Breckenridge Texan

By Tony Pilkington and Carla McKeown/Breckenridge Texan

The Stephens County Commissioners met on Jan. 13 and Jan. 27, taking care of county business in the new year.

During their Jan. 27 meeting, Stephens County Commissioners approved the purchase of a 2025 Chevrolet Silverado from Bayer Chevrolet for $49,974.53 using SB 22 funds for the Stephens County Sheriff’s Office.

They also voted to leave the county burn ban off and discussed but took no action on the replacement of courthouse windows damaged by hail, estimating 15 windows need replacing. Additionally, the commissioners agreed to submit an amendment to the building demolition agreement between Stephens County, City of Breckenridge and the Breckenridge Economic Development Corp.; the amended agreement will increase the amount the County pays for building demolition from $2,500 to $5,000.

The court also reviewed the fiscal year 2024 Treasury report and approved the assignment of a hangar lease at the Stephens County Airport.

Stephens County Constable Racial Profiling Report

Also during the meeting on Jan. 27, Stephens County Constable Wayne McMullen presented the commissioners with the Stephens County Constable Racial Profiling Report. He stated that the Constable’s Office had not typically engaged in traffic enforcement, but he was increasing such efforts and because of that, the state required him to make an annual racial profiling report.

He said he made 10 stops last year. Of those, 90 percent of the drivers were white, and the other 10 percent were Hispanic. He said all the stops were for moving violations and most were made on U.S. highways or state highways. He said most of the stops were for blatant violations, like running a stop sign

Stephens County Judge Michael Roach pointed out that, given the sample size of 10 stops, that it was close to the county’s racial demographics.

In addition to his racial profiling report, McMullen also gave an activity report. He said he had made 38 arrests and filed eight criminal cases, which included one first-degree felony for aggravated assault on a police officer, one third-degree felony, and three Class A misdemeanors and three Class C misdemeanors.

McMullen also served about 607 legal papers, noting that service often requires multiple attempts.

“A lot of the of times we do catch the person on the first first attempt…but sometimes we have to make multiple attempts,” he said.

County Clerk Kelsey Cornwall confirmed the constable’s economic impact, reporting that fees collected through constable duties in 2024 exceeded $11,000, representing a significant increase from the previous year.

The constable’s annual report also revealed 299 total calls for service, including 39 agency assists, 115 civil matters, 10 criminal inquiries, and numerous other interactions with local fire and emergency responders.

First meeting of the year

The Stephens County Commissioners met for the first time this year on Jan. 13.

During the meeting, they approved a request by Sheriff Kevin Roach for the county to pay for two Sheriff’s Office employees to attend the West Central Texas Law Enforcement Academy. The commissioners voted unanimously to pay $2,700 each for Kaylee Trammel and Omar Martinez to attend the academy.

Stephens County Sheriff Kevin Roach, left, addresses the Commissioners Court at the first meeting of 2025. (Photo by Carla McKeown/Breckenridge Texan)

The commissioners also approved another two-year term for McMullen to serve as the county’s fire marshal. He was sworn in by County Judge Michael Roach immediately following their approval. McMullen also is the Stephens County Constable and was sworn into that office on Dec. 31.

Sheriff Roach presented the annual Racial Profiling Report for the Stephens County Sheriff’s Office. The report is required by the state for law enforcement agencies that make traffic stops, Roach said. The document includes details about traffic stops and related searches and arrests.

“The intent of those is to ensure there is no racial profiling by law enforcement, that you’re not picking on a certain race, gender, that kind of thing,” the sheriff explained to the commissioners. “But as time went on, I think we keep expanding the data for other reasons. And I don’t know what those all are, but that’s the intent –  to make us, the governing body and the state of Texas take a look at what race you’re stopping.”

The report shows that in 2024, the Sheriff’s Office made 937 traffic stops. Of those, 703 were on U.S. highways, 95 were on Breckenridge city streets, 87 were on state highways, 41 were on county roads and 11 were on private property or other locations. In 930 of those stops, the race of the driver was not known to the office prior to the stop.

There were 704 white people stopped, 189 Hispanic/Latino drivers stopped, 35 Black drivers, 8 Asian/Pacific Islander, and 1 Alaska/Native American/Indian person stopped.

The report then goes on to break down the stops by reason for the stop (such as “moving traffic violation,” which was a majority of the stops), whether or not a search was conducted, the reason for searches, whether or not contraband was discovered, and other data, with each set of data broken down by race.

For example, of the 23 situations in which searches were conducted, 22 were for white drivers and 1 was Hispanic/Latino.

“It’s pretty clear that, looking at this report, the sheriff’s office does not racially profile,” Roach told the commissioners, who approved the report.

At the Jan. 13 meeting, the commissioners also:

• Approved a payroll deduction for Airmedcare Network membership for any County employees who choose to opt-in for the air ambulance service.
• Approved the prepaid authorization list, allowing the County Treasurer to pay certain bills every month.
• Approved the filing for the record the Stephens County employees’ statements and oaths and bonds, as well as the Old Republic Surety Company’s financial bonds for specified employees.

Cutline, top photo: Stephens County Constable Wayne McMullen, standing at the podium, presents his racial profiling report to the Stephens County Commissioners on Jan. 27. (Photo by Tony Pilkington/Breckenridge Texan)