Inside The Hays County Sheriff’s Office- Sheriff Gary Cutler Exclusive

Third term incumbent, Sheriff Gary Cutler holds nothing back when it comes to expressing his appreciation and admiration for our local Hays County men and women in uniform.  Having held most every position within the law enforcement community from jailer, jail investigator, patrol officer, traffic officer, warrant officer, burglary, theft, homicide, and major crimes detective, training instructor, Lieutenant to Captain, no one knows as well as, he the weight and responsibility that comes with wearing a badge.

With over 40 years of law enforcement experience, Sheriff Cutler is outspoken on the value and importance of every officer, clerk, and volunteer who has dedicated their time and careers to keeping Hays County secure.

In 1974, Gary Cutler graduated from Sam Houston State University, received a B.S. in Law Enforcement, and followed by his first assignment as a jailer at the Travis County Sheriff’s Office (T.C.S.O) that same year. Cutler remained with the T.C.S.O for the next 26 years, before retirement. “I experienced the rapid growth of this agency and watched the office grow to over one thousand employees during my career”, Cutler stated in an exclusive interview with Corridor News.

Upon retirement from the Travis County Sheriff’s Office, he immediately took on the responsibilities of managing and investigating crimes from petty theft to homicide, as a Lieutenant in command of Criminal Investigations with the Williamson County Sheriff’s Office. Successively thereafter, Cutler served six years as an investigator with the Texas Alcohol and Beverage Commission.

In 2010 Gary Cutler was elected Sheriff of Hays County. “Upon taking office I met with all of our employees to relay my vision of what I knew was in store for one of the fastest growing counties in the U.S. I promised job stability, civil service style promotions, progressive discipline, support for our associations, a common sense policy manual, support for collective bargaining, to listen to all suggestions, solicit employee input and provide more, enhanced training, equipment upgrades, an overall better and safer fleet vehicle pool, Victim Assistance, crime lab and an overall more secure and better maintained jail facility.”

Making good on every promise, Sheriff Cutler has proven his dedication to his agency and the community, from his loyal staff, officers, and volunteers, his focus has continuously been the enhancement of the agency’s abilities, support, and services to the public.

Over the last five years, as Hays County Sheriff, Cutler has increased academy training from 5,000 hours in 2010 to 41,000 in 2014, with an additional 7,000 hours of training for H.C.S.O employees, outside of agency training, along with logging all hours for ALERRT training.

Under Cutler, Hays County Officers also receive intermediate and advanced training for license upgrades annually, as well as defensive tactics, driving, and firearms training. With responsible budgeting “always in mind” Cutler upgraded the fleet vehicles to Ford Explorers, V8 SUV’s or V6 Turbo LE packages, on a 1-million-dollar budget. “Tahoe’s were $11,000 more, so the Explorers were chosen for cost effectiveness”, Cutler stated. These vehicles were chosen because they can carry all of the necessary equipment officers are required to have at all times. “Officers work 12 hour shifts, their vehicle is their office”, said Cutler.

Further considerable accomplishments for the Sheriff include:

• Acquiring facilities managers to better supervise and maintain the jail, its command and LEC
• The booking and recreation was remodeled to better handle growing jail populations
• Acquiring qualified personnel for CID, Victim Assistance, Warrants, Patrol, SRO, Training Academy, Human Resources, Budgeting, Booking, Crime Lab and maintenance for better overall effectiveness and efficiency.
• Implementation of comprehensive and unbiased internal investigations procedures with a two appeal process
• Remodeled the Wimberley Substation
• Outsourced jail medical care for overall better inmate care, cost, and indemnity
• Created Supervisory training courses for newly promoted corporals, detectives and sergeants
• Cleared a twenty-year backlog of mismanaged evidence
• Installed a new Crime Lab facility and created a civilian supervisor position to process and manage evidence and employees
• Entered into joint partnerships with other county jails to maintain the Texas Jail Standards, without the use of sanctions
• Utilized the inmate commissary to aid in the purchase and retrofitting of the new SPRINTER Jail Transport Van, relieving stress of other vehicles
• Installed the wireless “PIPE” system for better efficiency, accountability and paperless method for inmate “cell checks”
• Installed video visitation system at no cost to the county tax payers
• Included Texas State PD and Kyle PD as additions to the HCSO SWAT Team
• Has maintained the Hays County Sheriff’s Office budget +/- 1% for the past 5 years’ overall
• Established a vehicle rotation system with the Commissioners Court, “to keep our fleet healthy and our officers safe.”
• Refurbished the Communications A/C system using recycled Government Center systems. “Now the old A/C system is in place as an emergency backup.”
• Installed an armory for the jail bureau and increased officer safety by installation of ballistic glass and walls around the bonding unit and entry doors
• Has established a mutual partnership with Austin PD lab for faster turnaround on drug case, ballistics, DNA and other laboratory services when needed using discretionary funds
• Development and deployment of a new CSI van
• Has scored “perfect or near perfect” for the jail kitchen, jail facility, training academy, and license testing and fire inspections.

Cutler stated the H.C.S.O. just completed their annual report for 2015, (which itself is paid for by seized drug asset money, not tax payer dollars, and due to be mailed out the first week of February) and is proud to disseminate it to everyone in Hays County proving the above achievements of the agency.

When asked what will be next should he be re-elected as Sheriff of Hays County, Cutler stated “I want to start a Fugitive Task Force due to the outstanding warrants, working closely with San Marcos Police Chief Chase Stapp. Stapp is currently strapped on budget before he can release his officers to another department; this group would tie into the current task force.”

Having received heavy criticism for his absence during the historic floods of Hays County this past year Corridor News posed the question: “Learning from the flood, how would you or will you modify your response plans in the event of any future natural disasters or an emergency event; Would you do anything different?”

Cutler stated: “The floods were on the job training experience. We had to move the communications office; we evacuated female inmates, and had buses waiting in case the jail needed to be evacuated. I was confident during the flood and I am confident in our current emergency response plans; we are well prepared with procedures in place.”

The H.C.S.O was not left unaffected by the floods, they lost their training academy and now all the officers’ who must continue training are making due until they can rebuild.

“In my absence the interim supervisors had a combined experience of over 105 years when we left for the trip, with more than all the confidence in the world in Deputy Chief Jamie Page; with 40 years’ experience all to himself.”

Cutler stated he was told “we don’t need you”, upon him learning of the emergency situation from abroad.

“He was on the phone all night due to the 7-hour time difference, we received pictures, phone calls, and texts the entire time; essentially he was working abroad”, Mrs. Carol Cutler commented on the issue.

Mrs. Carol Cutler explained the Sheriffs absence occurred due a “Bucket List” trip that had been planned for over six months prior.  While opponents of the Sheriff have offered up the opinion he’s always on vacation, the man himself has never offered up an excuse, when in fact he has the most deserving cause.

With the upmost dignity, honor and propriety Sheriff Cutler has never hidden behind the fact that his faithful friend and spouse of over 30 years of marriage has been a cancer warrior for almost 12 years. Having undergone a bone-marrow transplant on one of their wedding anniversaries, she has an inspirational attitude while maintaining her professional career as well as working with fellow cancer warriors, doing her part to motivate and support others even with the odds against her. Mrs. Cutler’s particular diagnosis has been classified as chronic and non-curable, and yet with a glowing smile, simply stating, “I am very blessed, I don’t have time for cancer.”

Moving on to politics, when asked about the attacks from opponent Tommy Ratliff, Cutler stated the two had met while working for Travis County, and he never worked with him. He admitted to hearing rumors regarding Ratliff at the time however, never concerned himself with Ratliff’s past; “never focused on it,” and will not bash opponents.

Corridor News: How has open carry affected the H.C.S.O?

Cutler: “Every officer went through training to deal with open carry laws and potential situations with citizens; according to daily statistics we have only received 1 or 2 calls regarding open carry since it became legal; there is really no call volume on the matter. From a law abiding perspective, I have respect for open carry; just let the new wear off on both sides of the fence. I respect those who have opted out because it’s the law as well as respect for those who wish to carry. The law is the law.”

It was the recommendation of a Constable, and more influentially the encouragement of his son that motivated Cutler to run for Sheriff in the first place.

Corridor News: Why run for a fourth term?

Cutler: “I love wearing my uniform. I love working with good hard working people with families. We run our office straight as an arrow; Our DA’s are on speed dial, we work together and our volunteers are worth their weight in gold, and we have worked hard over the last 5 years, and I will not let it be destroyed in 30 minutes.”