Shelby County Today

Ricky King sworn into City of Center Chief of Police position for the Center Police Department at the beginning of April 2025.

July 16, 2025 - Just over 100 days into a new chapter for the Center Police Department has seen changes in promotions and organization.

At the beginning of April, the City of Center Municipal Court Judge Grover Russell performed an official swearing in ceremony for Ricky King as the new Chief of Police for the City of Center's Police Department following the retirement of Chief Jim Albers.

With his wife, Denny, by his side, King recited the pledge of office, “I, Ricky King, do solemnly swear or affirm that I will faithfully execute the duties of the office of Chief of Police of the City of Center, Texas and will to the best of my ability preserve, protect, and defend the constitution and laws of the United States and of this State so help me God.”

Chief Ricky King began his career with the Center Police Department in December 2003, after his graduation from the Angelina College Police Academy. King started as a patrol officer, working all four patrol shifts, in 2006 he was promoted to the Criminal Investigation Division (CID), where his primary responsibility was investigation of crimes against children. After two years in CID, Detective King was tasked with starting the first narcotics investigation unit for the Center Police Department, where he worked in the undercover capacity for several years. In 2010 he obtained his SWAT training and held the position of SWAT Commander. Officer King was promoted to the rank of Sergeant in 2012, becoming responsible for the supervision of a patrol shift and the narcotics division. In 2022, King was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant and commanded the patrol and criminal investigation divisions. In April of 2024, he was promoted to the rank of Assistant Chief responsible for budgeting and the operations of all staff of the department.

Chief King advised his wants and goals are to provide the officers with the equipment and training that's necessary to do the job in an environment that demands professionalism and transparency. He shared, “We're going to be an agency that the citizens know and trust, and they can come and talk to us and they know that we're going to do the right thing.”

Police Chief King spoke about his predecessor, Jim Albers. He recalled when Albers first came to Center and the concern the department had with an unknown coming in. With an overall feeling of relief at the department he described, “We got a guy that cared about the people that worked for him. He created right off the bat, a family environment. It was so obvious. I think that makes our agency different than others because when officers come here, that are from a different agency, they instantly see that family mentality environment, and it's almost impossible to leave. I credit him for that. He brought that here, and I intend to continue it.

“Albers was a good leader. I was a detective, and at the time, really all I knew was how to investigate narcotics cases. I loved it, and that's all I wanted to learn how to do. He turned me into an administrator and it was a long process. It's different. It's a total different job than what I had. But I appreciate what he did for us and it was difficult to see him leave.”

From left: Lt. Andrew Williams, Lt. Billy Lusk, Sgt. Donna Ruppert, and Chief Ricky King

Seven weeks into Chief Kings leadership, the first set of promotions were done. “With new leadership comes new ideas, goals, and structures, and commitments. I had a few years to think about what I thought would be the best thing to do moving forward and what was the highest in priority. I started with the department structure, we have a solid foundation in patrol and we had good supervision but I wanted a little more.

“This move ensures that we’ll have 24/7 supervision and creating the opportunity for leadership roles to focus solely on their divisions. The leaders that we chose to captain this ship determines success or failure on my part and I have no doubt in the people that we chose to do this.”

Lieutenant Andrew Williams spoke about the structural changes, “We wanted to divide the house. Have a lieutenant over patrol and an administrative lieutenant to handle CID (Criminal Investigative Division) and to assist the chief in day to day activities and operations. Well, we still needed one more sergeant.” He then announced the promotion of Donna Ruppert to sergeant and Billy Lusk to lieutenant over Patrol. Both have helped to move the new vision for the department forward. “I don’t think we could have picked two better people to take over these new leadership roles in our agency.” Lieutenant Williams had the honor to pin on the new Sergeant badge for Ruppert. Chief King had the honor to pin on the new Lieutenant badge and bars for Lusk.

From left: Lt. Andrew Williams, Chief Administrative Assistant Amy Lindley, Municipal Court Administrator Donna Dugger, Detective Garrett Rocchi, Dispatch Supervisor Charlene Jackson, and Chief Ricky King

Additional recognitions and changes made included Charlene Jackson promoted from dispatcher to Dispatch Supervisor; Donna Dugger moved from Administrative Assistant to Municipal Court Administrator; and Amy Lindley from dispatch to Chief Administrative Assistant.

Chief King started by speaking in regards to Donna Dugger, “I’m proud to announce the new promotions I have filled; some of these recognitions are way overdue. I have a court administrator who has been serving in one capacity or another for over 34 years. Everything from dispatch to administrative assistant, records clerk, TCOLE Compliance, dispatching supervisor, and I believe she even built some case files for detectives for prosecution and did some department scheduling as well - that has turned into about six different jobs here.”

Concerning Charlene Jackson he shared, “I also have a dispatcher who has served for right at 30 years and been part of the backbone of crucial information distribution within this department. This person has shown great leadership skills and a very strong work ethic.”

Next, Chief King spoke about Amy Lindley, “Also, I have a dispatcher who has been here over 20 years, we started at the same time, that has been very helpful with some of Donna’s overloaded work load. She did this without hesitation or any recognition. So, we are here today to do just that - we want to recognize our All-stars.”

Lt. Williams spoke first about Dugger, “So, like the Chief just said, Donna [Dugger] has held just about every position here that doesn’t require a gun and a badge. So, she knows every one of us here. She’s raised Ricky [King] and myself and a lot of the other people here. She took it upon herself to go to the courts, become the Court Clerk I, then obtain her Court Clerk II certifications and licensing and she oversees everything that happens on the court side. There is a lot that goes into that which a lot of the officers don’t know about.”

He then spoke about Jackson and Lindley, “Charlene [Jackson] has stepped up and taken on the supervisory role in communications to assist the day to day workload with Donna which has really helped take some of the stress off Donna but then she added new stress in the courts. And then just recently, Amy [Lindley] has transitioned from her position, dispatch/records clerk, to the administrator for the department. She does everything from keeping the Chief on track, which we all know is a very tough job, but now she gets to keep me on track as well and I get blamed for working her harder than the Chief does.”

In summary, Lt. Williams said, “We couldn’t do it without the three women that we’ve recognized today. They really keep everything on track within the department. Without them, we would be lost.”

The final promotion was Garrett Rocchi from Patrol to Detective. Chief King shared, “This one, because it’s different for me, I was responsible for hiring this officer. I sat on the interview board, I got to ask him questions, and I said ‘Hey, where do you see yourself in five years?’ Most people are like, ‘ugh…’ you know because they are not ready for that question. This guy fresh out of the academy, with no experience whatsoever, didn’t bat an eye and looked at me and said ‘Oh, I’m gonna be a detective’ and I got to watch him achieve that goal today.”

July 16, 2025 - The Shelby County Commissioners Court held a budget workshop Wednesday, July 16, 2025, and they heard of the needs of the Elections Administrator and Shelby County Sheriff’s Department.

Nancy Adams, Elections Administrator, stated the Secretary of State office requires Texas voters to get new registration cards every two years.

“That’s a large expense. Postage, printing, mailing, all of that stuff,” said Adams. “That’s the majority of what I’m asking for.”

Adams said that is why the expense is going up around $4,700. She also increased the budgeted amount for travel expense from $500 to $1,000.

County Judge Allison Harbison clarified that would be increasing to $75,550 from $70,750.

Shelby County Sheriff Gerald Corbell and Chief Deputy Mike Hanson presented a long list of items the Sheriff’s Department needs.

Several of the items addressed included radios for the jail and courthouse security, radios for patrol officers, AED equipment in the jail, annual service for the jail power generator, in-car computer systems, the potential of increase in pay to officers - especially those in administrative roles, and an employee dedicated to evidence inventory.

While handheld radios for officers were at a possible rate of $8,000 due to the need of 800 MHZ radios to be compatible with state systems being installed by DETCOG, in-car cameras were also a potential expense at around $30,000 for three vehicles. Bodycams are also a need stated by the Sheriff’s Department.

Budget workshops are intended to help the commissioners hear and discuss what increases may be needed to the overall budget and what specific departments might have needs not addressed in their current budget. Judge Harbison said letters were sent out from her office around three weeks previous to the budget workshop so county departments could be aware and prepare to present any budget adjustments.

Clint Porterfield, County Auditor, explained that time is running short on what the court has to decide for the upcoming budget.

“Today is July 16, we will not have court or a budget workshop, next week we receive certified values and a post budget has to be prepared and filed shortly thereafter. You just digested a lot of information that needs to be decided on now to prepare a proposed budget and [the commissioners] won't be here next week,” said Porterfield. “I don't know what to tell you as far as filing a budget, a proposed budget, a lot has been given to the judge to have to decide on. And nothing goes into the proposed budget unless there is a document from the judge putting those in there, so she has a tremendous responsibility to pick and choose what does and what does not.” 

Porterfield rhetorically inquired of the court if anyone believes the county has a balanced budget, and he said “no.” He explained that SB2 put a cap on revenue of three-and-a-half percent, about $400,000.

“In next year's budget, we already have a $100,000 health insurance increase. We have a $100,000 software expenditure. We haven't even talked about pay increases, if so, how much you do and when and where. And in this year's budget. We have a $500,000 line item of fixed assets for two projects, mostly identified across the street,” said Porterfield. “Last year, we also funded some additional oil startup costs for each precinct. That was nearly $400,000. All I'm telling you is that we do not have a balanced budget from the get go. We had to use our savings. We had a very conservative budget, therefore we don't normally have to use all of it.”

Porterfield reminded the court that last year, they used $1.1 million of fund balance to balance the budget. 

“So we have to be very prudent in the choices we make as to what we can budget and what we cannot budget. So it's a very tough decision with the needs of our county in all areas. So again, I'll just close with saying today is July 16th. There's a lot of work to be done in the next two weeks to work on tax rate, tax structure, and funds needed to balance the budget,” said Porterfield.

As of this report, there is no meeting scheduled for the following week due to the commissioners being out of the county for training.

July 10, 2025 - Shelby County Sheriff’s Office (SCSO) was contacted in regard to gunshots being fired, at MLK Jr. Park, located at 216 Park Street in Timpson on July 6, 2025, at approximately 10pm. 

Prior to deputies’ arrival, it was learned that a gunshot victim was being transported, by private vehicle, to Nacogdoches Medical Center. The victim, Jakorvian Porter, 18, of San Augustine, was admitted there in critical condition. Shortly after admittance, the victim was taken by air to a Tyler hospital. Porter is currently in stable condition, but suffered extremely serious wounds, having been shot in both the chest and one leg. 

Three individuals were detained near the scene and questioned and released, during the early morning hours of July 7, 2025. 

SCSO deputies were assisted by Texas Department of Public Safety State Trooper Matthew Chandler and Timpson VFD, at the scene, and by Nacogdoches DPS Troopers, Nacogdoches County SO and Nacogdoches PD, at the hospital in Nacogdoches.

This incident is currently under investigation. We are requesting that anyone with information pertaining to this incident, please contact our office at 936-598-5601 or contact CID Captain Cameron Nichols directly at 936-572-1354.

Related article: Timpson Has Back-To-Back Shooting Incidents Over Weekend

July 8, 2025 - Nacogdoches Police Department has confirmed the death of a Shelby County resident following an early morning fatal crash incident on Tuesday, July 8, 2025.

According to details released by the Nacogdoches Police Department at 3:56am Julissa Hernandez, 21, of Shelby County, was driving a 2014 Cadillac Escalade southbound in the 3800 block of N. University Drive when the Cadillac left the roadway and collided with several trees.

The information indicates officers think Hernandez was ejected from the vehicle during the crash.

Additional information will be provided as it becomes available.