Counties with fewer than 300,000 residents could receive up to half a million dollars in state grants per year to hire more officers under a bill approved unanimously by the Senate on Tuesday.
Muenster Senator Drew Springer from Muenster says that in many rural counties, all law enforcement duties are handled by a handful of sheriff’s deputies because these counties don’t have the the tax base, to pay for needed public safety services.
Springer cited the example of Throckmorton County, an area of more than 900 square miles that is served by a single law enforcement official: the county sheriff.
“Eight thousand people a day are driving through his county and he is it,” said Springer. “If he has a problem on the road with somebody, he knows that DPS is 30 minutes away because they come out another county to serve him and that is not the law enforcement we need to see in this state.”
Small county prosecutors are similarly underfunded, he said, unable to hire additional lawyers, investigators, and other personnel needed for successful criminal prosecution.
His Sen. Springer’s bill, SB 22, would grant rural counties up to $500,000 to hire new deputies and pay them starting annual salaries of $45,000 and pay sheriffs $75,000.
The grant amount would range from the full halfmillion dollars for the counties close to the population cap, down to $275,000 for counties with populations of less than 10,000. There’s a similar allocation for district attorneys’ offices in these counties, ranging from $100,000 up to $250,000 for larger counties.
“This will make sure that Texans - no matter where they are, where they travel - are safe,” said Springer. “We will have the proper law enforcement and the proper prosecutorial power to go after those bad actors.”
This bill was a major priority of Lt. Governor
Dan Patrick, who formulated the concept while meeting with rural law enforcement officials during his statewide campaign last year. He said he met with sheriff after sheriff who told him they didn’t have the money needed to hire personnel or necessary equipment.
“It is unprecedented, the state has never helped local counties with law enforcement before,” he said. “I thank all the members who supported this unanimously and recognized that law enforcement needs to be there in all 254 counties.”