April kicked off a month of local school tours at the Texas County Justice Center. Local government week starts May 3, but we have hosted eighth grade students from Cabool, Plato and Summersville thus far. Houston, Raymondville and Licking are scheduled to visit in the coming days. The tour generally starts off with the Texas County Commissioners greeting students and providing information about county government and the responsibilities of the various county officials. The groups then split up for a tour of the courts and the sheriff’s office. The tour of the courts includes participating in a simulated court hearing with instruction from the commissioners and the court security deputies. The students get an opportunity to see some of the participating roles involved in the court system, such as opposing attorneys, judges, jurors and witnesses.
The tour of the sheriff’s office includes a visit with me in my office to talk about some of the technology that we have acquired that makes our job more efficient. After that stop the students get a chance to view the deputy’s work area along with the interview and interrogation rooms, and evidence processing station. The next stop is an opportunity for students to handle some equipment like a door ram and ballistic shields. Students then get a chance to view some of our patrol fleet and talk about the purpose for different types of vehicles in the fleet. After getting a chance to see the vehicles and equipment used in them, the group moves to the jail. The jail tour includes the booking area and overview of some of the equipment used to keep the jail secure. Overall, the experience is hopefully educational and entertaining for the students in our county.
I made a trip to Jefferson City on April 28, to visit the Capitol and talk about public safety with representatives and our senator. Along those same lines, Texas County was approved as a Missouri Blue Shield county in April. The blue shield program recognizes cities and counties that have made significant investments in their law enforcement partners. The Texas County Sheriff’s Office will be able to apply for state grant funding this year with the blue shield designation.
Congratulations to Captain Bruce Fiske on his upcoming retirement from the Missouri State Highway Patrol. Captain Fiske, a graduate of Summersville High School, has been the commanding officer for our area at Troop G for the last few years. Congratulations are also in order for the new commanding officer at Troop G, Captain Garrett Loring. Captain Loring has assisted the sheriff’s office on several investigations with the patrol’s division of drug and crime control. I anticipate that Captain Loring will be great to work with also.