Monthly Report February 2026
Dear Citizens,
On March 1st, 37 years ago, I began my law enforcement career with the NCSO as a Detention Officer. I have been fortunate and blessed to not only have had the many opportunities while working towards the top but to have worked next to some of the finest individuals as well. I started work in and supervised in Detention, as well as worked and supervised in Patrol, CID, Narcotics, was a long time SWAT officer, the Tactical SWAT Commander and Crisis Negotiator.
I have attended too many schools to mention and through hard work and dedication to this job, I have been honored in receiving numerous awards and certifications over my career that I am very proud of. I want to take this opportunity to say what an honor it is and continues to be, serving the citizens as an officer of the Navarro County Sheriff's Office. It's definitely been one heck of a ride.
On February 18th we held our Annual NCSO Departmental Meeting and Award Ceremony for 2025. This is an opportunity for all the NCSO officers throughout the agency to come together and not just speak on the previous year, but to be recognized on their accomplishments during 2025 as well as for us to set goals for 2026. Randall Boultinghouse received Detention Officer of the Year, Kathy Basnett received the Employee of the Year and Sergeant Antonio Villalobos received Deputy of the Year. Congratulations to these deserving officers who received their awards.
2025 Review: The Navarro County Sheriff's Office handled 33,167 calls for service, while our dispatch center received 18,279 calls for assistance through 9-1-1. During the year, deputies made 952 arrests and conducted 4,421 traffic stops to help keep our roads and communities safe. Our Criminal Investigations Division investigated 858 criminal cases, 90 suspects were arrested on narcotics charges, with 12 additional arrest warrants served and 118 state level criminal cases filed. The Sheriff's Office was issued 3,237 civil papers for service, with 2,575 being successfully served, in addition to 874 indictments issued, with 825 served.
Navarro County Sheriff's Office SWAT Team completed 168 hours of in-house tactical training along with numerous specialty trainings and were deployed on three separate occasions within Navarro County. All three incidents were successfully resolved with no injuries. During 2025, approximately 1,987 individuals were arrested and booked into the Navarro County Justice Center. The average daily jail population for the year was 221 inmates. A total of 136 inmates were transferred to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice with 40 additional inmates transferred to State Jail and SAFP Units to serve their sentences.
The Sheriff's Office conducted 338 prisoner transports, 97 mental health transports and 15 juvenile transports. Our deputies traveled 61,693 miles conducting these transports. The Sheriff's Office responded to 550 animal complaint calls and 926 loose livestock calls. During the year, deputies removed estray livestock on 31 occasions, recovering 7 bulls, 7 cows, 4 calves, 4 pigs, 2 sheep, 1 goat, 7 horses, 2 ponies and one donkey. The Sheriff's Office collected $3,235.00 in estray fees, $19,278.43 from the sale of estray/seized livestock, and sold $35,893.84 of Navarro County-owned livestock.
Unfortunately, once again I am having to make our citizens aware and say do not fall for the numerous scams plaguing our communities. It has been reported to us that there is a scam happening where people are receiving texts asking for information on people who recently were arrested and requesting payment to get them released by paying through bitcoin. As well as receiving reports of attempts to call the jail on the county's phone tree at 903-654-3000 and the caller claims to have been diverted to a scammer where they paid a large sum of money by wire transfer to procure a release of the arrested that didn't happen.
We have also heard of citizens being directed to a local convenience store with directions on how to pay for the jail release. Please, PLEASE let me be clear, we DO NOT accept bit coin payment nor do we accept wire transfers to release inmates. Please make sure you are speaking directly to an NCSO employee. I cannot stress enough time and time again, do not become a victim of these types of schemes and scams asking for money and payments to bogus companies, entities or individuals. Ask the caller questions or better yet, just hang up and call the sheriff's office at (903) 654-3001 or 3002.
Congratulations to Deputy Antonio Gutierrez on his transfer from correctional officer to his new position as our Community Service Officer. Deputy Gutierrez has worked in corrections for approximately 8 years here at the NCSO and we wish him all the best as he begins the Patrol FTO program in preparation for his new assignment. We also say congratulations to Deputy Kathy Basnett on her transfer from the communications division to the patrol division. Deputy Basnett has worked at the NCSO for approximately 17 years in communications as well as courthouse security and is also certified in corrections. Deputy Basnett will also begin the Patrol FTO program in preparation for her new assignment and we look forward to both Officer Guitierrez and Officer Bassett serving our citizens in their new roles.
The Sheriff's Office had approximately 2,709 calls for service in February and our dispatch received 1,458 calls for assistance to 9-1-1. There were approximately 180 persons arrested and booked into the Navarro County Justice Center and the average daily jail population was 211 inmates. Fourteen inmates were transferred to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice and four inmates were transferred to State Jail and SAFP Units to serve their sentences. In February, we estrayed one bull and it was taken to our county farm at Petty's Chapel.
We are accepting applications for all divisions and currently have vacancies in detention, dispatch, patrol, administration and the criminal investigation division. The hiring age for dispatch and detention has been lowered to 18 but with all other enforcement positions, you must be 21 or older to apply. As in the past, applications will continue to be taken for any vacancy until the position is filled.
"People think responsibility is hard to bear. It's not. I think that sometimes it is the absence of responsibility that is harder to bear." -Henry Kissinger
As always, God bless and be safe
Sheriff Elmer Tanner