Shelby County Today

November 20, 2015 - Lynda K. Russell was honored during the Friday, November 20, 2015 session of the 273rd District Court, Honorable Charles R. Mitchell, by Lone Star Legal Aid for her pro bono service with the 2015 Most Contested Pro Bono Cases Litigated Award. Russell was the first Shelby County attorney to be recognized when she received the Most Pro Bono Cases Litigated award in 2014.

Dana G. Bias, Private Attorney Involvement Coordinator with Lone Star Legal Aid said, "I'm pleased and proud to be here for the second year in a row to honor Mrs. Lynda K. Russell for her pro bono service. And she is going to receive an award today from Lone Star Legal Aid and Texas Supreme Court Justice Eva Guzman who is the court liaison to the Texas Access to Justice Commission. And not only does Lynda do a lot, a tremendous amount of pro bono work for us, but she also handles the hard cases, not just the easy cases. So, this year she is receiving the Most Contested Litigated Cases Handled Award."

Following presentation of the award and applause, Bias continued, "I just want to say if it were not for private attorneys like Lynda K. Russell who — because Lone Star Legal Aide can not possibly assist all of the low income individuals that come to us for legal assistance. So we depend on the private bar to assist us in our mission of helping low income Texans receive access to justice. If it were not for attorneys like Mrs. Russell, a lot more people would go unserved."

Russell expressed appreciation, "I couldn't do this without my staff I want you to know because they handle a lot of this. And they're here with me today, Sharla Foster and Brenda Windham, and trust me they are really the ones who deserve this, not me, because they handle so much of this for me." Russell also expressed appreciation to the judges who are patient with them with the pro bono cases.

"We have all kinds of interesting things that come up. But it just makes me feel good to help people because when somebody comes in and they say can you help me and they don't have money, I'll say, I can't help you unless you can get approved through Legal Aid and if they send you too me then I will help you. I always feel like that might be my cousin or my grandma, my mom, or somebody in my family that might need help and I would appreciate if somebody helped them. So that's why I probably do maybe more than I ought to but I can't help that because people are in need and I don't know, that is just my calling in life," said Russell.

Russell also recognized and gave appreciation to her family and friends who were in the courtroom: mother, Edrie Parsons; husband, Phil Hennigan; sister-in-law, Mary Ann Parsons; friends, Sammy and Barbara Dance.

Lone Star Legal Aid Pro Bono Awards recognize attorneys, law firms and community partners who donate their time and legal expertise to ensuring that all Shelby County residents have equal access to the courts. Lone Star Legal Aid (LSLA), a United Way Agency, acts as a safety net for at-risk Texans, providing free civil legal services to clients facing complex legal issues with no ability to afford a private attorney. Headquartered in Houston, LSLA operates an additional 12 regional offices which cover one-third of the state, including 72 counties in the Eastern and Gulf Coast regions of Texas. Lone Star Legal Aid's Nacogdoches office serves Anderson, Angelina, Cherokee, Houston, Jasper, Nacogdoches, Newton, Sabine, San Augustine, Shelby and Tyler counties.

November 20, 2015 - Notice is hereby given that a Special meeting of the Governing body of the Shelby County Commissioners’ Court will be held on the 23rd day of November, 2015 at 9:30 a.m. in the Courtroom of the Shelby County Courthouse at 200 San Augustine Street, Center, Shelby County, Texas to deliberate and consider action on the following items:

1. Approve and pay monthly expenses.

2. Public Comments on Agenda items.

3. Approve or Reject the repair of the Duplexer used to dispatch/ page the (VFD) Local Volunteer Fire Departments.

4. Approve the purchase contract for the old Municipal Judge’s building and lot from the City of Center.

5. Discuss and possibly approve to pay a reduced membership fee of $2,875.00 for FY2015 membership in the Alliance for Interstate 69 Texas.

6. Adjourn.

November 19, 2015 Center, Texas – Two East Texas men were arrested on November 4 and November 13, 2015 and charged with felony theft of livestock after stealing three cows from a Carthage, Texas rancher.

This case was jointly investigated by Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association (TSCRA) Special Ranger Larry Hand and Shelby County Sheriff’s Office Investigators DJ Dickerson and Kevin Windham.

According to Hand, on Oct. 30 the victim realized that three of his cows were missing from a pasture he leases in Shelby County. The victim called TSCRA Market Inspector Pat McGuigan to share this information, and McGuigan contacted Hand who requested the victim file a report with the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office.

Hand maintained contact through the weekend with the victim and TSCRA Market Inspectors Mike Witcher and McGuigan. Since two out of the three missing cows were branded, Witcher readily remembered inspecting the cattle as they went through the Nacogdoches Livestock Exchange on Oct. 29.

Hand interviewed Nacogdoches Livestock Auction Exchange employees. It was revealed that the suspects Christopher Lance Askew, 30, and Derrek Monroe Hughes, 25, gave the employees inconsistent statements, so they documented the sellers in case of future problems. This documentation eventually led to the names of the suspects.

Hand gathered evidence and statements in neighboring counties while Dickerson and Windham worked through information and intelligence locally. These combined efforts led to arrest warrants being issued for Askew on Nov. 4.

After receiving a call from a citizen on Nov. 4, Hand, Dickerson, Windham and Shelby County Chief Deputy Shad Sparks responded to the scene where they found Askew passed out behind the wheel of a pickup in the middle of a public road with the engine running. After resisting arrest, the suspect was eventually placed under arrest for felony theft of livestock, felony driving while intoxicated (DWI), resisting arrests, obstruction of a passageway and four counts of felony and misdemeanor possession of methamphetamine, codeine, PCP and marijuana.

Authorities identified the trailer used to haul the stolen cows along with the collection of other evidence. This led to an arrest warrant being issued on Hughes, the second suspect, who was not immediately located. Dickerson placed Hughes on the local crime stoppers list and Hughes turned himself into deputies on Nov. 13.

Hughes was placed in the Shelby County Jail on a $10,000 bond and Askew was placed in the Shelby County jail on eight different bonds totaling $165,000. Hand coordinated with the victim to identify and photograph the stolen cattle once their location was obtained. Two of the three stolen cows were recovered and returned to the victim.

“This case provides a great example of TSCRA Special Rangers working closely with TSCRA Market Inspectors, local investigators and livestock markets to arrest thieves and return stolen cattle to the rightful owner,” said Hand. “Identification of the cows was easier in this case since two of three stolen cattle were branded. I can’t stress enough how important it is for ranchers to brand and keep a close watch over their cattle.”

TSCRA appreciates the assistance and hard work of authorities of the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office: Sgt. Dickerson; Investigator Windham; Sgt. Derek Barbee; Deputy Roy Bailey; Chief Deputy Sparks; and employees of the Nacogdoches Livestock Exchange, especially Lead Clerk Lynnelle McElroy.

TSCRA has 30 special rangers stationed strategically throughout Texas and Oklahoma who have in-depth knowledge of the cattle industry and are trained in all facets of law enforcement. All are commissioned as Special Rangers by the Texas Department of Public Safety and/or the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation.

TSCRA is a 138-year-old trade association and is the largest and oldest livestock organization based in Texas. TSCRA has more than 17,000 beef cattle operations, ranching families and businesses as members. These members represent approximately 50,000 individuals directly involved in ranching and beef production who manage 4 million head of cattle on 76 million acres of range and pasture land primarily in Texas and Oklahoma, but throughout the Southwest.

November 18, 2015 - Travelers attempting to go around the Center square Wednesday afternoon from Shelbyville/Tenaha Street onto Nacogdoches Street saw traffic delays due to an 18-wheeler running into a barrier post located in front of Toledo Finance with its trailer.

The Center Police Department was dispatched to the scene at 3:43pm along with wrecker service Joey Ross Towing. Upon arrival on scene a truck-tractor driven by Lorenzo Arevalo, 32, of California, and owned by SS Trucking Lines out of California was found stuck with the concrete post caught underneath the trailer. After multiple failed attempts to maneuver off of the post, Robert Berry used the bed of the wrecker to lift the trailer high enough to have clearance over the top of the post and then pushed the rig forward until it was freed from the barrier.

The driver reported to Center Police Officer Angela Neal, he had made a wrong turn and his GPS had rerouted him to his current location on the square. The driver's destination was Tyson Foods of Center and once the truck-tractor was free, the driver was provided the best directions to safely reach his destination. Arevalo was cited for truck off of truck route due to signs posted outside of Center directing trucks to travel around Loop 500.

Officer John Welch assisted Neal with the traffic incident.