Schmidt drops interim tag as Boyd police chief

Jason Schmidt was officially sworn in as the new police chief Thursday night.
JILLIAN NACHTIGAL/WCMESSENGER

Wise County Messenger
By Austin Jackson 
June 16, 2023

The Boyd City Council swore in a new police chief and city secretary and discussed an interlocal agreement with the City of New Fairview for court services Thursday. 

Jason Schmidt, who served as the interim police chief after the resignation of Josh Compton in February, was officially sworn in as the new police chief.

Schmidt has worked in law enforcement for 19 years, previously serving at Northlake Police Department. 

New city secretary Daniel Bourgeois was also sworn in. The former Boyd High School principal has been with Boyd ISD for 16 years as a teacher, coach and administrator at the district’s three campuses.

The city has been in discussion with New Fairview regarding an exchange for police and court services. Susan Greenwood, court administrator for the City of New Fairview, analyzed Boyd’s current court administration.

“You should have an audit trail showing who did what and when they did it, and y’all do not,” Greenwood said. “I also noticed there were no cameras installed in city hall. Typically, all courts have cameras when it comes to money. I’ve never seen a court that did not. The things I have found can be fixed, and I’m working with current staff to get that corrected.”

Additional issues that Greenwood pointed out were the lack of a caseload management system, which is causing a backlog of cases. Additionally, she said there are no internal controls, lack of tracking payments, incorrect use of online court software and importing of citations. Due to these issues and others, Greenwood said Boyd lost $1.1 million in potential revenue.

Boyd Mayor Rodney Holmes thanked Greenwood for her help and honesty. 

“Court has been an issue since I’ve been on the council,” Holmes said. “We’ve been through different judges and different prosecutors … There were some health issues with our last court clerk. I think we’re moving in the right direction.” 

New city secretary Daniel Bourgeois was also sworn in at Boyd’s city council meeting Thursday night.
JILLIAN NACHTIGAL/WCMESSENGER

New Fairview City Administrator John Cabrales also spoke at the meeting to discuss a potential agreement for police services. According to initial plans, which have not been finalized, Boyd could provide 15 hours of patrol for traffic enforcement and ordinance violations for New Fairview. In the future, this may become a 24-hour service, said Boyd City Administrator William Taylor. 

“I’m looking forward to seeing what we can work out, and I’m actually going to be meeting soon with the Wise County Sheriff … I’m hoping that we can start to get a foothold here,” Cabrales said. “I will tell you, I did speak with Rhome and Rhome has already turned me down because they are experiencing a bit of turmoil. Decatur was a bit outside of my price point. I think this makes sense for what we are trying to accomplish as a region.”

Taylor said more details will be solidified in the next few months as Cabrales works on creating an official document. For now, court services for Boyd are the main priority. 

“I’m excited because we originally talked about this in 2015 — partnering and putting together some regional services to benefit all of our communities,” Taylor said. “If we can be the first and kind of set the precedent for that and bring other communities on board, I think it’s gonna be great.”