Cops and Courts

Terra Alta mayor’s hearing rescheduled

KINGWOOD — A preliminary hearing for Terra Alta Mayor Robert DeLauder has been continued a second time.

The hearing, which was set for Thursday, Sept. 3, has been moved to Sept. 11.


DeLauder, 55, was charged last week with damaging telecommunications equipment at city hall in June.


The hearing was originally set for Wednesday but was moved when the magistrate assigned to the case withdrew and another had to be appointed. The latest continuance was requested by Preston Prosecutor Melvin C. Snyder III.


Earlier this year, Snyder charged the mayor with “alteration, concealment or destruction of public record” for allegedly removing a meeting agenda from the door of town hall and throwing it away, and with falsifying his application for a public defender.


DeLauder’s request for a public defender was granted by Judge Steve Shaffer, and the charges are pending.