Shelby County Today

September 29, 2025 - The Shelby County Commissioners appointed Tracy Broadway to fulfill the duties of Precinct 4 Justice of the Peace, recently vacated by Dee Dee Green, in addition to his duties as Precinct 5 Justice of the Peace during their September 17, 2025 meeting.

Following an executive session which lasted from 10:02am until 10:20am Commissioner Tom Bellmyer moved to appoint Tracy Broadway, Justice of the Peace Precinct 5, as the interim Justice of the Peace for Precinct 4 until further notice. During the time he fulfills those duties, he will receive half pay for the duties of Precinct 4 in addition to his pay for Precinct 5. Commissioner McSwain seconded the motion. During discussion Ann Blackwell, County Treasurer, asked for he effective date and Judge Harbison said September 8 and the move will also include travel expense.

The motion carried.

This wasn’t an unprecedented circumstance as Broadway filled in for the position upon the passing of Jackie Kirkwood when he held the office of Justice of the Peace for Precinct 4, and then when Josh Ritter was removed from the same office.

DeeDee Green, who previously held the position of Justice of the Peace for Precinct 4, was sworn in to the office of District Clerk on September 8.

At the beginning of the meeting, the commissioners were presented with the resignation of Green from the Justice of the Peace Precinct 4 office.

Commissioner Bellmyer moved to accept the resignation and his motion was seconded by Commissioner Shannon Metcalf. The motion carried.

The commissioners then moved to approve the bond of DeeDee Green for the office of District Clerk first with Commissioner Bellmyer moving for the approval followed by a second from Commissioner McSwain. The motion carried.

Bids for road maintenance materials for Fiscal Year 2026 were opened and Judge Harbison read aloud each of the bids. Companies submitting bids included Attoyac Rock, LLC; Bryan and Bryan; Connors Crushed Stone; Longview Asphalt Company; Rodney Dean; Timber Wolf Lake Works and Brock’s Rocks; and Texas Materials.

Commissioner McSwain moved to accept all of the bids and Commissioner Shannon Metcalf seconded the motion, which then carried.

Commissioner Bellmyer offered up for auction a brush truck fire skid through local sources; however, locals that he knew were interested didn’t submit bids on the skid. Bellmyer moved to list the skid on Purple Wave and his motion was seconded by Commissioner Stevie Smith. It carried.

The commissioners approved a road project agreement between Shelby County and the USDA Forest Service National Forest and Grass Lands in Texas for the benefit of Commissioner Precinct 2.

“Unfortunately this is a singular project and they wanted this agreement on record,” said Judge Harbison. “It is only dealing with Precinct 2 for right now.”

Shannon Metcalf, Commissioner Precinct 2, moved to accept the agreement and a second was heard from Tom Bellmyer, Commissioner Precinct 4, and it carried.

A joint election contract between the City of Center and Shelby County was approved for the November 2025 election.

Nancy Adams, Elections Administrator, advised that it isn’t anything that requires approval of the court and that it’s an agreement that adjusts every year, depending on the number of voters and who is participating in the joint election.

“I do not have Center High School for this November election, I just have the City of Center and the county,” said Adams.

Adams presented the court with data including the number of registered voters, percentage of county voters and percentage of city voters.

This reflected 18,869 total voters with 16,138 of those being in the county and 2,731 being in the city. 85.52% of the total cost is then incurred by the county and 14.47% of the cost is incurred by the city.

Adams commented that the City of Joaquin voted at council for Adams to handle their November election.

Commissioner Bellmyer moved to approve the contract and Commissioner Stevie Smith seconded his motion. It carried.

The commissioners then approved rescheduling the Wednesday, October 1, 2025, meeting to Tuesday, September 30, 2025, at 3pm to allow the accounts payable department to expedite and process all of the 2024-2025 invoices to start the new budget year.

Commissioner Bellmyer moved to approve rescheduling the meeting and his motion was seconded by Commissioner Metcalf. The motion carried.

The meeting was adjourned at 10:23am.

Agenda items approved during the meeting include:
1. Weekly expenses.
2. Resignation of JP PCT. 4 DeeDee Green.
3. Bond for DeeDee Green, District Clerk.
4. Sheriff's and Constables' Fees for 2026.
5. Bids for road maintenance materials for Shelby County fiscal year ending 2026.
6. Advertise Brush Truck Fire Skid offered by PCT 4
7. Road Project Agreement between Shelby County and the USDA, Forest Service, National Forests and Grasslands in Texas for the benefit of Commissioner Precinct 2.
8. Joint election contract between Shelby County and the City of Center for the November 2025 election.
9. Change the date of the last Commissioners' Court meeting of this FY from Wednesday, October, 1, 2025 to Tuesday, September 30, 2025 at 3:00 P.M. to allow the Accounts Payable Department to expediate the process all FY2024-2025 invoices.
10. Tracy Boradway to fulfill dities of Precinct 4.
11. Adjourn vat 10:23am.

September 29, 2025 - Center Fire Department (CFD) personnel responded to a structure fire at around 3:30am Saturday, September 27, 2025, on Nacogdoches Street in Center.

The structure, located across the street from the Shelby County Jail in Center, was fully engulfed in flames behind a vacant residence.

Also a part of the fire was a large dead tree and fire personnel worked quickly to put down the fire with water and prevent spread to other structures in the immediate facility

No one was residing in the home at the time and Center Police Officers investigated at the scene.

Firefighters were directed to a fire at the 400 block of Maxwell Street in Center on Wednesday, September 24, 2025, at 4:04pm where a shed was on fire in front of a house. According to the CFD Nissan SUV was parked behind the shed and received some damage from the fire. Fire department personnel were able to extinguish the blaze and prevent further spread to the residence or structures on neighboring property.

A cause was not indicated; however, there was a pile of hot embers nearby from a trash fire.

A residence in the 700 block of County Road 1465 in the Mt. Gillion Community was the scene of a structure fire on September 20, 2025, when CFD personnel were dispatched at 6:45am after a neighbor of that residence called in a barn fire on the property. Upon arrival, firefighters discovered the structure to be fully involved in the fire, as well as a large dead pine tree. 

The resident wasn’t home at the time of the fire, and a family member requested to let the building burn since the portable building had already collapsed and everything inside was lost. The firefighters left for the station at 8:15am.

Abundant Love Ministries, located at the intersection of Shelbyille Street and Loop 500 in Center, was called in by a passer-by as being on fire September 18, 2025, when the caller stated that the outside of Abundant Love Ministries church was on fire.

According to the CFD, upon arrival the fire was mostly out with no visible flames, little heat remaining. The booster line from the fire department’s pumper truck was used to cool the area.

The origin of the fire was determined to be an electrical box located behind the cross on the wall within the church. As a result of the fire the cross and brick wall was charred, and a small amount of plastic in the soffit was melted. A ventilation fan was used to clear remaining smoke from the structure.

According to church members at the scene the individual who called in the fire and put out the flames was a Matt Styles.

September 25, 2025 - (Update): Karren Price, 123rd Judicial District Attorney, confirms the victim in this shooting incident to be Jeremy Smith, of Timpson.

The suspects in this incident who have been booked into the Shelby County Jail on the charge of murder, felony 1, are Jorge Vazquez, 23, of Center and Jesus Flores, 28.

(September 25, 2025 - 1:02am) - A truck stop fuel station in Tenaha near the intersection of U.S. Highways 59 and 96 was the scene of a shooting incident Wednesday, September 24, 2025.

Shelby County law enforcement authorities responded to the scene sometime around 8:30pm after the altercation had occurred.

Karren Price, 123rd Judicial District Attorney, has confirmed the incident and according to details the victim was parked in a Lexus in the eastern side of the parking lot where the diesel pumps are located apparently waiting on someone. Another vehicle pulled up to the Lexus with two hispanic males inside. At some point the passenger from the second vehicle exited and proceeded to beat on the driver of the Lexus through his driver’s side window. The driver of the Lexus was somehow able to get out of his vehicle and attempted to retrieve an AR-15 style rifle from his trunk. It was at this time the driver of the Lexus was allegedly shot by one of the individuals from the other vehicle.

Texas Department of Public Safety Troopers were first on scene and the driver was transported from the scene for medical treatment of his life-threatening injuries.

The suspects fled the scene and law enforcement officials are actively seeking them. Details on the suspect vehicle are not available at this time.

Agencies on scene included the Shelby County Sheriff’s Department, Shelby County District Attorney’s Office, Constable Precinct 4, Constable Precinct 5, Texas Rangers, and Texas Department of Public Safety.

September 23, 2025 - A Nacogdoches man has been sentenced to federal prison for a firearms violation in the Eastern District of Texas, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Jay R. Combs.

Adolfo Cruz, 27, pleaded guilty to unlawful possession of a machinegun and was sentenced to 24 months in federal prison by U.S. District Judge Marcia A. Crone on September 22, 2025.

According to information presented in court, on April 10, 2024, local law enforcement in Lufkin conducted a traffic stop of a vehicle operated by Cruz. The officer noticed a gun case in the back seat of Cruz’s vehicle and asked Cruz what was inside of the case. Cruz reached for the case and a firearm fell out. The officer removed Cruz from the vehicle and conducted a pat-down search of Cruz. During the pat-down search, the officer found a machinegun conversion device (MCD). MCDs are small mechanisms that can be attached to the rear of the slide of a firearm, converting a semi-automatic weapon into a fully automatic machinegun. Federal law defines a machinegun as a weapon which shoots, is designed to shoot, or can be readily restored to shoot, automatically more than one shot, without manual reloading, by a single function of the trigger.

ATF agents later obtained a search warrant for Cruz’s cell phone. The cell phone contained messages to and from Cruz discussing the buying and selling of firearms, including MCDs.

This case is part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime. Operation Take Back America streamlines efforts and resources from the Department’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETFs) and Project Safe Neighborhood (PSN).

This case was investigated by the Lufkin Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives. This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Donald S. Carter.