Jenkins attracted attention last spring for his hard line with business owners who remained open despite government-mandated shutdown orders intended to suppress spread of COVID-19. Those orders included Jenkins' own "safer-at-home" order, issued March 12 and amended April 23.

In an April 2 Twitter post, Jenkins urged area residents to report "any smoke shop, craft store or other non essential business" violating his safer-at-home order "so we can shut them down ASAP."

In May, Jenkins received a warning from the office of Attorney General Ken Paxton that his safer-at-home order violated state guidelines. The same month, Jenkins locked horns with Dallas County Commissioners, who voted that Jenkins could not issue additional executive orders without a vote.