Jimmy Zuehlke

1. Why am I running for office?

I have numerous reasons why I am running for the office of Constable Precinct 2 Hays County. I retired from the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission after twenty-five years of devoted and loyal service. I achieved the rank of Lieutenant in which I was the supervisor over twenty-two Agents and one civilian personnel. I oversaw fifteen counties one of which was Hays County. I have been a Patrol Deputy for the Hays County Sheriff’s Office for the past four years. I have been a resident of Hays County since 1997 and I have seen the enormous growth in the area. I have also kept my eye on Precinct 2 where I reside for many years. The citizens of Precinct 2 deserve a change and a positive change at that! 

2. What are my thoughts on open carry?

Open carry is a right and I fully support this right. With rights come responsibilities. There are pros and cons on this subject matter which are debateble. When open carry came out on January 1st of this year, it was like a “shiny new toy”. What I mean by this is that a vast amount of citizens looked forward to and very excited about this right. To this date, I have yet to see anyone open carry while I was on duty or off-duty. I believe more people are concealing there handgun rather than having the general public notice and bring attention to themselves if they were to open carry. When a person open carries, in my opinion they would be the first target of a criminal in a given situation for example a robbery or active shooter situation. 

But, by all means, this is a personal preference and peace officers around the state hopefully have received training on how to interact with citizens to choose to open carry. On a side note, as peace officer I (we) need all the help and support citizens can offer these days. I hope all citizens “have our backs!” 

3. Why do I think I would be a good constable, if elected?

I have served the citizens of this great State of Texas loyally for going on twenty-nine years. During that time I have always treated people as I would like to be treated. I have and will continue to treat all citizens with respect and dignity. Common sense is something that one does not learn, you either have it or not. Common sense in law enforcement is a must to succeed both as a successful peace officer and a successful community leader. I know that I have both. I am open to any and all new information and new technology to make my constables office great. Through my career, I have continued to learn. I will never say, “I know everything and I have done everything!” If a peace officer does quote these words, it’s time for that peace officer to move to a different career. This is a changing world and one must change with it. With this ideology, I will motivate my deputy constables to excel to the best of their abilities. I will and have always promoted a positive work environment. With positivity comes increased in productivity and performance. My deputy constables will be held accountable and so will I. No, we are not perfect but, I will pursue perfection through education, community input, and my leadership as Constable for Precinct 2 Hays County.

4. Star Wars, Star Trek or Battlestar Galactica?

I could have said either one of these three with an explanation of why but, I chose all three and let me explain why. Being fifty-three years of age, I grew up with Star Trek in the sixties, Battlestar Galactica in the seventies, and Star Wars in the eighties. Of course there have been spin-offs and/or remakes of all three.

I would like to compare all three to the way I will operate my constable’s office now and in the future. Through each program from the sixties to the twenty first century, the quality of special effects has improved, cinematography has improved, and yes the equipment available to these space travelers has also improved (phaser to taser). Change is apparent in each movie, series, and/or episode. Change is inevitable, so must the constable’s office change. The way criminal law enforcement has changed. I was issued a six shooter when I started with the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission in the late eighties. Now I have a semi-automatic handgun with high capacity magazines with a flashlight attached to the barrel. I would have never thought of putting a flashlight on the end of my handgun back in the late eighties. 

The way civil papers are served, tracked, and generated has changed. The accessibility of these papers to other law enforcement agencies has improved through technology and computer systems available in Hays County. This accessibility will be opened under my administration as well as open communication with other law enforcement agencies.

As stated earlier in my answers to the questions presented, change is constant and always will be. I will stay flexible in the way my office will operate and I will improve it to the best of my ability with the resources available.