COMMERCE, TX – Commerce Police arrested a 65-year-old man Monday night after determining he failed to comply with Texas sex offender registration requirements following a recent move into the city.
Officers executed an arrest warrant on January 5 for Luther Howard Jr., who had relocated to Commerce but did not properly update his registration as required by law. The warrant was issued on December 29, 2025, charging Howard with failure to comply with sex offender duty to register. His bond has been set at $50,000.
Howard is required to register as a sex offender annually for the rest of his life. According to police and court records, his most recent registration was completed on December 10, 2025. After changing his residence to Hunt County, Howard was legally required to register with local authorities but failed to do so.
Howard’s requirement to register stems from a 2001 conviction in Greenville for Sexual Assault of a Child. The victim in that case was a 14-year-old girl. He was originally sentenced to 10 years of probation. One year later, court records show he violated parole and was sentenced to 40 years in prison with the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.
Records do not indicate when or why Howard was released before completing the full sentence. After his release, he spent time at the Beaumont Transitional Treatment Center, a reentry program for formerly incarcerated individuals.
