On February 11. 2020, Constable Chris Jones spoke to the Magnolia Rotary Club about his office and what it does in our community. Pictured above is Constable Chris Jones of Montgomery County Precinct 5.
 
Constable Chris Jones told everyone that he is a Magnolia native son who began serving the constable's office in 1996. During his tenure, Chris has served in every position in the force and four years ago, he was promoted to Chief and in 2018 after Constable David Hill retired, Chris was appointed by the County Commissioner's office as Constable of Precinct 5. Chris received both his Bachelor of Science and Masters in Criminal Justice Management at Sam Houston University. He is also a graduate of the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office training course.
 
Chis first introduced his Command Staff to everyone and then told everyone that he has a total of 42 people who work for him. However, he pointed out that it is his command staff that makes sure everything he wants to get done is implemented.
 
Chris then asked if anyone knew the difference between a Sheriff Deputy and a Constable. Since no one knew, Chris explained that although both are Certified Peace Officers, the main difference is that Constables handle pretty much anything that comes out of the court they are attached to. This includes serving warrants/papers and working in MISD schools as well as anything else the courts need. A Sheriff Deputy works directly with criminals including investigations and taking people to jail. Chris also pointed out that Judge Masden runs the court he is attached to.
 
Chris then told everyone that some years ago he decided to add a focus on DWI and Drug Enforcement to a Constable's job. This makes his group a "Force Multiplier" for the Sheriff's Office as it relieves their deputies to concentrate on other criminal efforts in the county. This has increased his staff from four Constable Deputies initially to currently where there are 6 deputies per 8 hour shift with 2 shifts every day of the week; a total of 12 deputies, 7 days a week. Chris pointed out that he and Sheriff Rand Henderson work well together which helps to keep Montgomery Country one of the more peaceful counties in Texas.
 
Chris then showed everyone his statistics from 2019:
  • 4,207 Civil Service Calls
  • 2,043 Civil Process Papers and Writs
  • 5,831 Traffic Violations
  • 183 DWI's
  • 948 Felony & Misdemeanor Arrests
  • 492 Warrants Cleared
  • Over 38 LBS of Illegal Drugs
Chris then told everyone that his office has also contracted with MISD to provide a peace officer at each school within the district. He had to hire 10 additional deputies to make it work. Each of those officers makes a point to connect with both the teachers and the students on a daily basis which not only helps the officer to better protect everyone, but it also provides a good role model so that students see peace officers as friends who protect them instead of fearing them. In addition, Chris hopes to educate students what to do should they get pulled over for a traffic infraction.
 
Chris explained that he has been successful because he believes in assigning his officers to jobs they want to do. Chris believes that an officer doing what he has a passion to do is best at the job he is doing. Chris then took several questions from the group and answered all of them successfully.
 
An additional photo with several Rotarians can be seen below. Pictured from left to right are Rotarians Thomas Lundsford & Glenn Buckley and Constable Chris Jones.
 
 
 
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