An El Paso tax office deputy who worked at an authorized contract office was arrested Sunday in El Paso, Texas, on 10 counts of tampering with governmental records, the El Paso County Tax Assessor-Collector’s Office said, according to KFOX14. The office identified her as Jessica Marie Alonzo. She was booked into the El Paso County Detention Facility on a total bond of $50,000.
Investigators in the office’s own Enforcement Division allege she altered records in the state vehicle-registration system to bypass Texas inspection and emissions requirements.
What the office says the records show
The office said its records show more than 380 transactions were altered between July 1, 2025, and July 1, 2026. The changes allegedly let vehicles that had not passed required inspections, or had no current inspection record, be registered or have title transfers processed. Some of the vehicles had no inspection record going back to July 2013, KFOX14 reported.
Investigators also reviewed Zelle payment records showing Alonzo collected thousands of dollars. The office said it could not determine whether every payment was connected to the alleged fraudulent transactions, and the reports I reviewed give no total. Spread evenly over the 12 months, 380 transactions works out to about 32 a month, or roughly one and a half per weekday. The office has not said how they were actually distributed.
Which inspection the records skipped
The reports refer to “inspection and emissions requirements” together and do not say which one each altered record bypassed. The state’s rules narrow the possibilities. The Texas Department of Public Safety said that since January 1, 2025, non-commercial vehicles no longer need a safety inspection before registration. The Texas Department of Motor Vehicles says 17 counties, El Paso among them, still require non-commercial vehicles to pass an emissions inspection before they can be registered. DPS says commercial vehicles still need a safety inspection everywhere…