Sunday, May 5, 2024
The race for Coryell County Sheriff heats up as the three candidates make their case to voters ahead of the primary election on March 5.
Coryell County Republican Party (CCRP) Chairman, Colton Buckley, moderated the debate at the Gatesville City Auditorium on Thursday, Feb. 22. The incumbent, Sheriff Scott Williams, seeks re-election for a third term and defends his seat from opponents, Danni Suniga and J.C. Buster. Williams has served as the county’s sheriff since 2016.
Suniga’s work in law enforcement dates back to 2014, with most of her years spent at the Coryell County Sheriff’s Office. She currently works for the Bosque County Sheriff’s Office.
Buster has experience working for the Coryell County Sheriff’s Office and the Gatesville Police Department. In 2019, he became the Chief of Police for Jonesboro ISD after helping build its police department.
With no Democrat challengers in the race for sheriff, the winner will run unopposed in the November election. Here are some of the key takeaways from the debate:
County jail overcrowding and deaths
The debate opened with a question about how the candidates would address the Coryell County Jail’s overcrowding and infrastructure issues in a county with over $9.1 million in debt.
Williams replied that the county recently built a 47-bed expansion to assist jail overcrowding. He said there are about 80 inmates housed outside of the county, and it costs $100 a day to house those inmates.
“We're going to be able to utilize 40 of those beds that are brought to us, so that's still going to leave 40 out of county. That's still $4,000 a day times 365,” Williams said. “We need to start desperately entertaining on building a new facility, because right now we're just throwing money out the window with no return.”
Suniga addressed the overcrowding issue by emphasizing the need to be mindful about who they arrest.
“Because if you go after just specific cases that have warrants, you send a message to the victims on these other cases that their cases are not important enough to go after them,” Suniga said. “We’ve got to make sure that we get the most harsh criminals off the streets to keep them from reoffending, get them through the system and justice court systems into the process.”
Several civil lawsuits have been filed against the sheriff’s office, including a recent $800,000 settlement reached in September on an inmate death. Buster responded that he would aim to avoid future civil lawsuits and save the county money through employee retention and strong leadership.
“It takes a lot of money to train somebody and then let them go,” Buster said. “My focus would be on leadership and proven leadership to build a better culture and to keep people that are working to keep the lawsuits down because they have a great work environment, and to move forward with the budget as the commissioners court presented.”
Williams addressed the claims during the debate.
“I’m going to tell you (that) when you run a jail and you're the chief law enforcement officer of the county, somebody's going to be unhappy and they're going to want to sue you,” Williams said. “Well, that just comes with the job.”
During a cross examination, Buster confronted Williams about some of the lawsuits that mention he and jail staff refused medical treatment to inmates.
Williams denied the allegations to refuse medical treatment, saying that the sheriff’s office contracts with Southern Health Partners to provide medical care for inmates.
“As far as civil lawsuits, you know what, I make no bones about it,” Williams said. “We had two inmate deaths in my jail. The sheriff prior to me had them too. We settled out of court for a no-fault judgment at $800,000. The reason that was settled was because it was going to be over $2 million to get the same result. That was a business decision that was discussed by the commissioners’ court and our risk assessment.”
Budget
With a budget of over $7 million and nearly 100 employees, budgeting experience was another major topic in the debate. Williams emphasized his seven years of experience authoring and maintaining the sheriff’s office budget, and that his priorities are to raise salaries and build a new jail.
“We did a market analysis, and we are one of the lowest paid agencies,” Williams said. “I understand that we're challenged here in Coryell County, because our tax revenue comes off of rooftops. (If) you're paying somebody below what they can go make, you're going to have a hard time retaining them.”
Suniga referenced her success as a small business owner, but also said she plans to hire a chief deputy with budgeting experience as well as build a relationship with county commissioners and auditors.
“You’ve got to be able to go to them and trust them, and they need to be able to trust you to get this done for the best interest of the citizens of Coryell County,” Suniga said. “Not only to provide them the superior service that they deserve, but also what's going to provide the services for your deputies at the sheriff's office.”
Buster said he has worked with a range of budgets during his service in law enforcement.
“I have plenty of experience with a large amount of money and small amount of money, but it's keeping the taxpayer first,” Buster said. “Keeping the taxpayer first and thinking this is not my money. It never was my money. It belongs to you.”
Williams challenged Buster about a statement he made at a previous forum, where he plans to hire a captain as one of his first acts as sheriff. Williams asked if this would require an increase in the budget since the position currently does not exist at the sheriff’s office.
Buster responded that there should be a captain position already, and that the sheriff’s office would need restructuring to fill the position.
Relationships with other agencies
The candidates also countered how they would address relationships with other law enforcement and government agencies.
Suniga emphasized the need for good working relationships with both outside agencies and sheriff’s office employees, especially when it comes to maintaining a strong narcotics unit.
“Working with other agencies in law enforcement is a must. You've got to be able to have those good relationships,” Suniga said. “Just because your title is sheriff does not mean that you are the most important person in the county. You're not superior to these chief deputies and chief officers through these other departments.”
As a Jonesboro ISD police chief, Buster explains that he works with multiple agencies in both Coryell and Hamilton counties. He said he has also helped other school districts establish police departments, including the Gatesville ISD Police Department.
“It’s about the safety of our community,” Buster said. “If I'm doing this at Jonesboro, why wouldn’t I do this in Evant and Oglesby.”
Williams said he works with many outside agencies as sheriff, including the Lone Star Fugitive Task Force and Texas Auto Theft Task Force.
“I’ve been endorsed by multiple sheriffs. I've been endorsed by a lot of leaders within our community and endorsed by a lot of leaders in the state,” Williams said. “I work hand in hand with them. You know what, I have to be a little cocky. I have to be a little tough, but you know what, the government's the one that named me the chief law enforcement officer in the county.”
Assault allegations and fugitive escape
During the cross examination, Buster and Suniga took the opportunity to call out various controversies during Williams’s tenure as sheriff, including alleged assault allegations, altercations with elected officials, and a missing county jail inmate.
Wiliams denied the assault accusations, saying it was brought to a prosecutor and dismissed.
“I know the two people that are saying that,” he said. “You know what, take me to a court of record. You bring your evidence, and I'll bring mine, because I will tell you later on recorded audio and video, and that never happened.”
Williams adds that the altercations were “heated debates,” and that he has good relationships with local elected officials.
Williams also responded to a claim from Suniga that his friend who was accused of sexual harassment was moved to a different position rather than terminated. “This individual was demoted at the request of that particular dispatcher,” he said. “They did not want anything to happen to this individual, (they) just did not want to be in the direct line of work of working with them. You know what, I honored that request.”
Williams also addressed the Texas top 10 most wanted fugitive, Brandon Hogan, who escaped custody from a supervised work crew in 2022.
“We run thousands and thousands of leads, and I have it all the way up the chain to where they're doing a whole lot to try to find this (guy),” Williams said. “If my staff that was on the ground had done a little better job of informing me, we could have made a little bit of different decisions.”
The three candidates provided closing remarks on why they should receive the vote as sheriff.
Buster believes it’s time for restructure in sheriff’s office and to improve the work environment.
“I think we need to put citizens first. Our employees are the most valuable asset we have,” Buster said. “Any businessperson will tell you that as long as you create a great work environment, your employees will stay.”
Suniga said she wants to strengthen the relationships with other local entities, including schools and volunteer fire departments.
“I want to take it back into the communities and get back into our schools, become one team with these other entities that our community has,” she said. “I’ve touched base on this last time, we have volunteer fire departments that have these meetings, they have issues and concerns that go on at the sheriff's office that’s fallen on deaf ears.”
Williams reiterated his experience as a reason to re-elect him.
“I have been your sheriff for eight years,” Williams said. “I respect these people standing on this stage just for the fact they stuck their neck out and put their name on a ballot and want to try to lead this county, but here's your choice: you’ve got a chief of one, or you've got a dispatcher from Bosque County, or you’ve got a two-term sheriff here with lots of experience.”
Thursday night’s event also included a debate between republican candidates vying for the U.S. House District 31 congressional seat. The district mainly covers Bell County, Williamson County, and parts of Coryell County, including Gatesville.
Although the incumbent Rep. John Carter did not attend the debate, four of the five of his GOP opponents faced questions about a variety of hot button issues the country is facing, including the border crisis, government spending, and support for Texas farmers.
The contenders at the debate were William Abel, Abhiram Garapati, Mack Latimer, and Mike Williams. John Anderson, as well as three Democratic candidates - Rick Von Pfeil, Brian Walbridge, and Stuart Whitlow - are also on the ballot for Texas’ 31st Congressional District.
Early voting ends on March 1. For information on early voting and election day locations, visit https://coryellcountytax.com/elections/
