Lavaca County commissioners on Dec. 22 accepted a $137,200 donation from the Dixon Allen Foundation to support a county program that places mental-health specialists inside law-enforcement responses, and the court approved hiring one full-time mental-health deputy and one full-time mental-health caseworker funded primarily by that gift.

The donation was presented to the court and accepted by a motion made by Precinct 3 and seconded by Precinct 4; the motion passed by voice vote. The foundation’s support was praised by the presiding official, who told the court, “What Dixon Allen Foundation has meant to this county is beyond words.” The transcript identifies the foundation and a Mr. Allen representing it; the judge and several commissioners thanked the donor for past and current contributions to both law enforcement and EMS.

A commissioner reading a written statement from a resident, identified in the transcript as Paige Hamilton, described a recent interaction in which the county’s mental-health deputy helped a mother and her 13-year-old daughter and said the deputy’s work “saved my life.” The statement was read aloud in support of expanding the program.

The court approved adding one full-time mental-health deputy and one full-time mental-health caseworker for the Lavaca County Sheriff’s Office, to be funded primarily from the Dixon Allen donation. Salary figures appear in the meeting record: the deputy’s starting salary is cited at $65,001.93 (the transcript also includes a near variant of $65,193 in a separate line) and the county cited a caseworker salary of $60,000; both positions are listed as eligible for benefits. The court discussed workload concerns for the current deputy (referred to in the record as “Britney”/“Bridal Kyle”) and said it had identified a potential caseworker candidate.

Commissioners and the sheriff’s office framed the investment as both a community-support and cost-saving measure; during the meeting a commissioner referenced training material that estimated county savings in incarceration costs when counties invest in mental-health services. The court did not adopt a formal county ordinance; it approved the donation and personnel additions by motion.

The next procedural step noted at the meeting was implementation by the Sheriff’s Office (hiring and onboarding the new staff), with funding recorded as coming primarily from the Dixon Allen donation. Commissioners asked staff to post related notices on the county website and social channels.

Provenance: transcript discussion of the donation and motions begins at SEG 159 (introduction of the donation) and continues through SEG 446 (motion and vote to add the positions).