Shelby County Today

April 2, 2025 - Dallas Martinez was recognized during the April 2, 2025 meeting of the Shelby County Commissioners’ Court for his outstanding achievement at the 2025 Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo.

Lane Dunn, Shelby County Ag Extension Agent, addressed a full courtroom to introduce Martinez and highlight his accomplishment.

“It's truly an honor for me to be able to introduce y'all to Dallas Martinez. And he's done some things that are pretty amazing,” said Dunn. 

Dunn remarked that the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo started in 1932 and only major global events have prevented the show and rodeo from happening, including World War II and COVID.

“There's been a few hiccups along the road. That's 93 years. He's one of 93 in the state of Texas ever to win that deal. That's pretty impressive and there's thousands of hogs each year to go to that show and kids that do that, and so beyond impressive, one of the reasons that I think we all support the youth programs and 4-H and things like that is the development of our youth,” said Dunn. 

Dunn commented that anyone observing online activity in reference to Martinez’s achievements would see the love and passion that Martinez has and how his activities have planted him on the road to being a great citizen and great community member.

“It's my privilege for Dallas to come up here and introduce Dallas Martinez as the grand champion in Market Barrow and he's from Shelby County and goes to school in Center, Texas and we’re very proud of him,” said Dunn.

Dunn introduced Martinez’s uncle Scott Smith who Dunn said he has known for over 30 years, starting out as an Ag teacher and now involved in the poultry industry. 

“Scott has been a tremendous leader for us and his passion is the swine industry as far as helping those youth and things like that and he's been a valuable resource for me to be able to contact and ask questions,” said Dunn. “One of the biggest things is he's been hauling this young man around since he was three years old. I don't know if you saw that picture, but the story is, is that at three years old, he had imaginary hog and he made every step that Scott did.” 

Shelby County Judge Allison Harbison then announced a proclamation in recognition of Martinez and his accomplishments.

The proclamation reads as follows: whereas Dallas Martinez, a student at Center Middle School, has been an active and dedicated member of Shelby County 4-H for the past three years, demonstrating exceptional commitment to learning and excelling in livestock showmanship, and whereas the Shelby County 4-H program is dedicated to fostering leadership, responsibility, and excellence in youth through agriculture, education, and community service. And whereas through his dedication, perseverance, and outstanding work ethic, Dallas Martinez has achieved a remarkable accomplishment by winning the Houston Livestock Show Market Swine Division, one of the most prestigious livestock competitions in the nation. And whereas his success is a testament to the support of his family, his mentors in the Shelby County 4-H program, as well as his own unwavering dedication to excellence in agriculture and animal husbandry. And whereas his achievement brings great pride to Shelby County, the Shelby County community, inspiring other young individuals to pursue their passions with determination and integrity. Now therefore be it resolved on this second day of April 2025 that we, the commissioner's court of Shelby County, Texas, do hear by recognize and commend Dallas Martinez for his outstanding accomplishment and extend our heartfelt congratulations on his victory at the Houston Live Stock Show Market Swine Division. May his success continue to inspire others and serve as a shining example of hard work and determination in the spirit of 4 -H.

Judge Harbison presented the court with a resolution supporting Rural EMS Funding under Senate Bill 1377 and House Bill 3000.

“I've talked to several people in the state, don't know exactly how this is gonna work. We the county, do not own an EMS system, but we're really hoping that it would be able to, the local EMS that we have would be able to get some of these funds for this. Don't know how it's gonna work, but we just think we should support it in the legislature to let them know that our rural counties really do need the support,” said Judge Harbison.

Commissioner Bellmyer commented, “It feels like these are important to rural counties, and it's really important that we as a population try to reach out to our legislators and tell them that we support this and encourage them to support it.”

Judge Harbison stated she believes the population bracket is 75,000, making the funding truly be for rural areas.

Commissioner Bellmyer moved to support the resolution and Commissioner Roscoe McSwain seconded the motion. It carried.

Sheriff Gerald Corbell presented a request for annual access to the Shelby County Shooters Gun Range for state mandated law enforcement qualifications and training. Sheriff Corbell shared that he has spoken with the manager of Shelby County Shooters, Terry Carriker, about membership with their club which according to Carriker has around 100 members.

“They have offered us membership for the Sheriff’s Department for actually about a 1/3 of the going price, which is considerably cheaper than what we can maintain our own range,” said Sheriff Corbell. “Most of their work maintaining the range is done by volunteers that are members for the range, and we would graciously be a part of that.”

Sheriff Corbell said that Carriker had mentioned a deep hole in the driveway entrance and Corbell said he would speak to the proper authorities on that. The price for the membership of the Sheriff’s Department would be around $500 a year. Corbell believes there are 13 acres at the range and that the property is surrounded by several hundred acres of paper company land. Corbell further commented the Center Police Department already utilizes the range.

Judge Harbison agreed it would be a great idea and Commissioner McSwain commented the Shelby County range can’t be kept up for $500.

Commissioner McSwain moved to allow the agreement, and Commissioner Bellmyer seconded his motion. The motion carried.

The commissioners considered and approved a Proclamation declaring April as Child Abuse Awareness Month. 

Judge Harbison presented, and read aloud, the proclamation which reads as follows: Proclamation, whereas during the month of April, 2025, Shelby County Children's Advocacy Center will observe National Child Abuse Awareness Month to raise awareness of child abuse and neglect and create strong communities to support the strengthening and healing of abused children and their non-offending family members. And whereas each year hundreds of Shelby County children are confirmed victims of child abuse neglect and its prevention is a community-wide responsibility. And whereas Shelby County Children's Advocacy Center serves hundreds of abused and neglected children as well as their non-offending family members each year. And whereas it is important to remember that children are our future and we must nurture and protect them and provide a safe environment in which they grow and prosper. Now therefore be it resolved that the Commissioners' Court of Shelby County, Texas, hereby recognizes and proclaims April 2025 to be Child Abuse Awareness Month in Shelby Texas and urges all citizens to work together to help significantly reduce child abuse and neglect in our community.

Commissioner Stevie Smith moved to approve the proclamation and a second was given by Commissioner Shannon Metcalf. The motion carried.

Judge Harbison further commented, “I just wanted to say how much I appreciate the Advocacy Center, CASA, the Child Welfare Board. We have a lot of officers here today, I appreciate everything that you do to protect the children of this county. Thank you. Thank you.”

Guy Harrison, Child Welfare Board President, spoke with the commissioners about welfare boards and how they function.

Harrison stated that child welfare boards were mandated by the Texas legislature in 1976 and Shelby County has had a child welfare board since that time. He said that child welfare boards are considered quasi-governmental agencies, because their board members are all approved by the Commissioners’ Court and the Commissioners’ Court has authority to remove a board member for cause. 

Harrison believes he has been a member of the board for 25 years.

“Our charge is to provide help for children in foster care that are from Shelby County. Now that means part of them aren’t in Shelby County but they're still originally Shelby County natives,” said Harrison. “What we do every year is we provide for each and every one of those kids right now we've got 36, sometimes we have more than that, sometimes less, we've had up to 50.” 

According to Harrison, the group provides $175 for clothes for kids in the spring, $250 for clothes in the fall, $200 at Christmas, $75 for their birthday for $700 a kid every year. This past Christmas  there were 30 kids, so that was $21,000. 

“For kids 12-and-under in the county, we give gift cards at Christmas to $25 for each of the schools in county except Center and they get $50 because they're the biggest school, so that's another $4,500,” said Harrison. 

Harrison said that all of their money comes from donations or from Commissioners’ Court. He didn’t want to elaborate on all of the civic organizations that help them with donations; however, he wanted to mention a couple of things that are kind of different which the organization didn't expect.

“We got money from Tenaha Student Council last year and Shelbyville's been, their Student Voice which is their elementary junior high they've done a fundraiser for years and years and given us money for that. In fact, they always pay for the kids in their school that we take care of,” said Harrison. 

Harrison said the Tenaha Ladies Three Sunday School Class has been giving a monthly donation for years and several civic organizations in the county do. 

As of the meeting, the Child Welfare Board has 11 board members and Harrison shared that some members have moved on. The board hasn’t approached the commissioners for replacement yet, but Harrison says they will. 

“Everybody that serves is a volunteer, we have no paid employees. As I said, as of right now, we have 36 foster kids that we try to help now,” said Harrison. 

Harrison shared another project they participate in is assisting after high school graduation.

“We have a kid in foster care that graduates from high school. When that happens we try to take care, help them take care of all their steps of graduation including their class ring and all that stuff. So we're glad to see those,” said Harrison. “One thing the audience might not know, kid in foster care when they graduate from high school if they want to go to college, state will help pay for that up through a doctor's degree if they want to stay in school that long. So they do go out of their way to help kids and there's one kid in San Augustine right now that is just about to finish hers up. The only reason I kept up with her because I had her in class.”

Harrison encouraged that different organizations that may be working toward the same goal should get together and help each other out.

Tonya Harry, Executive Director for CASA of Deep East Texas, is a 10 year veteran with CASA and she also shared that she worked with Child Protective Services before that time.

Harry said that CASA previously shared a location with Shelby County Children’s Advocacy Center, which had been donated by Judge Guy Griffin and his late wife Cindy Davis Griffin.

“With the privatization of foster care, which is relatively new and still kind of confusing for all of us, they don’t have offices in every county that they’re serving right now. Region 5 got Texas Family Care Network. So far our interactions with them have being really good. They only have two main offices. So, CASA of programs across the state were asked to hold these private organizations by hosting meetings,” said Harry.

Harry explained that a difficulty they run into when we host a meeting, such as a family group conference or a family team meeting, that means everybody's coming including parents who are also generally, perpetrators in these cases. 

“Well, for the Advocacy Center, they're serving children or providing counseling to children that were victims of abuse or neglect, and there could be a possibility of crossing paths, and we don't want to do that, and we wanna make sure that children feel safe when they go and get their services from the advocacy center,” said Harry. “We want to make sure that we're doing our job and what we're bound to do by the Family Code in providing these services.”

Harry said they primarily focus on the child, but also are in support of families to reunite if they can and if it's the safest option for children.

“With the amount of traffic that will change for us, and we've already seen that change, we felt it was in the best interest of children to go ahead and we were able to find a spot that was within our budget and offered us that space. So we're over, it's on the corner of 96 and 7 when you're coming in, it's the Campbell Building where the Campbell Portable buildings are and there's a big office space over there and our sign should go up next week,” said Harry.

Commissioner McSwain inquired how many children CASA serves in Shelby County, and although Harry didn’t have an exact number, she explained their numbers mirror that of the Child Welfare Board and she confirmed they have six volunteers in Shelby County. She said that Kim Griffin is the supervisor for Shelby and San Augustine Counties and she handles overflow cases.

She said the monitors are volunteers, and they only reimburse them for their cost to drive.

The commissioners returned to considered the Child Safety Fee disbursement from the previous week’s meeting and Judge Harbison said the amount available for distribution is $11,763.59.

During the discussion it was revealed by Clint Porterfield, County Auditor, that the Child Welfare Board receives $5,000 from the county annually.

Commissioner McSwain moved to distribute the funds from the Child Safety Fund as they have been for the past 12 years with 2/3 of the total going to Shelby County Children’s Advocacy Center and 1/3 going to CASA. Commissioner Bellmyer seconded the motion and it carried.

During Commissioners’ Court Comments, Commissioner Bellmyer updated the work plans from the previous meeting in that weather on the approaching weekend is not expected to be favorable for the project on County Road 4776.

“I coordinated with the contractor and we're actually going to do that bridge deck Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday which is the 7th, 8th and 9th,” said Bellmyer.

Residents and travelers should note that the bridge repair will be taking place on April 7-April 9 and Commissioner Bellmyer said that he would be informing the school and post office to allow them the ability to take that work into account.

The meeting adjourned at 10:06am.

Agenda items approved during the meeting include:
1. Pay weekly expenses. 
2. Resolution Supporting Rural EMS Funding under Senate Bill 1377 and House Bill 3000.
3. Shelby County Law Enforcement request for annual access to the Shelby County Shooters Gun Range for state mandated law enforcement qualifications and training.
4. Proclamation declaring April as Child Abuse Awareness Month.
5. Disburse the Child Safety Fee Fund.
6. Adjourn at 10:06am.

April 2, 2025 - The National Weather Service Storm Prediction Center, Norman, OK issued at 3:50pm, Wednesday, April 2, 2025 Tornado Watch 100 which is in effect until 12 midnight for the following Texas Counties: Bowie, Camp, Cass, Gregg, Harrison, Marion, Morris, Panola, Rusk, Shelby, Titus, and Upshur.

March 30, 2025 - At 8:49pm, Sunday, March 30, 2025, the National Weather Service in Shreveport has issued a Severe Thunderstorm Warning for Northwestern Shelby County in eastern Texas, Southwestern Panola County in northeastern Texas, and Southeastern Rusk County in northeastern Texas until 9:30pm.

At 8:49pm, a severe thunderstorm was located 6 miles southeast of Minden, or 17 miles southeast of Henderson, moving northeast at 30 mph.

Radar indicated hazardous weather includes 60 mph wind gusts and half dollar size hail.

Impact includes hail damage to vehicles is expected. Expect wind damage to roofs, siding, and trees.

* Locations impacted include... Timpson, Pinehill, Minden, Mount Enterprise, Gary City, Dotson, Lawsonville and Fairplay.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

Seek shelter inside a well-built structure and stay away from windows. This storm is capable of producing damaging winds and large hail.

March 26, 2025 - The Shelby County Commissioners awarded a tax abatement to Portacool during their meeting held Wednesday, March 26, 2025.

Portacool, LLC requested a Tax Abatement Agreement for property belonging to Portacool, LLC located in Shelby County, Texas and described the plan going forward in seeking the tax abatement from the county.

Ben Wulf, Portacool President and CEO, reminded the court that in June of 2023 Portacool went through a crisis that will stand with them for many, many years to come. He stated they’ve been fortunate to rebuild and are certainly back on their feet. 

“We've got a very stable organization and now we're ready to continue to simplify our business, but also to scale our business. And with that, that's kind of the request that's on the table today,” said Wulf. “We are looking to rebuild, which would be actually two facilities, one is 75,000 square feet, which would house all of our rotational moulding capabilities. This is what was lost during the fire. We have three suppliers that are providing plastics, one is at College Station, one is Fort Worth, and we've got a group in Kansas.”

Wulf explained that all of the activity they are working to rebuild has been shifted out since the fire, and would be in the 75,000 square foot facility. Adjacent to that, he explained, they would have another operational center which would be doing some sub-assembly work and logistical activities on the same campus.

“Those are the two facilities we're looking to add. In addition to that, it's a lot of infrastructural work that needs to be done, just to give a little, you know, context around the total investment around $12 [million] to $12-and-a-half million dollars once it's all done. In terms of kind of job creation and job retention, we will retain 15 jobs that specialize in the plastic manufacturing capabilities, we will also be be adding somewhere between 35 to 40 jobs that will be here in Center, Texas as well,” said Wulf.

Wulf shared that he recently imparted to the City of Center that the current project will solidify the Portacool presence in the community as a whole.

“I think as we think as local county members here, people have grown up here and want to continue to be here for years to come is when Portacool makes this investment, it's going to cement Portacool in Center and Shelby County for years to come.” said Wulf.

Wulf described the current structure of Portacool as being very modular and that it can be moved in its current state.

“We also have an owner that's in Switzerland. He's very agnostic. Whether it's Zurich, whether it's Richmond, Virginia or Center, it really is a different thing. So I think that's what we're asking is to continue to incentivize him to make these investments in Center, Texas,” said Wulf. “We want to continue to be the employer of choice in Shelby County and in Center. We think this investment will allow us to do that and most notably cement Portacool here for the foreseeable future.”

Tom Bellmyer, Commissioner Precinct 4, asked Wulf when they would get started on the project and how long they expect it to take. Wulf explained that site preparation is already ongoing in anticipation of the tax abatement approval and would be putting concrete in place in a matter of three weeks. 

“We expect that by the end of the year we’re producing good product out of that facility,” said Wulf. “So, that will start feeding into our 2026 production cycle.”

Commissioner Bellmyer moved to approve the abatement for Portacool and the motion was seconded by Roscoe McSwain, Commissioner 
Precinct 1. The motion carried.

Wulf also introduced Jennifer Wyatt, Vice President-Human Resources.

The commissioners discussed the disbursement Child Safety Fee fund and County Judge Allison Harbison stated the total collected is $17,967 and less the 10% administration fee and a certain percentage being distributed to cities in Shelby County, the amount available for distribution is $11,760.59.

Ann Blackwell, County Treasurer, offered a suggestion of providing a percentage of what funding goes to CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates) to the County Welfare Board.

 

Karren Price, District Attorney, wasn’t certain what the County Welfare Board does and before the funds are split to that organization felt it would be important to know what they do. 

Commissioner Roscoe McSwain remarked that the board assists with children who have already been placed somewhere by helping provide them with Christmas gifts and other common needs.

As the commissioners considered tabling the agenda item until the next meeting Tanner Peace, Shelby County Children’s Advocacy Center (SCCAC) President, asked if the commissioners would consider designating the portion for SCCAC at the current meeting. Since the SCCAC could potentially receive more of the funds, the commissioners elected to wait until the next meeting.

Commissioner Bellmyer moved to table the item until the next meeting, and Commissioner McSwain seconded the motion. The motion carried.

Nancy Adams, Elections Administrator, spoke with the commissioners about a contract between the City of Center and the County Elections Department to rent the Center Community House for early voting and election day for the November 2025 election.

“I did include, or Debby included, in your packet the amount of money that we would need to pay on this contract for the City of Center for us to be able to have early voting in the community house in the past for several years now and I don't know how many years back Allison may be able to verify. We've been paying $600,” said Adams.

She stated the Community House is used from the day before early voting starts, and on the Sunday they set up. The day after the election is over the equipment is picked up. 

“We’ve paid $600 a year for however many years. As you may remember last year we did a contract, a joint election agreement. The commissioners approved that where we did the joint election agreement with the City of Center, Center ISD and the county, whereby the county pays a larger portion, but then there's a percentage for the city based on the number of voters we have, registered voters,” said Adams. “The reason they wanted to go contract and go up this year is because we billed them $1,500 last year. So and I foresee that every year in an election, a November election, they will be billed after the fact upwards of $1,300 to $1,500 for their part of the election.”

Adams said the county will recoup the cost as a result.

Commissioner Bellmyer moved to enter into an agreement with the City of Center for the election services, and Commissioner Shannon Metcalf seconded the motion. The motion carried.

The commissioners discussed a contract between Shelby County, Texas and San Augustine Motor Company to establish a deadline for delivery of four 2025 trucks for the Shelby County Sheriff’s Department, that was approved by the Commissioners Court on September 4, 2024.

County Judge Allison Harbison sought to confirm with Sheriff Gerald Corbell that two trucks would be delivered on Friday and Sheriff Corbell confirmed that was what the dealership said.

Judge Harbison said she has spoken with Dan Fussell at San Augustine Motor Company and she explained to him the county would likely be putting a deadline on the other two trucks that were ordered and he said he was fine with that.

Commissioner McSwain moved to give San Augustine Motor Company until April 4 to provide the remaining two trucks after that cease the bid, the motion was seconded by Commissioner Bellmyer. The motion carried.

Commissioner Bellmyer presented County Road 4778 for closure on April 4-April 6 for the purpose of re-decking a bridge. Commissioner Bellmyer explained it is a steel structured bridge that has had very good inspections from the state on the structure; however, they have commented on the decking needing attention.

The bridge is 85 feet in length and the expectation is to have it closed for three days before re-opening it after completion.

Commissioner Bellmyer moved to close the road and let everyone know what they’re doing and how long it will be closed, Commissioner Stevie Smith seconded the motion and it carried.

During the Commissioner Court Reports, Commissioner McSwain stated the rodeo arena had some dirt added to it with rocks in it and after being addressed there hopefully are no longer any rocks in the arena.

Sheriff Corbell stated the Sheriff’s Department was informed of a future closure of FM 138 at the West Creek Bridge.

“We were advised by the Texas Department of Highways of Public Transportation which is the highway department, that highway 138 towards Garrison, Arcadia they were going to be replacing the West Creek Bridge and during that construction highway 138 will be closed no route around, closed,” said Sheriff Corbell. “They’re going to be taking bids on it the latter part of ’27 and they should start construction on it around March of ’28 and so people need to know that there’s going to be limited access to anything west of Arcadia and so they advised it would take approximately 21 months.”

The meeting adjourned at 10:15am.

Agenda items approved during the meeting include:

1. Pay weekly expenses.
2. Pay current payroll.
3. Request from Portacool, LLC for a Tax Abatement Agreement for property belonging to Portacool, LLC located in Shelby County, Texas. 
4. Contract between the City of Center and the County Elections Department to rent the Center Community House for early voting and election day for the November 2025 election. 
5. Contract between Shelby County, Texas and San Augustine Motor Company to establish a deadline of April 4, 2025 for delivery of four (4) 2025 trucks for the Shelby County Sheriff’s Department, that was approved by the Commissioners Court on September 4, 2024. 
6. Give public notification of the closure of County Road 4778 for the dates of April 4, April 5, and April 6 for the purpose of re-decking a bridge. 
7. Adjourn at 10:15am. 

Agenda items tabled during the meeting include:
1. Take action to disburse the Child Safety Fee Fund.