1. Mark James Keough was born on September 30,1953 and is a former American businessman and a former Christian pastor, radio host, educator, and politician from The Woodlands, Texas, who has been serving as the Montgomery County County Judge since January 2019.
Mark Keough previously served as a Republican member of the Texas House of Representatives for District 15 in suburban Montgomery County north of Houston.
On May 31,2017, Keough announced that he would not be running for re-election in 2018 to the Texas House but would instead contest the office of County Judge.
On November 6,2018, Mark Keough defeated Democrat Jay Stittleburg by a three-to-one margin.
Mark Keough received a bachelor's degree from Cedarville University, a private institution in Cedarville, Ohio.
Mark Keough obtained master's degrees from Dallas Theological Seminary and Grace Theological Seminary in Winona Lake, Indiana.
Mark Keough attended the University of Cincinnati in Cincinnati, Ohio.
For more than two decades, Mark Keough was engaged in automobile sales, including fourteen years as the general sales manager of Northside Lexus in north Harris County.
Mark Keough left the automobile business to establish Mark Keough Ministries, which includes the Pathfinders Fellowship of The Woodlands.
Mark Keough used to be a pastor of The Woodlands Bible Church and he was the headmaster of a private Christian school.
On March 4,2014, Mark Keough won the Republican nomination to replace one-term Representative Steve Toth.
Mark Keough was then unopposed in the heavily Republican district in the November 4,2014, general election.
Mark Keough is a vocal opponent of separation of church and state, a concept that he does not find in the First Amendment to the United States Constitution.
In 2015, Mark Keough introduced legislation to establish statewide victim-offender mediation for punishments with the goal of reducing recidivism in prisons.
Mark Keough would allow licensed gun owners to carry weapons in such zones.
Mark Keough worked to repeal of margins taxes on small businesses.
Mark Keough worked to upgrade the penalties for the possession of child pornography from a third-degree to a second-degree felony.
Mark Keough proposed the abolition of sanctuary cities, those in which municipalities forbid the use of any local funds to enforce national immigration laws.
Mark Keough was unopposed in both the 2016 Republican primary and the 2016 general election, winning another two year term to the Texas legislature.
Mark Keough announced on May 31,2017, he would not seek re-election to the Texas House but instead run against incumbent Montgomery County Judge Craig Doyal.
On May, 26,2019 Mark Keough delivered on his promise contained in his contract with Montgomery County to remove the toll charges from the State Hwy 242 connector ramp with Interstate 45.
Mark Keough was charged with a DWI on September 10,2020.
Mark Keough was driving with zolpidem and amphetamine in his blood.
Mark Keough hit a private individual's car and then hit a police vehicle.