Shelby County Today

March 17, 2026 - Rowdy Green was sworn in as Constable Precinct 4 during the March 11, 2026, meeting of the Shelby County Commissioners’ Court.

Green was appointed during the March 4, 2026, Commissioners’ Court meeting following the resignation of Taylor Fanguy from the position of constable on February 7, 2026.

After the commissioners approved appointing Rowdy Green to the Constable Precinct 4 position to fulfill the term ending on December 21, 2028. Shelby County Judge Allison Harbison administered the oath of office to Green during a swearing in ceremony.

Green has been a member of the Precinct 4 Road and Bridge crew under Commissioner Tom Bellmyer.

Judge Harbison invited Green to introduce those present for his swearing in and he introduced his brother Cade Green and his wife Dee Dee, District Clerk; as well as members of the Precinct 4 Road and Bridge crew.

During the meeting the commissioners agreed to lift the burn ban placed on Shelby County on February 25, 2026. 

“I have the index that the State Forest Service puts out, and they're showing our numbers from 400 up. You know it goes from zero to 800, 800 being the worst,” said County Judge Allison Harbison.

Judge Harbison further indicated a favorable weather outlook in the near future.

“I got the National Weather Service [report] and they're predicting that we get three quarters of an inch to an inch of rain today and that again tomorrow,” said Judge Harbison. “I’m hoping for more but our drought index has gone way down.”

Roscoe McSwain, Commissioner Precinct 1, moved to lift the burn ban effective immediately and his motion received a second by Commissioner Bellmyer. The motion carried by vote with all in favor.

Brian Pritchett with KSA Engineers reported to the commissioners having received seven bids for the Rosehill Road project and out of those that bid Pritchett stated the lowest bidder was Big Texas Materials Group at $296,810.65.

“We reviewed all their qualifications and their bid proposal and appears qualified to perform the work adequately,” said Pritchett.

Commissioner Bellmyer commented that he had a question on the bid because through correspondence with GrantWorks it reflected the amount to be $395,100 after engineering costs and after GrantWorks cost generating around a $98,000 variance. He asked if they would be able to get more footage out of Texas Materials in the project and if the have a unit rate that could be applied for additional work.

They're going to have to use the rates that they use on their bid. They'll extend it, so you can't extend more than 25% [of the bid],” said Pritchett. “So we can go up to 25% additional.”

Commissioner Bellmyer stated he was just seeking to get the most footage out of the project that was possible and Pritchett said they could extend up to 25% of the bid, and Bellmyer said that was around $25,000 remaining.

“The reason I'm sort of pressing this is that the original estimate out of KSA was that we were only, actually if you look at the road, the city street portion before it gets to the county road, we were only going to get about 65% or 70% of the road done under the original estimate. So I'm trying to see how much more we can get completed,” said Commissioner Bellmyer.

Pritchett said they would as far as they can with the project until it gets completed. A tentative start date in the project was sometime in April; however, Pritchett said there are still contracts that need to be sent out and returned.

Commissioner Bellmyer moved to accept the award bid to Texas Material Group Inc. out of Jasper in the amount of $296,810.65. Commissioner Stevie Smith seconded the motion and it carried with all in favor.

During the meeting, Judge Harbison opened bids for the sale of a Precinct 1 bridge. Commissioner McSwain moved to accept the bid of $8,380 from Robert Griffin. Shannon Metcalf seconded the motion and it carried with all in favor.

The commissioners received a proposal from ArchiTexas in the amount of $3,000 plus reimbursable expenses for Grant application services for the Texas Historic Courthouse Preservation Program.

“This is on the courthouse, the historic courthouse, we're going to resubmit for the courthouse and it really does help because you know last year they gave out four awards and we were number six,” said Judge Harbison. “So we're hoping we're going to be in the top four this year and it really helps to have them supporting us, and they're in Austin and they can get information to the committee and everything better than we can.” 

Commissioner Bellmyer moved to accept the $3,000 expenditure for ArchiTexas to help with the $10,000,000 grant. Commissioner Metcalf seconded the motion and it carried.

The meeting adjourned at 10:14am.

Agenda items approved during the meeting include:
1. Minutes of: February 4th Special Meeting, February 11th Regular Meeting, and February 25th Special Meeting. 
2. Pay weekly expenses.
3. Pay current payroll.
4. Officers Report.
5. Accept the award bid to Texas Material Group Inc. out of Jasper in the amount of $296,810.65 for the Rose Hill Road Project
6. Appoint Rowdy Green, as the Constable of Pct 4, to fill an unexpired term ending 12/31/28.
7. Award bid for Surplus Bridge offered by PCT. 1 to Robert Griffin for $8,380.
8. Record the Reconstruction Authorization and Payment Agreement from SERVPRO. 
9. Proposal from Architexas in the amount of $3,000 plus reimbursable expenses for Grant application services for the Texas Historic Courthouse Preservation Program. 
10. Lift Burn Ban. 
11. Adjourn 10:14am.

Agenda items tabled during the meeting include:
1. Quote received from Americlock for the repair of the 4-sided post clock located at the current Shelby County Courthouse. 

A cold airmass will settle over the region tonight, bringing widespread freezing temperatures by Tuesday morning. Consider taking steps to protect any early season sensitive vegetation.

March 16, 2026 - The National Weather Service, Shreveport, Louisiana issued a Freeze Warning at 11:29am March 16, 2026 for Shelby County and surrounding area.

The freeze warning remains in effect from midnight tonight to 9am Tuesday and a wind advisory remains in effect until 7pm this evening.

For the Wind Advisory, northwest winds 10 to 15 mph with gusts up to 30 mph. For the Freeze Warning, sub-freezing temperatures as low as 25 expected for portions of south central and southwest Arkansas, north central and northwest Louisiana, and east and northeast Texas.

For the Wind Advisory, until 7pm this evening. For the Freeze Warning, from midnight tonight to 9am Tuesday. Gusty winds will blow around unsecured objects. Tree limbs could be blown down and a few power outages may result. Frost and freeze conditions could kill crops, other sensitive vegetation and possibly damage unprotected outdoor plumbing.

Precautionary/Preparedness Actions: Winds this strong can make driving difficult, especially for high profile vehicles. Use extra caution. Take steps now to protect tender plants from the cold.

Expect calming winds and mostly clear skies tonight to yield unseasonably cold temperatures. Lows by daybreak will mainly range from 25 to 30 degrees, with isolated colder amounts likely north of Interstate Twenty. A few daily record lows cannot be ruled out.

March 16, 2026 - Farmers State Bank is alerting the public, and warning of an increased prevalence of large counterfeit bills with three discovered at their Center location in less than a week's time, as well as at their Carthage location.

The bank reports these are not fully counterfeit bills, as they will not appear to be counterfeit when a detection pen is used on them which suggests they are real bills of a smaller denomination.

So far, the bills have appeared the same and are of "Series 1983" and the serial number has been exactly the same, starting with an "I". 

Although the bills have been caught by the bank each time, Farmers State Bank is recommending increased awareness and scrutiny on the behalf of individuals and businesses.

For further information and to report counterfeit money, click here.

Contact local law enforcement to report counterfeit currency immediately. The Center Police Department's phone number is 936-598-2788 and the Shelby County Sheriff's Department's phone number is 936-598-5601.

March 13, 2026 - U.S. Highway 59 in Nacogdoches was the scene of a fatal crash incident March 11, 2026, that resulted in the death of a Timpson man.

The location of the incident was near Farm-to-Market Road 941 (Appleby Sand Road).

According to the Texas Department of Public Safety, the preliminary crash investigation indicates that at approximately 1:30pm, a Chevrolet pickup driven by Stephen Foster, 45, of Timpson was traveling north, while a Freightliner truck tractor semi-trailer was traveling south. It is reported that during a period of rainfall, the Chevrolet hydroplaned into the southbound lane and was struck by the Freightliner.
 
Foster was pronounced deceased on scene by a Justice of the Peace.
 
The driver of the Freightliner, identified as a 52-year-old female of Huntsville, and one passenger, a 46-year-old male, were both transported to Nacogdoches Medical Center for treatment of non-life-threatening injuries.
 
According to the Texas Department of Public Safety, there is no further information available.

As of this report, the identities of the driver and passenger of the Freightliner have not been released by the Texas Department of Public Safety.

Foster was a candidate for the Timpson City Council upcoming election in May and due to the timeframe and state law, his name will be on the ballot.