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County gets $3.3 million

Julye Keeble 
Staff Writer

Julye Keeble|Leader-News
Uvalde County officials, (left to right) treasurer Joni Deorsam, Commissioner Jerry W. Bates, district clerk Christina Ovalle, Commissioner Ronald Garza, district attorney Christina M. Busbee, Judge Bill Mitchell, sheriff Ruben Nolasco, Commissioner Mariano Pargas Jr., Commissioner John Yeackle, and county clerk Valerie Del Toro Romero, with a $3.3 million dollar check representing funds received in a two-year grant from the state for Operation Lone Star. The photo was taken at the Uvalde County Courthouse during the Jan. 24 commissioners’ court meeting, where the county formally accepted the funds.

Uvalde County Commissioners recently accepted a $3.3 million, two-year Operation Lone Star grant, with the funds intended to help the county participate in Gov. Greg Abbott’s border security initiative.

Due to the requirements from and acquisition of the grant, the county is implementing various new plans. Changes include an agreement between the Uvalde County Jail and Val Verde Detention Center to house immigrants taken into custody, and purchasing a new building to house the 38th Judicial District attorney’s office, which is also adding personnel.

The money is to be used for prosecuting border-related crimes including drug and human smuggling, and related criminal trespassing and evading arrest.

The 38th Judicial District Attorney Christina M. Busbee recommended the county accept the $3,301,933 grant, and she and county attorney John Dodson told commissioners her office would be in charge of prosecuting both felony crimes, such as smuggling and assault cases, which she was already handling, and now misdemeanor border-related crimes.

Busbee said felony offenses have been escalating.

“We are seeing an increase in smuggling, evading arrest, aggravated assaults, unlawful possession of firearm, we have even had one undocumented immigrant killed in a car crash case in our county.”

Busbee also said misdemeanor crimes, including trespassing, evading arrest on foot, property damage and vehicle burglaries, had been on the uptick.

With the two-year grant, Busbee said her office is adding a prosecutor, an investigator, and a support staff position to help handle the increased work load.

Her office currently has a chief investigator, and an assistant district attorney, two staff members and an office manager, plus two other investigators and two other assistants funded by a Border Prosecution Unit grant.

She said the grant will help fund resources needed to help the Uvalde County Sheriff’s Office deal with the uptick in calls, investigation and prosecution of misdemeanor offenses, and putting together a prosecutable case against the people committing the offenses. She noted resources will be focused on enforcing state, not federal, laws.

Trespassing arrests 

Similar to Kinney County, Uvalde county will now be participating in prosecuting immigrants suspected to have entered the country illegally for trespassing. 

Uvalde County Sheriff Ruben Nolasco said cases will largely hinge on if property owners agree to press charges. 

He said the Texas Department of Public Safety will be reaching out to ranchers with contact information, so they may report trespassers on their property directly to DPS. The trespassers will be arrested and taken to Del Rio.

He said it is about a 24-48 hour process from the Val Verde Detention Center to the Briscoe detainment unit. He also said prisoners being held on border-related crimes may be transferred to Del Rio, under the agreement between the Uvalde County Jail and Val Verde County. He said this can help free up jail space for local law enforcement, and lower county costs of housing prisoners, such as medical costs.

He said participating in Operation Lone Star will bring more law enforcement presence to the county, in hopes of keeping residents safer and easing the strain on local departments.

Building purchase

County Judge Bill Mitchell said though the county initially planned to move the DA’s office into a new building planned for construction at the old jail site off Nopal Street, circumstances changed with the acceptance of the grant. 

Rather than wait for the new building, the county agreed to purchase property located at 524 E. Nopal St., which previously housed medical practices.

After a closed session where commissioners and attorneys discussed the deal, commissioners resumed their regular session and voted unanimously for the county to purchase the building. The cost was approximately $420,000. The purchase price and any needed renovations will be covered by the grant.

Renovations to the newly-purchased building and moving Busbee’s office can be done in a span of about two months, Mitchell said.

“That was part of the reason behind this, they want us to start prosecuting right now. She needs to add staff. She doesn’t have enough room,” Mitchell said of Busbee and her staff’s current offices in the Uvalde County Courthouse.

As part of the conditions of receiving the grant, the court also declared a local state of disaster due to the drug and human trafficking cases and related surge in illegal immigration along the border of the U.S. and Mexico which has impacted Uvalde with numerous high-speed chases and bailouts.

The Jan. 24 meeting, which began at 10 a.m., was held at the county courthouse.