Llano County Sheriff Bill Blackburn addressed the County Commissioners Court at its regular meeting Monday. The sheriff asked to replace two patrol cars before they wear out completely. He stated that the county has 3 vehicles with over 175K miles, 6 more vehicles over 130K miles and 5 more with over 100,000 miles. The vehicles receive almost constant use due to the county’s “hot box” sharing policy.
That is, a sheriff’s car is not assigned to one officer, but is in a pool; at the end of one shift the same vehicle may be passed on to another officer for another shift. Consequently, vehicles are frequently in constant use for 24 hours. Add to that the possibility of high-speed chases and other dangerous situations, and you get a vehicle under terrific strain.
“For instance, if an officer sees a ‘check engine’ light near the end of his day, he may say it’s not his problem and hand it on to the next officer. Someone else’s problem becomes nobody’s problem and the maintenance doesn’t get done.”
Blackburn cited his experience and recent research into Texas law enforcement practices. “Currently 254 sheriffs in Texas have a ‘take home’ vehicle policy instead of the ‘hot box’ constant use practice. An officer responsible for one car takes better care of his vehicle, because it takes care of him. The vehicle parked at the off-duty officer’s home gives greater visibility in the community, even acts as a deterrent. And the vehicle is available for immediate use if the on-call officer gets a call.”
“We’re interested in public safety and the protection of citizens. It’s why we have law enforcement departments.”
Llano County has 20 patrol officers, counting 3 supervisory officers who also must patrol, in addition to investigators, who also use county vehicles.
“We should replace the vehicles gradually, 2 or 3 at a time, or soon we’ll need to replace 10 at a time,” the Sheriff said.
Ron Wilson moved to replace 2 vehicles. Motion died for lack of a second.
In a related action, Jerry Don Moss moved to retain Allison, Bass & McGee as Legal Counsel concerning Llano County Vehicle Policy. The motion passed unanimously.
Earlier discussion on the matter included an address by John Wilkerson, Field Representative of Texas Municipal Police Association. He cited the expense of hiring a private law firm. The issue concerns the control and use of county-owned vehicles. Wilkerson opined that the Sheriff’s office should have control of such operations, calling the Commissioner’s Court involvement “overstepping,” and asking for open discussion rather than the court going into closed session.
Commissioner Peter Jones addressed the issue citing the legalities of public meetings. “It’s not on the agenda.”
Four lots in Buchanan Lake Village were replatted to make one lot. Moved by Jerry Don Moss and passed unanimously.
Peter Jones explained the audit report of Emergency Services District No.1 for fiscal year 2015. He said, “they have a surplus and are attempting to give back to the public with reduced taxes and a slightly deficit budget.”
Ron Wilson discussed the possibility of videotaping the Court meetings for availability on the Internet. “We can have it done professionally by Tom Suarez for $200 per meeting. Or we could purchase equipment and do it ourselves.” County Judge Mary Cunningham said she wanted to see the county website become more user-friendly.
Judge Cunningham reported on the renovation the East Llano County Courthouse Annex, saying it is expected to be finished April 1 and under budget.
The judge was enthusiastic about having the West Texas County Judges and Commissioners Association visiting Llano County for their Annual Conference at Horseshoe Bay at the end of April. “We’re the easternmost county in the Association and we’re happy to have these visitors experience all that Llano County has to offer.”
