What to watch: The Midland County Commissioners Court will meet on Tuesday, July 21, to consider creating four new courthouse security deputy positions, one for each constable precinct, after a previous contentious meeting on the topic. They will also consider an agreement with the City of Midland regarding animal shelter funding and equipment purchases for the Permian Basin anti-gang unit, and review the county’s fleet contract with Sewell.

Key points:

  • Courthouse constable deputies: Commissioners will consider hiring four new courthouse security constable deputy positions for each of the county’s four constable precincts. This decision follows a contentious discussion during the court’s July 7 meeting, where a split court agreed to assign security responsibility at the new justice of the peace courthouse annex to the constables rather than the sheriff’s office.

County Judge Terry Johnson previously argued the four constables did not have enough manpower to staff the new courthouse and warned that hiring additional deputy constables could further reduce the Sheriff’s Office’s already-short staffing. Commissioner Charles Hall said that the Sheriff’s Office staffing shortages are driven by retention issues. Sheriff David Criner called Hall’s comments “uncalled for and unnecessary.”

Constable staffing and costs have been a recurring topic of debate at the court this year, including what the constable positions do and what taxpayers get in return. The agenda does not include salary or cost figures for the four positions.

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  • Animal shelter funding: The court will consider an interlocal agreement with the City of Midland to fund the city’s animal shelter. The city operates the shelter that serves both city and county residents. The county previously agreed to contribute $20,000 a year under a partnership agreement approved in 2024. The city’s animal services budget for fiscal year 2025-26 was $3.1 million.
  • Tax-rate season opens: Commissioners will designate an officer to calculate the no-new-revenue and voter-approval tax rates. Last cycle, the county adopted a $244 million budget that cut the average homeowner’s bill about 6%.
  • Sewell Fleet presentations: Commissioners will hear back-to-back presentations from Sewell Fleet and from the county’s own Fleet Department. Fleet management is a recurring topic at the court after commissioners split on whether to leave the county’s longtime fleet vendor and join Sewell. Fleet updates thus far have reported mostly positive feedback from employees.
  • Anti-gang unit equipment: The court will consider quotes for portable radios and for small, camera-equipped ground robots used to scout buildings before officers enter, both for the TAG unit. The TAG unit, with other local law enforcement agencies, recently apprehended 32 wanted individuals across Midland and Odessa.

The Permian Basin Texas Anti-Gang Center launched in September 2025. Midland is one of a handful of Texas hubs with a TAG task force, where local officers work alongside state and federal partners to target organized crime, drug trafficking, and violent gangs across West Texas. The county funds resources for the TAG unit through grants received by the state.

  • Roadside assistance update: The Permian Strategic Partnership (PSP) will present on the Highway Emergency Response Operator (HERO) program. HERO offers free roadside assistance on Interstate 20 and State Highway 191 to help stranded drivers, respond to accidents, and manage traffic. It launched in July 2025 as a $5 million collaboration, with $3 million from PSP and $1 million each from Midland County and TxDOT.

Johnson previously noted that TxDOT typically limits HERO to the state’s largest metro areas, but that the PSP helped bring the program to Midland.