Comal County court approves addendum to hold ICE detainees, accepts veterans grant and multiple routine plats and contracts

Comal County Commissioners Court approved an addendum to its intergovernmental agreement with the U.S. Marshals Service that adds Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) as an authorized user — allowing the county jail to hold ICE detainees under the existing agreement — during the court’s regular meeting Thursday, June 26, 2025.

The court also accepted a $210,000 grant for the county’s Veterans Treatment Court, authorized the electronic submission of a $52,000 Help America Vote Act (HAVA) elections security grant, and approved a series of routine plats, budget transfers, and employee-benefit renewals.

Why this matters: adding ICE as an authorized user changes which federal agencies may use the county jail under the existing U.S. Marshals Service agreement. The Veterans Treatment Court grant funds program operations and the HAVA award would pay for updated electronic poll books, the county elections official said.

What the court did and key details

- ICE addendum: A staff member summarized the addendum, saying, “What this addendum is doing is adding immigration and customs enforcement as an authorized user under the currently approved intergovernmental agreement with the United States Marshals Service. This will allow the jail to hold ICE detainees under the terms of that agreement.” The staff member told the court there were no other changes to the previously approved agreement. Commissioner Hogg moved approval, Commissioner Leacock seconded, and the motion carried by voice vote.

- Veterans Treatment Court grant: The court accepted a $210,000 award from the Texas Veterans Commission for programmatic expenses under the 2025–26 Veterans Treatment Court grant. A program representative said this was roughly the same amount the program received last year and noted the award was authorized for 14 months rather than 12. Commissioner Leacock moved approval; Commissioner Hogg seconded and the motion carried.

- HAVA grant resolution: Elections staff told commissioners the county has until June 30 to apply for a $52,000 HAVA elections security subgrant to buy new electronic poll books. Commissioner Webb moved approval of the resolution authorizing electronic submission; Commissioner Crownover seconded and the motion carried.

- Proclamation: The court issued a proclamation honoring B and C Service Center LLC (New Braunfels) for receiving the Texas Historical Commission’s Texas Treasure Business Award recognizing continuous operation since 1969. Commissioner Hogg moved approval; Commissioner Leacock seconded and the court approved the proclamation.

- Land-use and plats: The court approved several plats and amendments, including: • Amendment to the plat of Canyon Lake Hills Unit 1 combining Lots 538 and 539 (establish Lot 538R). (Moved by Commissioner Leacock; second Commissioner Hogg.) • Amendment to the plat of Vintage Oaks at the Vineyard Unit 28 combining Lots 2205 and 2206 (establish Lot 2205R). (Moved by Commissioner Leacock; second Commissioner Hogg.) • Final plat for the vacate and replat of Lot 1 Smith Ranch Subdivision Unit 2 and Lot 14R Smith Ranch Subdivision Unit 1 (establish Lots 1R and 14RA). (Moved by Commissioner Leacock; second Commissioner Hogg.) • Final plat approval for Gatehouse Unit 4, including acceptance of right-of-way dedication along FM 1102 and acceptance of an irrevocable standby letter of credit as surety for road and stormwater improvements; a variance request was approved to match prior units. (Moved by Commissioner Webb; second Commissioner Crownover.)

- Easement termination request: Staff recommended and the court authorized a letter requesting termination of easement DACW63-2-01-0550 for a pipeline right-of-way at Canyon Lake to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers; staff reported two dry hydrants covered by the easement could not be located after a Corps inspection and may have been lost in the 2002 flood. Commissioner Leacock moved approval; Commissioner Crownover seconded and the motion carried.

- Treasurer’s monthly report (May 2025): County Treasurer Miss Couch presented the monthly report and said investment interest income through May was just under $3.5 million and that short-term yields had recently held near 4.24%. She asked for approval of the report; Commissioner Webb moved approval, Commissioner Crownover seconded and the motion carried.

- Intergovernmental agreement for Veterans Treatment Court services: The court approved a letter agreement renewing services with the Caldwell-Comal-Hays County Community Supervision and Corrections Department (CSCD) so CSCD may provide a probation officer under the Veterans Treatment Court grant. Commissioner Leacock moved approval; Commissioner Hogg seconded and the motion carried.

- City of New Braunfels entry agreement: Commissioners authorized a letter permitting the City of New Braunfels temporary access to county property along San Antonio Street to reconstruct five driveways as part of the San Antonio Street improvement project. Commissioner Webb moved approval; Commissioner Leacock seconded and the motion carried.

- Employee health and supplemental benefits renewals: The court approved renewal notices and plan confirmations for the Texas Association of Counties Health and Employee Benefits Pool (self-insured, administered by Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas) and multiple voluntary employee-paid supplemental plans (dental, vision, LegalShield/IDShield, Unum long-term disability/whole life, Aflac supplemental policies) and the county-paid employee assistance program administered by Interface Behavioral Health. Commissioners approved these items by individual motions and voice votes.

- Jail contract/addendum note: In addition to the ICE addendum to the U.S. Marshals Service agreement, the court also approved an addendum that adds ICE as an authorized user under that agreement; staff confirmed no other changes to the terms.

- Line-item transfers and equipment purchases: The court approved several budget adjustments and purchases including: • A transfer for the sheriff to cover rental of an office building for the year. (Moved by Commissioner Crownover; second Commissioner Webb.) • Constable Precinct 4: approval to use donations to buy four IT-standard desktop computers and eight monitors. (Moved by Commissioner Crownover; second Commissioner Webb.) • Facilities maintenance: purchase of a Connex box (storage container) for landscape equipment. (Moved by Commissioner Leacock; second Commissioner Hogg.) • Recycling: a transfer to cover overtime, parts and repairs, equipment and safety costs anticipated for mulch operations. (Moved by Commissioner Crownover; second Commissioner Leacock.) • Road & Bridge: a transfer to replace an air-conditioning unit and refrigerator in the engineer’s office and to add licenses for electronic plat/permitting review. (Moved by Commissioner Leacock; second Commissioner Hogg.)

- Executive session: The court convened an executive session under Texas Government Code Sec. 551.087 to deliberate economic development negotiations with company representatives and legal counsel; the court returned to open session at about 9:40 a.m. and announced no action would be taken on matters discussed in closed session.

Votes at a glance (summary of actions approved) - Item 1: Approve claims for June 2025 — EFT $390,117.07; regular claims $3,282,235.30; total $3,672,352.37 — approved (motion by Commissioner Hogg; second Commissioner Leacock). - Item 2: Proclamation honoring B and C Service Center LLC (Texas Treasure Business Award) — approved (Hogg/Leacock). - Items 3–6: Plat amendments and final plats (Canyon Lake Hills Unit 1; Vintage Oaks Unit 28; Smith Ranch replat; Gatehouse Unit 4 & related dedications/variances) — all approved (various movers/seconds noted above). - Item 7: Letter requesting termination of easement DACW63-2-01-0550 to U.S. Army Corps of Engineers — approved (Leacock/Crownover). - Item 8: Treasurer’s monthly report (May 2025) — approved (Webb/Crownover). - Item 9: Acceptance of $210,000 Veterans Treatment Court grant (2025–26) — approved (Leacock/Hogg). - Item 10: Letter agreement with Caldwell-Comal-Hays CSCD for Veterans Treatment Court services — approved (Leacock/Hogg). - Item 11: Resolution authorizing electronic submission of TXHAVA ES 2025 County 46 HAVA subgrant (approx. $52,000) — approved (Webb/Crownover). - Item 12: Letter allowing City of New Braunfels temporary entry for San Antonio Street driveway reconstruction — approved (Webb/Leacock). - Items 13–18: Employee health plan renewals and voluntary supplemental plans (TAC pool renewal, dental/vision, LegalShield/IDShield, Unum, Aflac, Interface Behavioral Health EAP) — approved (various movers/seconds). - Item 19: Addendum to U.S. Marshals Service IGA adding ICE as an authorized user for detention services — approved (Hogg/Leacock). - Items 20–24: Budget amendments/line-item transfers for sheriff utilities/rental, constable PC4 donations for computers, Connex box purchase, recycling overtime/repairs, Road & Bridge equipment and licenses — all approved (various movers/seconds).

What was said (selected direct quotes) - On the ICE addendum: a staff member told the court, “This will allow the jail to hold ICE detainees under the terms of that agreement. Other than the addition of ICE as an authorized user, there are no changes or modifications being made to the previously approved agreement.” - On the Veterans Treatment Court grant: a program representative said, “This is, I think, our seventh or eighth grant that we received … this $210,000 was the same amount that we had last year … they informed us about a month ago that this grant is going to be for not 12 months but for 14 months for the same amount of money.” - On the treasurer’s report: County Treasurer Miss Couch summarized investment performance, saying interest income through May was “just under $3,500,000” and that short-term yields were near 4.24%.

Meeting context and next steps The meeting ran about 42 minutes and covered 25 agenda items, most of them routine approvals of plats, contracts, budget transfers, and benefit renewals. The court held a closed executive session on economic development; commissioners announced no action following that session. Implementation of several approvals will require signature by the county judge and subsequent administrative processing (e.g., submitting the letter to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, electronic acceptance of the Veterans Treatment Court grant, and procurement/installation actions for the approved equipment purchases).