Shelby County Today

June 14, 2025 - A Timpson man has received eight years probation in a sexual assault of a minor case that began in May 2023.

The 273rd Judicial District Court, Judge James Payne, Jr. presiding, has accepted a guilty plea on May 6, 2025 from Ja’Voiskieon (Vosky) Trae’Shun Howard on the charge of aggravated sexual assault of a child, first degree felony. He was arrested on October 21, 2023, for the sexual assault of a 13-year-old that occurred May 27, 2023, when Howard was then 17.

Craig Washington was the attorney for Howard and representing the state was Stephanie Stroud on behalf of the Shelby County District Attorney's office.

The guilty plea outlines that Howard received eight years deferred probation and is required to register as a sex offender. According to court documents, Howard is to have no contact with the victim, and no unsupervised contact with anyone under the age of 17. College attendance out of state will be subject to interstate compact approval. 

Per the court documents, Howard must provide confirmation from the college of his acceptance and his ability to attend and participate in class. Howard has also been fined $2,500 and is rewsponsible for $290 in court costs.

Child Safety Zones supplement to conditions of community supervision and specific to Jasper, Newton, Sabine, San Augustine and Shelby Counties indicate Howard is prohibited from going in, on or within 1,000 feet of the premises of any public or private school, playground or park where children gather, daycare or childcare facility, little league ball park, toy stores, video arcades, or game rooms where children gather, youth event where children participate or are entertained.

In the event Howard were to move to another jurisdiction, he must comply with the Child Safety Zones established by the respective county.

Court documents also indicate Howard shall be able to live in the home with his 16-year-old brother, and he shall be able to have supervised contact with immediate family under the age of 17 with adult supervision.

June 12, 2025 - Axley & Rode, LLP presented the Fiscal Year 2024 Annual Financial report during the Shelby County Commissioners May 28, 2025, special meeting.

Eric Carver, C.P.A. with Axley & Rode, informed the commissioners that Axley & Rode has merged with another firm called Carr, Riggs & Ingram.

“Our firm has merged with Carr, Riggs and Ingram, which is a much larger firm across the whole southeast,” said Carver. “The good thing about that is it allows us to provide some new services. They have a lot of cybersecurity, a lot of IT strengths and things like that. The other side is we're not going anywhere, same people. We're going to be doing the same thing.”

Carver explained to the commissioners that everything went well with the audit and didn’t identify any problems.

“Everything went good with the audit, no problems, nothing really unusual, everything was pretty routine,” said Carver.

One risk that is pointed out annually via outside audit relates to a lack of segregation of duties in the Justice of the Peace offices.

“This is nothing new is as I talked about the decentralized cash collection and this is your letter here is there's some risk and that's all I'm saying here is there's a risk. I didn't see anything that's a more unusual concern than not,” said Carver. “In your JP offices with the lack of number of personnel to have an adequate segregation of duties, and this is not a new comment. Y’all have heard this for years. So it's just a reminder, keep an eye on those things.”

Roscoe McSwain, Commissioner Precinct 1, moved to accept the accept the audit report and Tom Bellmyer, Commissioner Precinct 4, seconded the motion. It carried.

(Click Here to view 2024 Audit Report)

The commissioners approved authorizing grant match funds in the amount of $2 million and the submission of a grant from the Texas Historical Courthouse Preservation Program to restore the Shelby County Historical Courthouse with the assistance of the Shelby County Historical Commission.

County Judge Allison Harbison stated that it doesn’t mean that absolutely have to spend $2 million, but that they are willing to contribute that much to funding the project toward the $10 million grant from the Texas Historical Commission.

Commissioner McSwain said that when a walk through was done through the historic courthouse, it didn’t appear that it would end up costing the full $10 million, bur closer to $5 million, which would decrease the county’s contribution.

“It's a situation that's bad, like I said last week. We can't let that deteriorate and fall down. We're\ not going to tear it down. So we got to do something. It's just hard to sell to the public,” said Commissioner McSwain. “When they call the Sheriff's Department, they say, ‘I ain't got a deputy to send right now.’ Or they call and say, ‘My damn road's all to pieces, I can't get home.’ It's hard to tell the public, ‘Well, I'm going to spend two million dollars to restore this building.’"

Commissioners McSwain and Bellmyer agreed that without taking action, “mother nature” would make the decision for them and cause the building to fully deteriorate over time.

“I love history, and I think it's important to maintain our history for future generations to see what was and what we have, and I just think it's important. I really do,” said Commissioner Bellmyer.

Commissioner McSwain moved to set aside $2 million for the purposes of going out for the grant. Commissioner Bellmyer seconded the motion and it carried.

The commissioners were received a presentation from Kologik/CopSync software system representatives and members of the Shelby County Sheriff’s Department as an upgrade to replace the current software, Spillman.

Chief Mike Hanson explained the Kologik aspect of the software is for use in the jail and records management, and CopSync is an in-car software.

During discussion it was learned what the cost could potentially be and Clint Porterfield, County Auditor, clarified the initial total cost for both pieces of software, implementation, training would be $118,490 and then an annual cost of $61,640.

The item was for discussion only and no action was taken by the court.

The meeting was adjourned at 11:21am.

Agenda items approved during the meeting include:

1. Pay weekly expenses.

2. Shelby County Fiscal Year 2024 Annual Financial Report by Eric Carver, C.P.A with Axley & Rode, LLP.

3. Authorize the grant match funds in the amount of $2 million and approve the submission of a grant from the Texas Historical Courthouse Preservation Program to restore the Shelby County Historical Courthouse with the assistance of the Shelby County Historical Commission.

4. Adjourn 11:21am.

June 11, 2025 - Shelby County roadways became particularly hazardous as evidenced by two crashes that took place Sunday, June 8, 2025, within minutes of one another.

State Highway (SH7) 7 West, near County Road 1140 became blocked due to a two-vehicle incident at that location and fire personnel with the Center Fire Department were able to divert traffic along CR 1140 until the scene could be cleared.

According to the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS), at approximately 6:08pm, a black 2018 Chevrolet driven by Eshawn Randle, 52, of Beaumont was traveling west, followed by a 1995 Kenworth truck tractor semi-trailer driven by Adrian Johnson, 26, of Center.

It is reported that the Chevrolet slowed down due to the heavy rain and some debris in the roadway and was struck in the rear by the truck tractor.

Randle was transported to Shelby Emergency Department for treatment of non-life-threatening injuries.

Johnson was also transported to Shelby Emergency Department for treatment of non-life-threatening injuries.

Approximately three minutes following the incident on SH7, a Shelby County Sheriff’s Department vehicle was involved in a crash incident on U.S. Highway 96 South near the intersection of FM 417. When officers arrived, the vehicle was on its passenger side and was on the southbound side of the roadway.

According to the Texas DPS, at approximately 6:11 p.m., the Sheriff’s Department unit driven by Deputy George Watson was responding to an emergency call while traveling north. It is reported that Deputy Watson lost control during a period of heavy rain and traveled into the ditch where he overturned.

Deputy Watson, was transported to Shelby Emergency Department for treatment of non-life-threatening injuries.

According to DPS, there is no further information available.

Both crash incidents were investigated by Cpl. Trooper David Shields, Jr.

Texas flips the script to reduce fraud and improve customer service

June 10, 2025 - Texans will soon experience a more streamlined process for receiving metal license plates when they purchase a car from a dealer, thanks to a new state law. Under House Bill 718, passed by the 88th Legislature in 2023, starting July 1, 2025, motor vehicle dealers will begin issuing metal license plates directly to buyers of new and used vehicles.  

Buying from a Dealer: Consumers purchasing a vehicle from a Texas dealer will receive metal license plates instead of paper temporary tags, driving off the lot with their plates already in place. Until their registration sticker arrives from their county office, customers must keep their buyer’s plate receipt in the vehicle to be able to verify the purchase and pending registration to law enforcement.

Trading In a Vehicle: When consumers sell or trade in a vehicle with general issue plates, dealers may transfer the plates to another vehicle sold within 10 days, if the plates match the appropriate vehicle type, per Senate Bill 1902, passed by the 89th Legislature this year. Consumers with specialty license plates will keep their plates.

Buying/Selling a Vehicle in a Private Sale: The private party sales process remains unchanged:

• Sellers should remove their license plates and registration sticker from the vehicle when they deliver the vehicle to the buyer.  
• The seller can request to transfer the plates to another vehicle they own—if appropriate for the vehicle type—by visiting their county tax assessor-collector's office.  
• Sellers should submit a Vehicle Transfer Notification to the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles within 30 days of the sale of the vehicle.  
• Buyers must submit a title and registration application at their county tax assessor-collector’s office and obtain new plates to register the vehicle in their name within 30 days of purchase.

To learn more about these changes and their impact on consumers, dealers, tax assessor-collectors, and law enforcement, visit TxDMV.gov/HB718.