Central Texas News

Sheriff Gary Cutler has touted the Jail addition and renovation along with the Public Safety Building, also known as the co-located emergency communications center, as accomplishments. They are in fact the most significant projects of his tenure as Hays County Sheriff. However, as a retired Captain Hays County Jail, and the Hays County Sheriff Democratic primary candidate, these projects are more of a boondoggle than a responsible and beneficial service to the Citizens of Hays County. The projects are over budget and behind schedule. Most importantly they do not meet the public safety needs of a growing and diverse community. 

The jail addition and renovation was originally scheduled for completion Sept. 27, 2019. The Public safety Building (PSB) should have been completed on Aug. 21, 2019. Both have yet to be finished. The Jail addition will not eliminate the need for contracting with other Counties to hold our overflow inmates. A practice that currently costs $15,000 per week.

The Public Safety Building was intended to be a co-location facility for all 911 dispatch entities in Hays County, but the Sheriff has failed to reach agreements with Buda, Kyle, and San Marcos police departments. Without a single coordinated dispatch system, the growing and increasingly populated Hays County will continue to see slower response times and inefficient use of emergency response resources. Sheriff Cutler has failed time and again to work with law enforcement across the County to better serve the citizens of Hays. 

In addition to not fulfilling its original purpose, the Public Safety Building is being built on land purchased from developer WC Carson. Mr. Carson still owns land adjacent to the PSB. Both properties are in a flood plain. In the planning phases of this project the San Marcos River Authority along with a host of others testified against this location for the PBS. Despite this testimony Sheriff Cutler and his supporters on the Commissioner’s Court moved forward with this site. In fact, on 1/29/19, in response to public testimony regarding flooding, Commissioner Lon Shell responded to these concerns by stating “it could flood, but a UFO can also land” by 8/20/19 Commissioner Shell was voting for a $750,000 study for a $10 Million dollar grant for flood mitigation on this facility. 

It should be noted the Mr. Carson top donor to Hays County Republican candidates, is receiving flood mitigation on his adjacent land paid for by Hays County tax payers. These projects totaling, more than $100M will do little to address the growing public safety needs of Hays County but will do a lot for the continuation of the cronyism that is fostered by the likes of Sheriff Cutler and Commissioner Shell.