Court considers Warrant Service Officer

By LPR Staff

Editor/POST-REGISTER

A recent change in Texas law has prevented constables in Precinct 1 from serving and collecting fees on hundreds of arrest warrants, resulting in thousands of dollars of revenue loss for Caldwell County.

To stop the bleeding, Precinct One Constable Victor “Smitty” Terrell recently approached th

e Commissioners to request the creation a Warrant Service Officer position, in order not only to dedicate a Deputy Constable to those duties, but to allow for compensation through Warrant Service Fees.

“We try to run a proactive department, and since the deputies can no longer collect on the warrants, we have warrants that are outstanding,” Terrell said. “The money that the Warrant Service Officer could help run the county.”

When an outstanding warrant is served on an offender, that warrant can be cleared by payment of the fines, as well as an additional service fee. It is that warrant service fee that Terrell proposes be used to fund the position.

Precinct One Commissioner Alfredo Munoz expressed concern that, while he understood the need for the position, it had not been introduced during budget talks this summer. He also noted that other Constables throughout the county would be watching for the success of the position within Precinct One before they determined their own course of action regarding Warrant Service Officers.

County Judge Kenneth Schawe said he was concerned about creating the position because the request had not yet gone through proper channels. Those channels, he said, should include a written request to the Court, as well as a nomination for an individual to fill the position. Schawe contends that the request pre