Montgomery County commissioners accepted a grant from Texas' Operation Lone Star fund at a Jan. 11 commissioners court meeting to reimburse county jailors who traveled to the U.S.-Mexico border to assist state forces in detaining undocumented immigrants.
The county applied for the Operation Lone Star grant at an Oct. 26 session. The grant application was listed on the Oct. 26 agenda as a $500 million item. The amount accepted on Jan. 11 was $154,758.82. Commissioners approved the accepted amount as part of the consent agenda, meaning there was no discussion.
According to Rebecca Ansley, the county's director of community development, the amended amount reflects that some costs were not eligible to be charged through the Lone Star grant.
Gov. Greg Abbott launched Operation Lone Star in March 2021 to "combat the smuggling of people and drugs into Texas," according to a news release from his office. The governor issued a statewide call for assistance in June, to which Montgomery County Sheriff Rand Henderson responded, saying the county would send resources if needed, Community Impact Newspaper previously reported.
At the Oct. 26 session, Henderson told commissioners that the reimbursement would cover salaries and overtime of personnel who had assisted state forces at the border. Henderson confirmed that the county's operations cost $400,000 in total, and that as of the end of October, no county forces remained at the border.
During the application process, Henderson confirmed some money could go toward investing in software to "get information on" human traffickers in Montgomery County.
The sheriff's office confirmed that the accepted funds would reimburse officer salaries in an email to Community Impact Newspaper, but did not comment on any other potential uses for the money.
