COUNTY COMMISSIONERS HOLD SHORT MEETING AT ANNEX

  

Washington County Commissioners had a short meeting this (Tuesday) morning at the Courthouse Annex.  The location of the meeting was changed because the Commissioners Courtroom is utilized on Election Day for tabulating ballots.

Commissioners awarded the bid for Seal Coating county roadways during the 2018 to 2019 term.  The bid was awarded to H and C construction out of Shiner and is based on a per square yard rate.  With the estimated amount of roadway to be Seal Coated, the bid award is worth approximately $1.1 million.

Commissioners also received the mandatory Racial Profiling Reports from the Sheriff’s Office and County Constables for precincts 1 and 3.  The Sheriff’s Office reported that they made 1768 stops in 2017 where more than a warning was issued.  Of those, 1641 drivers were issued a citation, 70 were arrested, and 57 were both arrested and issued a citation.  Of those stopped by the Sheriff’s Office, 1060 were Caucasian, 409 African American, 267 Hispanic and 28 were Asian.  Only 3 stops were reported where the deputy knew the ethnicity of the driver prior to the stop.

Chief Deputy Jay Petrash said that due to the Sandra Bland Act, 6 or 7 more items are tracked as part of the report this year.  Now, law enforcement is required to record what type of contraband was found if a search was conducted, if force was used, if injuries occurred, what kind of violation occurred, and even what type of road was the stop made on.  The reports from all the law enforcement agencies are filed with the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement and are available on their website at tcole.texas.gov.