Ashley Kontnier
BUDA — Several community leaders and law enforcement officials gathered at Onion Creek Senior Center Wednesday, Oct. 22, for a Safety Summit, which highlighted various departments that serve Buda and offered resources and strategies to keep the city safe.
Hays County Commissioner, Precinct 2
Following a prayer from Radical Church Pastor Trevor Atchley, Hays County Precinct 2 commissioner Dr. Michelle Cohen began her presentation by discussing one of her main jobs: roads.
“As someone who has lived in Hays County a long time, I can tell you, a lot of our infrastructure looks pretty much the same as it did 50 years ago, unfortunately,” she said. “So, we have a lot of work ahead of us, but improving our road infrastructure has been a top priority for me.”
The commissioner went on to mention the county’s 2024 Road Bond, which was overturned by a Travis County judge, due to a Texas Open Meetings Act violation. As previously reported by the Hays Free Press, the county has since allotted funding to facilitate many of the projects initially in the bond.
“So, it's been a struggle, but I'm committed to just making sure that we're moving forward,” said Cohen.
Additionally, she discussed the most recent budget approved by the commissioners court, 33% of which was dedicated to law enforcement, with transportation and roads at 11% and health and safety at 9%.
“A lot of my focus has been on trying to build up our departments, trying to make sure that they have the resources that they need to provide better service for everyone,” she explained.
“There's so much more that I could probably talk about, but I don't want to cut into my other speakers' time, but I am always here and willing to listen to any issue, even if it's something that's not particularly in my precinct. I'm always happy to listen to any concern that you have around public safety or just anything else or [to provide a] connection to resources. I'm here for you all to do that,” Cohen concluded.
Buda Police Department
Buda Police Chief Bo Kidd began his time by speaking about this most frequent crime in Buda — vehicle burglaries.
“If you want to avoid having your vehicle burglarized, it's a really simple thing that you can do — lock your cars,” he explained.
The chief emphasized the importance of people locking their cars, as criminals often go and check door handles. The safest thing, he said, is to park cars inside the garage. However, if parking outside is the only option, the closer to the house, the better.
“Criminals don't want to be seen or heard, so the chances that they're going to break your car window in a residential area are pretty slim,” Kidd said. “In fact, I would say probably 98- 99% percent of all of our vehicle burglaries, there's no forced entry.”
Additionally, the chief shared information about scams that have been going on recently, including people getting phone calls saying they have an unpaid warrant or that they have to pay a fine for a jury summons that they didn’t respond to.
In these instances, Kidd had a couple of tips for spotting the scams:
• Don’t trust the caller ID. Even if it says Hays County Sheriff’s Office or Police Department, these calls are often “spoofed.”
• Do not process a payment via crypto currency, Bitcoin or wire transfer. The courts do not process payments via any of these methods.
Buda Fire Department
Buda Fire Chief Clay Huckaby updated attendees on the status of the construction of the Main Station, located on FM 2770, which began in 2022, but was delayed, due to contractor trouble, as previously reported by the Hays Free Press.
According to Huckaby, the project is “now back up and running” and he is hoping to be able to utilize the facility at the beginning of 2026.
Also in the new year, the department is looking forward to breaking ground and beginning work on station four, which is a new location in the Shadow Creek subdivision, next to Pfluger Elementary School.
Following his update, Huckaby jumped into fire and home safety preparedness, reminding everyone to have a fire safety plan at home.
“So, if there is a fire, everyone gets out of the home and meets at that safety spot and then, dials 911. Too many times, people try to dial 911, when the house is on fire, from inside their home. We highly advise you to get out of your home first and then, dial 911, for obvious reasons,” he explained. “Always have a designated meeting spot and practice that plan twice a year … just a friendly reminder on how to get out of your home and know two ways out of your home at all times.”
Next on the chief’s list of reminders was smoke detectors; he encouraged people to change their smoke detector batteries twice per year and recommended to do this on the weekends when the time changes — coming up Nov. 2. This also goes for carbon monoxide detectors in homes with propane or natural gas.
Right now, Buda is in a “critical” time for fire-wise landscaping, he continued. This includes keeping lawns mowed, cutting back trees and brush and keeping combustible items away from the home, including firewood.
Finally, Huckaby emphasized the importance of CPR and Stop the Bleed trainings, when possible. The department offers the latter, he said.
Justice of the Peace, Precinct 5
Judge Sandra Bryant, who has served as the justice of the peace for Precinct 5 since 2022, explained that, in her court, approximately 92% of the cases involve vaping by minors.
“Our youth don't have the tools necessary, or haven’t been shown the tools necessary, to be able to deal with trauma, trouble [or] decision making. They're struggling in this area and so, they've turned to vaping to calm their situation and calm their feelings,” she said.
She shared that, previously, possession of these vape pens would result in a mark on the record of the child, but recently, House Bill 3186 changed this by offering a “second chance” in the form of the Juvenile Diversion Program.
Through the program, which can only be utilized one time in a 12-month period, children are diverted from the court to another individual, who mentors them via methods, such as classes and community service.
“I always like to offer community service instead of the parent paying the fee because I believe that if you take from the community, you need to give back to the community, and so I have parents may pay a small fee, but my real goal is to make certain that the child understands the consequences of their actions,” Bryant said. “So, I have them do community service and — I'm old school — so I have them write a two-page paper. They have to write it because otherwise, AI will write it for them. So, I can't have that happen, right? So, we're really trying to hold the kids accountable, but also show some love to them, as well.”
As far as adults go, Bryant said she has been seeing an increase in evictions in her courtroom, as well as debt claims.
In response, she and Cohen have been working together to provide resources, such as the Blanco River Regional Recovery Team, which provides housing stability services.
“I share these numbers with you to make you aware of the safety and concern and the issues that we're facing as a community,” she said. “But I like to give you some hope. It's not all doom and gloom. We're providing the resources to these individuals who need the help. We're going far and beyond my court to make certain that they have the documents necessary to be able to go get additional help.”
Hays County Office of Emergency Services
Mike Jones, director of the Hays County Office of Emergency Services (OES), told attendees about www.HaysInformed.com, a website run by the OES, which includes a wealth of information about emergency preparedness, including a list of what to put in an emergency supply kit, information on how to create a family preparedness plan, links for staying informed in case of an emergency and more.
Another resource he shared was www.WarnCentralTexas.com, which provides emergency notifications to registered users. Additionally, Jones recommended turning on emergency notifications and public safety systems on cell phones, in order to get alerts sent out from the county.
To close out his time, Jones talked about the Community Emergency Response Team. This free program is an opportunity for community members to be trained on various protocols to help the community, whether that be family members, neighbors or the community at-large, in the case of an emergency.
“We teach you everything you need to know to take care of yourself, your neighbors, your family, anybody else who shows up at your house unannounced,” he explained. “You learn medical; you learn Stop the Bleed. You learn citizen response and active shooter events. You learn how to build a kit. You learn how to take care of folks in disaster with psychology, and you also learn about terrorism facts.”
Hays County Sheriff's Office
The Hays County Sheriff’s Office has a $73 million budget for the current fiscal year, said Sheriff Anthony Hipolito.
As sheriff, he is responsible for the law enforcement side, but also the corrections center and the 911 dispatch center, which dispatches for HCSO, the Buda Police Department and all the fire and emergency medical services (EMS) stations in the county.
For law enforcement, the center fields approximately 72,000-75,000 calls per year, Hipolito stated. In addition to that, there are thousands of calls for EMS and fire.
According to Hipolito, in the extraterritorial jurisdiction (ETJ) of Buda, which HCSO is responsible for, there were 19,380 calls from October 2024 to October 2025. This includes 2,200 traffic stops, 2,700 911 investigations and 2,300 animal control calls.
“So, we have to think long term when it comes to law enforcement. We have to think long term when it comes to fire and EMS. With a growing county, obviously problems come with that, right? Crime is going to continue to creep up,” the sheriff said. “We have to continue to collaborate with all our partners to ensure that that crime rate stays as low as possible.”
Additionally, Hipolito discussed HCSO’s community outreach. The department offers different classes to the community, including civilian response to active shooter events (CRASE) training, scam classes and the newly added rape aggression defense (RAD) classes.
Another education opportunity is fentanyl awareness. Since 2022, HCSO has partnered with the Forever 15 Project, traveling nationwide to educate the public about fentanyl poisonings.
To conclude his time, Hipolito shared information about the HCSO Citizen’s Academy, which is a 12-week program that is offered two times per year, and the ride-along program, which is available to community members ages 18 and up with no felony record.
“It's been a truly amazing 10 months and I look forward to being here a long time,” he said. “I look forward to continuing to collaborate with each and every stakeholder and to include the community, to ensure that we remain the best county and the safest county to visit in this country.”
