From KUT:
Hays County residents are voting on a new sheriff this fall. To determine who’s on the ballot, Republicans and Democrats will choose their candidates in the March 5 primary elections.
Alex Villalobos and Daniel Law are vying for the Democratic nomination. The winner will face Anthony Hipolito, who is running unopposed as the Republican candidate.
Early voting in the primaries runs from Tuesday, Feb. 20, through Friday, March 1. Election Day is Tuesday, March 5.
The sheriff is an elected law enforcement officer who apprehends fugitives, runs the county jail and leads a team of sheriff’s deputies and other law enforcement personnel. Sheriffs serve four-year terms. The state of Texas does not limit the number of terms a sheriff can serve.
Republican Sheriff Gary Cutler was at the forefront of efforts like expanding the county jail and denouncing a local curfew during the early stages of the pandemic. After 14 years in office, he is not seeking re-election and has endorsed Hipolito.
Below are the candidates for the Democratic nomination. KUT asked both of them about the Hays County Jail, the fentanyl crisis and the department’s relationship with the community.
Alex Villalobos
Alex Villalobos served as a District 4 representative on the Kyle City Council and was chief of staff for the Hays County Judge’s Office before resigning in 2021.
Villalobos ran for Hays County sheriff in 2020 and lost to Cutler by a narrow margin.
Villalobos says his experience working for Texas State University’s Police Department and working for the county has given him the chance to create relationships with law enforcement agencies like the Hays County Sheriff’s Department.
“You see the symptomatic issues of violence and issues occurring within our educational facilities, mental health issues, drug abuse issues,” he said. “Those are all things that I’ve been equipped to deal with.”
The Hays County Jail
A Houston Chronicle investigation in 2023 found the Hays County Jail saw higher incidents of officers using force against inmates compared to other Texas jails. How would you address this?
Villalobos said he believes the issue has arisen from a lack of leadership, a lack of training and staffing shortages. He said he would prioritize staff recruitment and retention and would expand officer training, particularly de-escalation training.
“When you’re not trained appropriately, responding in a crisis situation for self-preservation, you can make decisions that are contrary to policies,” he said.
Villalobos said he would make sure county jail staff are held accountable to their training.
The fentanyl crisis
The Hays Consolidated ISD is working to raise awareness of fentanyl in the community after several students died from overdoses. How would you tackle this issue?
Villalobos said he believes it’s important to make data-driven and evidence-based decisions when it comes to drug use in the community.
“What I’ve always said, from beginning to end, is that we need to stop chasing the poison because the poison changes from day to day,” he said. “We need to chase what the root causes are, and we have to do it in a very strategic and systematic way.”
Villalobos said he’s aware of a lack of mental health resources in schools and across the county and would like to expand them.
“Those are all things that I’ve been equipped to deal with from a community-policing standpoint,” he said. “Not only did I feel that the first time I ran for this office, but the second time I feel more strongly in that it’s time for someone that has that type of background.”
Community relations
Some community members have expressed concerns about a lack of transparency from the Hays County Sheriff’s Office. How do you plan to address this?
Villalobos said he would prioritize making investigations available to the public, especially in cases where officers are involved.
“We’re going to hold other people accountable. We have to hold ourselves accountable,” he said.
He said he believes everything that can be made public should be made public, including policy and disciplinary issues. Villalobos said he would also be open to creating a community oversight committee for the sheriff’s department.
“My competitors [have] been trained in an old school, old paradigm of law enforcement. I don’t ascribe to that. I ascribe to a community-engaged law enforcement agency,” he said. “It requires a higher level of accountability when you do that, and I think that’s why people are afraid of doing it.”
Daniel Law
Daniel Law was the Caldwell County sheriff for about 20 years before moving into his current role as Hays County Constable for Precinct 1.
Law said that experience has given him hands-on experience.
“Hays County was thought of as one of the most pristine places, as far as law enforcement and emergency services, but some things need to be addressed now,” he said. “There’s an overcrowding issue, a staffing issue, that’s why you have so many inmates outsourced across the state. I’m the only candidate that will be able to hit the ground running.”
Hays County Jail
A Houston Chronicle investigation in 2023 found the Hays County Jail saw higher incidents of officers using force against inmates compared to other Texas jails. How would you address this?
Law said he would push for a culture of respect at the jail, asking officers to refer to inmates by name and training them to use nonviolent approaches.
“We’re supposed to hold people for the timespan they’ve been given on a debt to society for a crime they’ve committed,” he said. “We’re not supposed to be their keeper. All we do is hold them until they move through.”
He said he had to address a similar situation in Caldwell County.
“I had to get those jailers understanding: Don’t think you’re better than anybody else. You’re looking through the bars at just a different angle than they are. And you know the bad part? You chose to be here. They didn’t,” Law said.
The fentanyl crisis
The Hays Consolidated ISD is working to raise awareness of fentanyl in the community after several students died from overdoses. How would you tackle this issue?
Law said he would continue raising awareness and would go after “predators” who are bringing drugs into schools.
“Every person that comes into that jail that has been arrested with narcotics of any kind on them … I want everything. I want to know everything about who they are, and who they were with at the time … so that we can keep an eye on this person forever if we have to,” Law said.
He would launch a task force to investigate how fentanyl is getting into Hays County.
“Make sure that people are being punished for doing these predator crimes and doing what we can to get the trust back with those kids so they can talk with us so we can find out who the dangers are,” Law said.
Community relations
Some community members have expressed concerns about a lack of transparency from the Hays County Sheriff’s Office. How do you plan to address this?
Law said he would prioritize media relations and building one-on-one relationships with community members. He says he believes in complete transparency.
“If you don’t get in front of the story, then somebody else tells it,” he said. “I don’t care if it was a situation with one of my jailers or one of my deputies … [as Caldwell County sheriff] I gave the press release immediately. If there was a follow-up to be done, I did that.”
Law said he would even go as far as to handle his department’s communications during the first months of holding office to make sure everything is accurate.
“You can’t make everybody happy, but if we continue to do right all the time, the best we can, things will improve,” he said.
