The Issues

Why are you seeking office?

For my professional career, I’ve served the law and worked to make a difference in the lives of others. I’ve worked as a police officer, special investigator, an attorney, a prosecutor, and—since January 1, 2017—the Sheriff of Collin County.

My goals include:

As Collin County continues to grow and expand, we must work together on various facets of public safety. We are safest and work best when all members of our community work together. Like all elected officials, I keep in mind every day that I work for you. I ask for your support, endorsement, and prayers as I seek a third term as Sheriff.

What is the history of the Sheriff’s Office? What is your vision for the future of the office?

Terry G. Box served the people of Collin County as Sheriff for over 30 years. Starting with fewer than 50 employees in 1985, he built the Office into a large, professional organization with over 500 staff by 2016. Under his watch, for example, the County built the four clusters of the main jail and the minimum-security facility between 1994 and 2007. We were fortunate to have such an excellent leader.

The people elected me as Collin County’s thirty-ninth Sheriff, and I took office on January 1, 2017. In 2018, the County’s population crossed over 1 million. Each resident, whether living in a rural part of the county, in a small city or town, or in a municipal utility or other special district, has the right to excellent law-enforcement and detention services. This is a big challenge, and people are the key to meeting it. To keep pace with this growth and provide these services, my senior staff and I continue to look for ways to recruit, train, and field committed and well-trained deputy sheriffs, detention officers, dispatchers, and support staff. We work to build and adapt the organizational practices and programs to foster the delivery of a wide range of services from traffic enforcement to caring for persons suffering from mental illness or substance-use problems in the county jail.

What are some of the pressing issues facing Collin County? How would you address them?

The County faces several public-safety challenges, including population growth, drug trafficking and related substance-use and overdose problems, changes in how people commit various crimes, and changing laws and standards governing law enforcement and corrections.

First, the County continues to grow in terms of population and construction of new housing and business areas and new roads. This growth affects everything the Sheriff’s Office does. As the County continues its explosive growth, we will need more traffic deputies, investigators, crime-scene analysts, dispatchers, records clerks, and other support staff. We will need larger jail facilities and more detention staff. In the FY2024 budget, for example, the Commissioners Court authorized new positions for two narcotics investigators, one general crimes investigator, and two patrol lieutenants. For the county jail, the Commissioners Court created 14 new detention-officer positions and two detention-sergeant positions. We have begun work promoting or recruiting new personnel.

Second, the nation’s southern border is broken and completely porous, and we know that the drug cartels and other organized criminals are transporting more illegal drugs across our highways than ever before. Not all drugs stay here in North Texas, but many pass through destined for other major cities across the Midwest and eastern United States. My interdiction deputies continue to coordinate with interdiction deputies from nearby counties and other states to detect and intercept a portion of this trafficking. I continue to try to enhance our access to intelligence that will help improve and target our interdiction operations.

Over the past few years, we’ve seen an increase in overdoses and overdose deaths in Collin County. These include fatal fentanyl poisonings. The opioid crisis and federal restrictions on the prescription-drug supply have increased the demand for heroin and opioids, like fentanyl. In October 2022, the DEA issued a warning about the growing threat of xylazine. Effective Sept. 1, 2023, HB 6 expanded the definition of conduct that constitutes murder and created new offenses involving the manufacture or delivery of certain opioids. Thus, investigators in our narcotics unit examine fentanyl poisonings for possible homicide or other enhanced charges. In the county jail, we’ve expanded medication-assisted treatment to improve care for persons suffering from opioid use.

Third, people use the internet and social media to commit various crimes in new ways. Of particular concern are predators who use social media to try to prey upon children, or those who trade in child-sexual-abuse material (child pornography). Highly trained deputies in our child-exploitation unit fight these criminals.
Bad guys also perpetrate more fraud over the internet than ever before. For example, the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) tracks internet crime and reports tremendous increases in fraud losses suffered by elderly persons in recent years. In May 2022, Congress passed the Better Cybercrime Metrics Act and directed the U.S. Attorney General to work with the National Academy of Sciences to develop a taxonomy to categorize different types of cyber-crimes faced by individuals and businesses. Because of the far-flung nature of the internet, it’s not hard to imagine that someday the Sheriff’s Office will need one or two investigators who are trained, equipped, and able to coordinate with law enforcement in other parts of the country or the globe to combat some of this crime.

Fourth, the President and Congress set federal policy or pass federal statutes that influence or regulate the provision of law-enforcement and detention services, even in counties. Some are good measures. For example, S. 1141, HR 568, HR 1580, and S. 600, would permanently schedule fentanyl-related substances under the Controlled Substances Act, 21 U.S.C. § 812. S. 154/HR 621 would require manufacturers to inscribe the VIN on the catalytic converters of new vehicles and would require persons who buy catalytic converters to keep records of the purchases, including a photocopy of the seller’s gov’t-issued ID. These measures will help fight growing catalytic-converter theft. We should support such bills. Other measures, such as the President’s Executive Order 14074 (May 25, 2022), would take us down the road of imposing uniform national standards for policing, regardless of local circumstances. While we should support just and accountable policing, we should also work to preserve a meaningful degree of local autonomy that is part of our federal system.
Resources

1. DEA, “The Growing Threat of Xylazine and its Mixture with Illicit Drugs” (Oct. 2022), https://www.dea.gov/sites/default/files/2022-12/The%20Growing%20Threat
%20of%20Xylazine%20and%20its%20Mixture%20with%20Illicit%20Drugs.pdf.

2. Better Cybercrime Metrics Act, Pub. L. No. 117-116, 136 Stat. 1180 (May 5, 2022).

3. FBI, “Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3)” (visited Oct. 9, 2023), https://www.ic3.gov/.

4. Executive Order 14074, 87 Federal Register 32,945 (May 25, 2022).

What is the role of the County Sheriff?

Under section 23, article 5 of the Texas Constitution, a county’s voters elect the Sheriff every four years, and the state legislature sets the sheriff’s duties. As a peace officer, a Sheriff’s overall duties include enforcing the law, executing legal process and orders from the courts, and arresting offenders as the law directs. Moreover, a sheriff has the additional duties to keep the peace in the county and to supervise the county jail and safeguard the persons detained there. Here, in Collin County, the Sheriff also assists with maintaining the security of the Courthouse.

The Sheriff is the chief law-enforcement official in a county. As a practical matter, however, a Sheriff generally focuses on enforcing the law in a county’s unincorporated area. The Director of the Texas Dept. of Public Safety—which includes Highway Patrol Troopers and the Texas Rangers—may require a sheriff to assist DPS in performing an official duty.

As Sheriff, I will continue to always maintain justice, while honoring the rule of law. I will maintain the peace and protect our residents. I will work to improve the professional standards of the Sheriff’s Office. I will uphold the Constitution of the United States and the Texas Constitution.
Resources

Texas Code of Criminal Procedure, art. 2.13 (listing a peace officer’s duties), art. 2.17 (charging the sheriff to keep the peace in the county), art. 2.18 (requiring the sheriff to take custody of persons committed to the county jail); Local Government Code, § 351.041 (requiring the sheriff to supervise the county jail and safeguard detained persons); Local Government Code, Chapter 85 (office of sheriff); Government Code, § 411.009 (addressing a sheriff’s relationship with DPS).

Describe the law-enforcement positions that you have held, which best qualify you for Sheriff.

First, I have served nearly seven years as Sheriff, and experience is a great teacher. I came to the position with considerable knowledge and experience typical of a police officer and a prosecutor. In my time as sheriff, I’ve added to my knowledge of corrections and the county jail. I’ve attended the National Sheriff’s Institute’s course for jail management and served as a mentor for another group of sheriffs. With my service as the Chair of the Legislative Committee for the Sheriffs’ Association of Texas, I worked with a team before the 86th Legislature in Austin in 2019. Our team helped pass six bills and one constitutional amendment, including ones that improved the humane retirement of law-enforcement dogs and horses. I’ve also learned more about the laws and policies that govern a county, including the areas of human resources, purchasing, audit, and the budget. In a county, the elected officials must work closely with the Commissioners Court on the budget and planning for county growth.

Second, I served for seven-and-a-half years as the Chief Investigator for a district attorney’s office in New Mexico. I trained local officers in the investigation and prosecution of homicide, rape, robbery, burglary, and white-collar crimes. In addition to supervising a team who investigated various state offenses in the district, I helped coordinate major investigations with state or federal law enforcement. I supervised the District Attorney Support Staff Division as well as the Criminal Investigations Division.

For four years, I served as a law-enforcement liaison to the Los Alamos National Laboratory. I assisted federal and state officers investigate various types of high-tech crimes. Years ago, I even briefed the Vice President of the United States, the Attorney General, and other top officials on my proposal to have DOE laboratories forensically analyze seized computers.

Third, in 2011, I served as the Second Assistant District Attorney and Chief of Special Prosecutions for the Collin County Criminal District Attorney’s Office. I managed all operational aspects of the District Attorney’s Office under the direction of the District Attorney or First Assistant.

I supervised the Special Prosecution Division, Law Enforcement Liaison Program, Hot Check Department, Bond Forfeiture Section, Asset Forfeiture Program, and Civil Division for Public Information Records Act responses and mental-health commitments. In addition, I had substantial responsibilities in the areas of policy development, continuing legal education, performance statistics, and press releases and media relations. I reviewed the Texas Rangers’ investigations of all police-related shootings and presented those cases to the grand jury.

My experiences as a uniformed police officer, a narcotics agent, a task-force coordinator, a detective, a SWAT-team member, a special prosecutor, a deputy sheriff, and a lawyer have given me an excellent perspective on public safety and criminal justice. My knowledge, experience, and skills qualify me to continue serving as Sheriff.

What qualities and experiences make you the best candidate for the position?

My parents raised my siblings and me to live our lives worthy of the sacrifices that others have made so that we might enjoy the freedoms and liberties that we do in the United States. I was raised to believe that self-knowledge, attitude, courage, determination, and resiliency matter. I believe that I possess each of these traits and that I have the professional knowledge, competence, and character to successfully lead the men and women of the Collin County Sheriff’s Office into the future. I know the sting and crushing sadness that comes with the death of a friend and fellow police officer, yet I have also experienced the joy and pride of serving well and making a positive difference in the lives of fellow citizens. I believe that I possess the maturity, the knowledge, and the leadership skills to continue leading this professional law enforcement organization into the future as your Sheriff.

What is the duty of a Sheriff to protect citizen’s rights?

It is the duty of a Sheriff and any every other elected public official to protect every individual’s inalienable, God-given rights that are guaranteed in the United States Constitution and the Bill of Rights.

Tell us about your values and belief system.

My mother was an elementary school math teacher, and my father was an American soldier who served in WWII, Korea and Vietnam. We were raised to love God and country; work hard; respect others; be courageous, resilient, and determined; and be disciplined in mind, body, and spirit. We were raised to believe that serving others is an obligation due for the privilege of living in the greatest nation on earth.

We were taught that we could make a difference in the lives of others and that we could succeed in all things if we are willing to accept responsibility, fulfill our duty, tell the truth, remain faithful to our word, and seek God’s guidance. The military taught me to lead from the front; and great law enforcement leaders taught me to always act as a steward, working to leave my command better than I found it. This is what I have done throughout my life and I will continue to do as long as I remain the Collin County Sheriff.

If the federal government orders state and local law enforcement to seize guns, will you comply?

I do not think that the federal government will order state and local law enforcement to seize firearms. If, however, officials in Washington, D.C., tried to issue such an order, I would refuse to allow any deputy sheriff in Collin County to participate. Law-abiding adults have a right to possess and carry a firearm for self-defense.
First, we have a right to defend ourselves, including with a firearm. In 2008, the U.S. Supreme Court reviewed a federal ban on the possession of a functional firearm in a private home. The Court held that the Second Amendment—which centrally protects the inherent right to self-defense—protects an individual’s right to keep and bear a functional firearm, with ammunition, inside his or her home for self-defense. This is the famous case of District of Columbia v. Heller, 554 U.S. 570 (2008).
In the case of McDonald v. City of Chicago, 561 U.S. 742 (2010), the U.S. Supreme Court confirmed that the right to self-defense is fundamental to our system of ordered liberty. Therefore, the Second Amendment applies to the states as well as the federal government. This formally recognized that the right to self-defense under the Second Amendment is on the same level as the fundamental right of free speech, the right to hold religious beliefs, and the right to equal protection.

In Caetano v. Massachusetts, 577 U.S. 1027 (2016), the Court reversed a woman’s conviction for possessing a stun gun in violation of state law. She kept the stun gun in her handbag to protect herself from an ex-boyfriend who repeatedly threatened her and outweighed her by nearly 100 lbs. She also carried the stun gun after a court’s protective orders failed to deter him. The Court emphasized that the Second Amendment doesn’t protect only weapons that people used in the Eighteenth Century or only those weapons useful to the military in warfare.

In New York State Rifle & Pistol Association, Inc. v. Bruen, 597 U.S. _, 142 S. Ct. 2111 (2021), the U.S. Supreme Court extended Heller outside the home. The Court held that law-abiding adults have a right to carry a handgun in public for self-defense. Specifically, the Court held that New York’s requirement that an adult must show “a special need for self-protection distinguishable from that of the general community” violated the Second Amendment.

Likewise, Texas has historically recognized the right to carry a firearm for self-defense. Article 1, Section 23, of the Texas Constitution of 1876 recognizes the right to keep and bear arms for self-defense or defense of the state. The text acknowledges the legislature’s authority to regulate the wearing of firearms to prevent crime. In 1995, the legislature passed SB 60 to establish a license to carry a concealed handgun. In 2015, the legislature passed HB 910 on open holster carry. In 2021, the legislature passed HB 1927 to establish the framework for constitutional open carry. HB 1927 chiefly applies to handgun carry because Texas has not prohibited carry of long guns generally.

In summary, both federal and Texas law recognize the right of law-abiding adults to carry a firearm for self-defense. Also, our system is a federal system, and the Constitution limits the power of Congress to order state and local officials to perform specific acts or duties. The U.S. Supreme Court addressed this in Printz v. United States, 521 U.S. 898 (1997), where sheriffs from Montana and Arizona successfully challenged a federal statute’s attempt to require sheriffs to conduct background checks in some circumstances. Consistent with my oath to uphold the Constitution of the United States, if Congress issued an illegal order for me or my deputy sheriffs to participate in unconstitutional activity, like Sheriff Jay Printz, I would seek relief in the courts.