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Buda City CouncilPosted April 5, 2007, 2:20 a.m.
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Hays Highway Editor
BUDA – Going back to his early days on the Buda City Council in 2002, Hutch White was one of the city's loudest advocates for a police department. Soon into his term, he led a law enforcement committee encouraging the city to belly up and fund a police force.
The council rebuffed White, asking that he look further into alternatives. For years, the city didn't move on the issue, while retail growth in the city increased demands on the Hays County Sheriff's Office (HCSO).
White still doesn't have a police department. He'll tell you today that Buda has something better.
The Buda City Council finalized an agreement to contract for its own law enforcement unit from the HCSO, which will provide more than twice the law enforcers of a small police department at roughly half the cost. The county will provide a captain and four deputies at an annual cost of $374,600.
"When we were looking into a police department, I think the cost was going to be about half a million dollars for two officers," White said.
Instead, Buda receives five dedicated officers, along with the support resources of the HCSO, which means dispatchers, crime labs and other expertise. Officials say the city wins because it has more law enforcement, while the county wins because the new police in Buda will allow the HCSO’s already existing positions to cover other parts of the county better.
The city council approved the arrangement by a unanimous voice vote Tuesday night. Following the vote, the council chamber erupted in applause. Earlier in the day, the Hays County Commissioners Court unanimously approved the deal.
Hays County City Administrator Robert Camareno said the agreement marks "an historic day for the City of Buda," while Hays County Precinct 2 Commissioner Jeff Barton said the agreement is an indication of how relations between the county and its cities are likely to evolve.
"The county is changing," Barton said. "We're going to have to look for models that more urban cities and counties have found."
The city is giving the HCSO $234,000 in up-front costs to start the Buda unit and fund it through the initial agreement, which runs to September 30. After then, the deal is up for automatic renewal on an annual basis.
If either party wishes to end the arrangement, it can be terminated with nine months notice. Camareno gave the possibility of Buda someday forming its own police department as a scenario in which Buda might opt out. In the event that both parties want out of the agreement, it can be terminated in 30 days.
Councilmembers raised questions concerning the city's control over the county officers, which would be minimal because they would work for the county. The agreement says that if Buda were to form its own police department, the county's personnel in the Buda unit would be given the first right of refusal for open positions. Additionally, the county is solely responsible for evaluating and disciplining the officers.
Camareno and Barton emphasized that the agreement is subject to revision through time, particularly when the agreement is reviewed around the time of the annual renewal.
The costs to the city are flexible, depending on the costs to the HCSO for providing the service. The city has agreed to make good with the county in the event that costs exceed the amount the city has agreed to pay.
HCSO Captain Bo Kidd, who will be the chief of police in Buda, said the unit could take as long as three months to be up and running, but he's aiming to be operational within a two or three weeks.
"I am committed to make this work," Kidd said. "I really want the city's priorities to be our priorities within the scope of what the sheriff’s office can do."
Generally, arrests made by the Buda deputies will be processed through Hays County. However, traffic citations will go to Buda's newly formed municipal court.
The city and county began negotiations on the police unit last October. The idea, White said, came from Hays County Sheriff Allen Bridges.
"He really thought this was a great idea," White said.
It didn't take much, or long, for the Buda City Council to agree.
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