Announcements

from Commissioner Cook, Garry & Doris!!

Commissioner Cook's Column -- The photo was provided by the Williamson County Public Information Office.

Jails are like living organisms, breathing and moving 24/7/365 days a year.

Needing constant care and feeding, a jail requires a committed community to provide safety both to county residents and inmates.

The Texas Legislature created the Texas Commission on Jail Standards in 1975 to implement a statewide policy for all county jail facilities to conform to minimum standards of construction, maintenance, and operation. Its nine diverse members are appointed to staggered six-year terms by the governor with concurrence by the Texas Senate. This commission establishes, revises, and documents these minimum standards, including jail inspection procedures, enforcement policies and technical assistance.

The standards have been established for:

1. Construction, equipment, maintenance, and operation of the jail
2. Custody, care, and treatment of inmates
3. Programs of rehabilitation, education, and recreation for inmates.

Inspections may be scheduled or unannounced and may require most of a week to accomplish; written reports are received by the sheriff after the review. Recently, after three days of scrutiny, the inspector announced to our County Judge, Sheriff Mike Gleason, and in the presence of Chief Deputy Ken Evans, that our Williamson County jail is the one in the state he would recommend anyone tasked with oversight and administration of a medium to large jail to visit.

Wow – another department showcasing the best in staff, strategy and administration joins our many departments such as EMS, the Juvenile Justice Center, Purchasing, and Budget offices as being recommended to other counties to study and emulate.

So how has this turnaround occurred?  The County Sheriff is ultimately responsible for the county jail.  Sharing this responsibility with Sheriff Gleason is Evans and the heavily recruited Assistant Chief Deputy Kathleen Pokluda.  Our Sheriff started with Williamson County as a corrections officer and wound up as the Chief Jail Administrator before advancing to other leadership positions in the Sheriff’s department.  

The event was held at AYRO, Inc. in Round Rock, a company that designs and produces all-electric, purpose-built vehicles powered by technology.

Since 1994 Lone Star Clean Fuels Alliance has helped stakeholders operate cleaner vehicles through various projects such as migrating city vehicles to alternative fuels, converting much of the booming landscaping industry in Texas to propane mowers, incentivizing Austin Energy customers to ride electric bikes and scooters, and much more. 

In 2020 alone, their stakeholders reduced petroleum consumption by 1.95 million gallons, reducing GHG emissions by 7.9 tons. In 1994, Austin Clean Cities was the 6th coalition to join the U.S. Department of Energy Clean Cities Program and first to join in attainment for air quality. In 2000, Austin Clean Cities became Central Texas Clean Cities, having expanded to cover Bastrop, Caldwell, Hays, Travis, and Williamson counties. Later, as part of Austin Energy, Ft. Hood joined the coalition, followed by the City of Temple. In 2012, the coalition reorganized into a DOE-recognized, membership-based, 501(c)(3) non-profit coalition known as Lone Star Clean Fuels Alliance. 

The above information and more can be found at https://lonestarcfa.org/

The ceremony was held during the MUD Board's meeting/townhall at their community center.

After redistricting, Commissioner Cook will no longer represent the Brushy Creek MUD area in her redrawn precinct. Last night was her farewell to the BCMUD and theirs to her.

Information is from the Wilco Public Information Office.

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