More than $225 million in grants have been allocated to support and enhance law enforcement and prosecutorial positions in rural areas of Texas.
In 2023, the state legislature passed SB 22, known as the Rural Law Enforcement Grant Program, to address the pressing issue of low salaries and the recruitment and retention challenges faced by law enforcement personnel in rural areas. Governor Greg Abbott signed this legislation into law, acknowledging the need to support these communities with limited resources that often struggle to compete with larger cities.
Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick strongly supported the bill, which enjoyed broad support from both Democrats and Republicans.
The program received $330 million in funding for the 2024-2025 biennium. During fiscal 2024, which concluded on August 31, the Texas Comptroller’s Office distributed $125.7 million to 502 grant recipients. In fiscal 2025, it granted $98.4 million to 396 recipients.
Comptroller Glenn Hegar expressed his gratitude for the program that aims to provide resources to rural law enforcement and prosecutor offices. He acknowledged the challenges faced by these offices in terms of personnel retention and the acquisition of necessary safety equipment. Hegar humbly accepted the responsibility placed upon his agency by the Legislature, recognizing the significant role played by these men and women in rural communities across Texas. He emphasized the importance of ensuring they have the resources required to maintain the safety and security of Texans.
Earlier this year, Hegar embarked on his “Good for Texas Tour” series, where he personally visited various grant program recipients to showcase how they utilized the funds. The grant money had a significant impact, allowing for the increase of minimum salaries for constables and sheriffs, as well as the augmentation of salaries for deputies, jailers, and corrections officers. Additionally, funds were used to hire new deputies and corrections officers, fill vacant positions, and acquire essential equipment. In county attorney offices, the grant money proved invaluable in supplementing the salaries of assistant district attorneys, hiring additional legal assistants, investigators, victim assistant coordinators, and other key personnel.
Brooks County Sheriff Benny Martinez, who supported the legislation, expressed his gratitude for the Rural Law Enforcement Grant Program. He emphasized the importance of the program for sheriffs in financially disadvantaged rural counties. Sheriff Martinez himself has benefited from the grant program and commended the legislature for approving Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick’s commitment to enhancing law enforcement funding.
According to Goliad County Sheriff Roy Boyd, this is the first time in his 30-plus year career that the legislature has taken such action to support law enforcement. He emphasizes the significance of this development, as it has allowed his department to address a pressing issue – providing much-needed pay raises for the deputies and jailers. The new legislation has proven to be a tremendous benefit for them.
Boyd, with his leadership, established and currently heads an Operation Lone Star Task Force that comprises sheriffs and law enforcement officials from almost 50 agencies across multiple counties, as exclusively reported by The Center Square. He elaborated on the historical underfunding of sheriff’s offices by commissioner’s courts, which stemmed from the argument that state law enforcement agencies were responsible for patrolling rural areas. However, this perspective no longer holds true due to various factors, resulting in the sheriff’s offices being inadequately funded and the personnel being underpaid.
According to Boyd, SB 22 offered a much-needed boost, particularly during these challenging economic times. He mentioned that both Patrick and state lawmakers were shocked to learn about the low salaries of deputies and their reliance on food stamps.
When Boyd first started his career, he had a partner who was relying on food stamps to provide for his family. According to Boyd, “A program like this helps them out.”
“When I first became sheriff and assumed office in 2021,” he explained, “deputies were earning a salary of $35,000 per year. However, the starting pay has now been increased to $51,400, providing a significant raise.”
In certain impoverished, rural counties, the annual salaries for sheriffs were a mere $20,000 before the legislature took action.
Matt Benacci, spokesperson for Kinney County, emphasized the significance of grants like this in addressing the ongoing struggle of recruiting skilled law enforcement deputies in rural areas. He emphasized that the impact of such grants, which assist in providing better compensation and retention opportunities for talented lawmen, cannot be overstated.
According to The Center Square, some sheriffs and their deputies are not receiving the funds allocated to them by the legislature. This is because county judges or commissioners, who have control over the funding process, refuse to approve the grant for political reasons. The fear of retaliation from county judges or commissioners has led several sheriffs to speak out anonymously. The consequences of this situation are significant – if the grant is not accepted by county officials, sheriffs and their deputies are unable to receive salary increases, hire additional staff, or fill vacant positions.
According to a sheriff in a rural county, the judge and commissioners in that county were reluctant to pay him a full salary because he had come out of retirement to take on the job. Their rationale was that he didn’t need the full salary since he was already collecting retirement from his previous law enforcement position.
In one county along the border, the county judge refused to release funds for a sheriff’s office that was taking part in Operation Lone Star. In another county, the commissioners opposed the sheriff receiving the minimum $75,000 required by law, as it exceeded their own salaries, and as a result, they declined the grant money.
The sheriffs propose that a potential improvement to the program would be to enable them to directly apply for the grant and receive the funding without any intermediaries involved.
The criteria for the grant program are available here. If you are serving in jurisdictions with populations of 300,000 or less and your fiscal year begins on Jan. 1, you have until Jan. 31, 2025, to submit your application.