* Editor’s note: This story has been updated throughout.
A Travis County judgeย on Fridayย sentenced former state representativeย Jack Stickย to six days in jail and a 90-day driver’sย license suspension for driving while intoxicated, according to prosecutors.
Stick,ย who at the time of his arrest was deputy inspector generalย at the Texas Health and Human Services Commission,ย was convicted of drunken drivingย on Mondayย after a three-year legal battle. During that time, Stick was promoted to the agency’s chief counsel and was then asked to resign after a series of contracting controversies.ย
At the Travis County criminal court in Austin Friday, Stick listened silently as Judge Nancy Hohengarten discussed the sentencing with Stick’s lawyer and with Greg Burton, the assistant Travis County district attorney prosecuting the case. Burton pushed for a stronger sentence โ ย jail time or an 18-month probation period, as well as community service and counseling โ but Hohengarten said she felt a lighter sentence was fair.ย
Stickโs blood alcohol levelย at the time of his arrest was 0.096, above the legal limit of 0.08, according to a chemist who handled the material and testified during the case. Burton emphasized Stickโs blood alcohol levelย repeatedly in his opening and closing arguments.ย
“The only real issue in this case is whether he was intoxicated,”ย Burton told the jury last week. “Youโre going to hear evidence thatย the defendantโs blood alcohol content was above .08 โ and you must findย that that person was intoxicated.”
At the time of Stickโs arrest, he was “as sober as you and I are here today,โ Roark told the juryย last week.ย Roark did not immediately respond to a request for comment after the sentencing on Friday.
Stick was arrested on Sept. 11, 2012, after he refused to take a slate of sobriety tests he told the arresting officer would โonly serve to incriminateโ him.ย
In December, he resigned from the Texas Health and Human Services Commission as a result of controversies surrounding multimillion-dollar no-bid contracts his office gave to private technology companies.ย One of those companies, 21 Century Technologies Inc., received a $110 million contract. Stickโs former business partner was a lobbyist for the company, and Stick helped to facilitate the deal.
Stick, a Republican, represented part of Austin in the Texas House from 2003 to 2005.


