Sheriff gives update, HOT funds OK’d

Posted 7/29/21

The Wood County Economic Development Commission (WCEDC) board of directors heard an update on county law enforcement from Sheriff Kelly Cole at last Wednesday’s meeting.  

Cole …

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Sheriff gives update, HOT funds OK’d

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The Wood County Economic Development Commission (WCEDC) board of directors heard an update on county law enforcement from Sheriff Kelly Cole at last Wednesday’s meeting.  

Cole explained to the board the situation with inmates and room at the local jail facility and sending inmates to other facilities due to being full.

“Sometimes a prisoner will sit here with us until Texas Department of Corrections (TDC) will take them and for quite a while TDC was not taking in prisoners because of the Covid situation,” Cole noted. “And now they are opening back up when the bus comes to Smith County, if we have seven or eight, we take them there, and from there to the respective units they are supposed to go to.” 

Cole talked about a certain situation with a veteran and how it was handled.

“Everybody deserves a chance. It’s like last night, one of our deputies dealt with a situation with a young man who was a veteran who was having a little bit of a problem and he could have been taken to jail for what he was doing. Our deputy stepped up in this situation,” Cole acknowledged. “We want our officers to make good decisions. The deputy contacted a group that could help this individual out and therefore, they got him on a plane and he got home where he needed to be. He needed to be where he could get help. He was off his medication and was having some issues. Not everybody needs to go to jail and we realize that. Someone has to make a good decision and that is what we try to instill in our officers.”

Cole was asked about working cold cases.

“Anytime you got a case and it’s sitting there and it’s relatively old, you have got to start it new so to speak. A lot of original investigators who have worked on something, they have got tunnel-vision along the way,” Cole said. “So we want to take out things we want to look at while they are focused in and may not ever focus back out. So what we do is we have different people who can come in and look at things. If we miss something, or someone else missed something, or maybe something that was not followed up on, we can take a look at those things. We do not fault anyone, but we are going to go out there and check on the little things. Once we get that done, we want to present, especially in a cold case, we want to make sure everything is exactly right when you present that to a grand jury. You don’t want anyone, after a length of time, to be falsely accused.”

Cole was asked if he felt law enforcement officers in Wood County were appreciated.

“I can’t tell you the number of times someone comes to the office, and it’s the same in Quitman, Mineola, Winnsboro, Hawkins and Alba; people just stop by and drop something off whether it be cookies they bring or whatever to show their appreciation. Some even want to bring lunch,” Cole added. “It could be something people buy for us and bring it by. In the grand scheme of things people don’t see these things, but it happens all the time. That’s not why we do what we do. You have to have a calling to do what we do in this business. You have to believe in what you are doing and you have to learn something every day about the job we are doing and we do that. If you don’t you then you are not in this business very long.”

Cole talked about what has been done since he took office.

“We reevaluated everything and some have re-positioned some stuff so we could actually get more deputies on the road. We have been working with the computers so the officers don’t always have to run back to the office to write a report,” Cole informed. “They can actually do that sitting on the side of the road so they can be in the area where they need to be. That gives us a quicker response time.”

Executive Director Chritophe Trahan gave a report on the top employers in Wood County by the number of employees. Wal-Mart in Mineola topped the list with 280 employees followed by Brookshires in several wood County towns total 273, Winnsboro and Mineola ISDs at 250 each, Wood County 200, Jarvis College with 193, Quitman ISD 188, Kellers Creamery in Winnsboro 180, ProTech just west of Quitman 179, Alba-Golden ISD 150, Clyde M. Johnston Unit Winnsboro 144, Peoples Communication 126, Hawkins ISD 126, Wood County Electric Cooperative 94, Team World Wide in Winnsboro 90 and Yantis ISD 54.

The WCEDC approved $50,000 in hotel occupancy tax grant requests. Those went to Stitchin’ Heaven for the upcoming Quitman quilt show with the Long Run Eagles Tribute Band Concert $3,000; Mineola League of Arts for funds to be used to focus on the stimulation and creative endeavors and art skills of members of the community, $900; Mineola Economic Development Corporation (MEDC) for Lake Country Trails at Greer Hill on Mineola Nature Preserve $1,700; MEDC Iron Horse Project $2,000; Lake Fork Area Chamber of Commerce 2021 National Lake Fork Open Bass High School Scholarship Tournament $5,000; Lake Fork Area Chamber of Commerce 2022 Major League Fishing Tournament $5,000; Pond Hopper Nation “Teach a Child to Fish” $1,000; Mineola Chamber of Commerce Iron Horse Heritage Festival $2,500; Debbie Rhodes Unity Mural Project $1,500; The Beckham Hotel $3,900; Sealey Outdoors Big Bass Splash $7,500; Bass on the Fly World Championship Fishing Tournament $1,500; Legends of Lake Fork Big Bass Tournament $7,500; Lady Bass Anglers Association tournament $2,000; and Hidden Pine Venue $5,000.

Board Chairman Tom Keenan reported on a letter sent to Wood County commissioners concerning the American Rescue Plan Act which will have an allocation to Wood County of $8.8 million. 

The WCEDC Board of Directors expressed their full support for the allocation of Wood County’s portion to the expansion of high-speed broadband throughout Wood County.