Lack of enforcement

On Feb. 21st the Quorum Court will hear from Marilyn Clifton about the lack of law enforcement in her area. We wish to invite all of you that are concerned about this issue to attend this meeting. We started this site because of this very issue, the lack of and/or the incompetence of the sheriff’s office when it comes to enforcing the law. During this site’s run we have seen an astounding lack of accountability in nearly every aspect of the sheriff’s department ran by Sheriff Marty Montgomery.

Everything from not responding to calls, not listing an obvious suspect in the shooting of our dogs, losing evidence in that case, and not arresting a man who shot in the direction of his neighbor, to the admitted misuse of public funds for the sheriff’s tuition and egregious incidents of theft and fraud of the public’s money within the sheriff’s department. But that’s not the end of their incredible list of inactions.

We as a county still have millions in overdue fines that the sheriff is in charge of collecting but hasn’t. We know of one particular case adjudicated in Nov. 2004 where the offender was ordered to pay fines and cost of just over $900 and $150 in restitution for the crimes he had committed but has failed to pay any of it. This individual was recently given another 6 months to pay these fines by the sheriff’s and victims services’ offices because of his claims of poverty. We find this hard to believe since this man owns his own home, motor home, about 8 cars, a “welding” shop, and at least $20,000+ in auto repair tools that he’s not allowed to use for business purposes. Is it any wonder why the county is owed millions of dollars when the sheriff’s office takes such a sluggish approach to its collection?

Now it is still unclear at this point exactly what has transpired in Ms. Clifton’s area that has lead her to address the Quorum Court about this issue but it certainly needs to be addressed. We will be there to express our views and concerns; we hope to see you there as well…