Lavaca County approves MOU with Gulf Bend to place mental‑health caseworker alongside local deputy

Lavaca County Commissioners on Sept. 23 approved a memorandum of understanding with Gulf Bend Behavioral Health that assigns a licensed mental‑health caseworker to work alongside a county mental‑health deputy as part of a local Critical Response Team (CRT).

County leaders said the MOU formalizes work begun by a county law‑enforcement committee that has met monthly for a year to develop local mental‑health response capacity. “One of the things we found early on was that we needed to better meet the needs of our mental‑health community here in Lavaca County,” the sheriff told the court, describing the committee’s work. The court voted to approve the MOU by voice vote after a motion from Precinct 1, seconded by Precinct 2.

Why it matters: Commissioners and police chiefs said a locally based CRT — which pairs a county deputy with a Gulf Bend caseworker — will reduce response times compared with sending teams from Victoria and will give officers immediate access to a mental‑health professional by phone or on scene. Chief Daniel Buyer, the county’s representative to the Gulf Bend board, told the court Gulf Bend had selected a licensed counselor to work with the deputy and that the local CRT will be the first rural county‑based CRT in the Gulf Bend region.

What the MOU does and next steps: The county previously funded a mental‑health deputy position in the sheriff’s office. The new MOU provides the counselor/caseworker who will ride with or be available to the deputy for crisis assessments and follow up. Officials said the county will operate the pilot for one year to evaluate results and that Gulf Bend will provide the licensed caseworker. The court approved the MOU on a motion by Precinct 1, seconded by Precinct 2; the vote was recorded as passed by voice (aye). The court asked law enforcement and Gulf Bend to report back on outcomes and response times.