Montgomery County Precinct 4 Commissioner Matt Gray faces a civil trial starting Monday, Sept. 14, over a children's altercation at a Webster water park that has raised questions about courthouse impartiality.

Gray's precinct provides road maintenance, parks and community services to portions of The Woodlands. The case, reported by KPRC 2, is set for the 457th District Court. A pretrial hearing was scheduled for 9 a.m. Wednesday, Sept. 9.

Gray and his wife, Amanda, filed the lawsuit in July 2025 on behalf of their son. Their petition alleges a child struck Gray's son in the face near the pool at Great Wolf Lodge in October 2024, causing a cut, bruising, permanent scarring and decreased visual acuity. The Grays are seeking more than $250,000 in damages.

Jessica Sisney, the other child's mother, filed a counterclaim with a sharply different account. Sisney told KPRC 2 her 11-year-old son has special needs. Her counterclaim alleges Gray escalated a brief dispute between the children, encouraged his son to keep fighting, moved pool furniture to block an intervening adult and pushed a resort employee. In bodycam footage reviewed by KPRC 2, a security guard described Gray as intoxicated to a responding Webster police officer.

"The child on the other side was saying, 'No, Daddy.' He didn't want to fight either," Sisney told KPRC 2. "So we have two children that are ultimately victims."

The incident occurred in Harris County, but the Grays filed in Montgomery County, where both families lived. Sisney's request to transfer the case was denied.

Bays' wife, Judge Kristin Bays, presides over the county's 284th District Court. Texas rules require a judge to recuse when a spouse is the attorney in a case. A standing administrative order transfers Bays' cases from his wife's court to Judge Vince Santini's 457th District Court. Gray's attorney, J. Randal Bays, told KPRC 2 the assignment process is "black letter Texas law" and said he did not select or request Santini.

Sisney's attorney, Michelle Acosta, filed a motion to recuse Santini. The motion cited Santini and Judge Kristin Bays lobbying for additional courthouse funding from the commissioners court that Gray sits on, and photographs of Gray and Santini together at political events while the case was pending. Separately, campaign-finance records show Bays contributed a total of $5,000 to Santini's campaigns across two election cycles. An outside judge denied the recusal motion.

KPRC 2 reported it reached out to Gray but had not heard back as of Tuesday, Sept. 8. Bays declined an on-camera interview, citing rules limiting public statements during pending cases.

The jury trial begins Sept. 14 in the 457th District Court, which Santini said in a statement to KPRC 2 is open to the public.