Zavalla fails to enter law enforcement agreement with Angelina County Sheriff’s Office

ZAVALLA (KETK) — The City of Zavalla is back to square one with no formal police services after the city council denied a motion to enter an agreement with the Angelina County Sheriff’s Office on Monday.

On May 1 in council members voted to deactivate its police department. The decision came due to a lack of formal police services in the area. The city council met with Angelina County Sheriff Tom Selman, who proposed an agreement to supply the city with regular deputy patrols.

The proposal would include 911 dispatch services, crime scene investigation and detective work in the area while allowing the city to save money, Selman said. The proposal would cost the city $15,000

Previously, the Zavalla Police Department had five members in 2025 and was budgeted $180,397 in the 2023-2024 year, a drop of more than $50,000 from their $234,832 2022-2023 budget. That drop in the department’s budget came as the city reported revenue fell from $1,011,372 in 2022-2023 to $988,928 in 2023-2024.

After receiving the proposal on May 11, the city council requested several changes to the agreement, leaving the decision to be considered at Monday’s meeting.

Alderman Sue Hough motioned to enter the agreement on Monday night, saying the additional services are “badly needed.”

“Our attorneys went over it, I also realize we’re already having to pay $5,000 plus for the dispatch and that is included in that $15,000 so actually, we’re not paying that much more for the added services, and some of those services are badly needed,” Hough said at the meeting.

The agreement ultimately failed after lacking a second the motion, with Alderman Jennifer Copeland saying she’s concerned the city won’t receive additional services from the agreement.

“My problem with the agreement is that we’re not getting anything extra for our money,” Copeland said. “The residents of Zavalla are also Angelina County residents. There is not one extra thing that you’re not already required to do that they’re not already paying taxes on.”

With the proposal dismissed, the city of Zavalla remains without a formal police service entity.

“It was a good-faith effort for us to partner with you,” Selman told council members at the meeting. “To deliver to the citizens out here, for which we were gonna deliver anyway. Y’all were just dumping this in our lap, something we’ve never had to do in the last twenty-something years. I’m disappointed to say the least because this was a very good agreement.”

Though the agreement was shot down, Selman isn’t opposed to revisiting it in the future.

“I think you’ve done a huge disservice to the citizens of Zavalla,” Selman added.