Montgomery County commissioners discuss law enforcement funding needs for large events

Editor's note: The name of the student receiving a proclamation has been corrected to Jordan Dalton.

Montgomery County commissioners discussed the status of funding for additional law enforcement for mass gatherings in June and July such as FIFA and Fourth of July events during a June 25 Commissioners Court meeting.

This discussion provided an update regarding additional funding allocated for anticipated law enforcement and Emergency Operations Center needs. Commissioners also on June 25 presented student Jordan Dalton with a proclamation for saving his mother’s life.

What happened

Several large-scale events are planned in the county for July 4, including the South County Fourth of July Parade. Jason Millsaps, executive director of emergency management and homeland security in the county, said that as of June 25, during the first pay period in June the county had spent approximately $12,500 of up to $50,000 budgeted for extra law enforcement and EOC activation. He said based on scaling back, he doesn’t anticipate exceeding this amount, so he will not be asking for additional funding.

Precinct 3 Commissioner Ritch Wheeler said he believed there should have been more opportunities for taxpayers to express how they feel about spending additional tax dollars.

“We don't know that all $12,500 didn't go to one person, at least taxpayers don't, and to a lot of people out there in Montgomery County who are paying taxes, that's a significant amount of money to them. That's somebody's car payment, that's somebody's mortgage payment, that's somebody's summer vacation. ... We owe it to the taxpayers when we're spending their money to show them what we're spending money on so they can come comment if they so choose,” Wheeler said.

Millsaps said that he didn’t have the information for this court agenda since the agenda was posted last week, and the ledger with the approximate payment amount was not available to him until June 23.

The funds are used between the fire marshal, emergency management and the sheriff’s office. Millsaps said he anticipates the number of EOC activations going up as they approach the Fourth of July celebrations. He said that most of the officers are either on duty or working an extra security job for major events, but the additional funding will not apply to those instances. Millsaps said there have been large crowds but no notable concerns from emergency officials.

What else

Commissioners also presented a proclamation announcing June 25 as Jordan Dalton Day. Dalton was recognized for his heroism that saved his mother’s life, according to the proclamation. Dalton is a student at Texas Autism Academy. Once he realized his mother was choking, he performed the Heimlich maneuver to save her in an emergency situation, according to the proclamation.