Texas Rangers & Others Investigating Real Co. Sheriff's Office
Small Towns & Counties Should Be Preparing for Scrutiny
Hello Friends,
Long time no see. There hasn’t been a lot of concrete & interesting news for us to relay and analyze for you here at the end of the year. That said, reporters around the State have confirmed something we first heard about in mid-December: Texas Rangers and the State Attorney General’s Office raided the Real County Sheriff’s operation— executing search warrants at three locations, as confirmed by Real County Sheriff Nathan Johnson.
KSAT-12 filed what may be the most complete report, and it’s very scant on the details:
Just confirming that a raid even happened is a bit of an achievement. If Val Verde County is a news desert, a phrase we are fond of repeating from the New York Times, Kinney County and Real County are both a part of it.
Real County is in the Camp Wood/Leakey area. It’s similar to Brackettville and Kinney County, lying on the Western edge of the Hill Country, with a lot more in common with West Texas than say, Castroville or Wimberley.
We don’t really have much more information about the raid— except that we’ve heard it apparently has something to do with vehicle seizures and things of that nature. Vehicle seizures are going through the roof in a lot of these rural, border-adjacent counties as Operation Lone Star continues. In Kinney County, 2021 saw 179 vehicles seized. Don’t have numbers handy for 2020 to compare to, but 179 is an awful lot for a tiny little six Deputy operation.
Walking around the issue in Real County— take what we’re about to say with a big grain of salt or two, but assuming that there hasn’t been some kind of willful misconduct and outright illegality, this kind of thing highlights some of the common pitfalls for rural counties as major enforcement efforts get underway. It’s entirely possible that the affair has exposed some manner of innocent misconduct in Real County— some form of policy that is being misapplied, or some old way of doing things that has fallen through the cracks and is actually wrongheaded now. It’s also possible that the investigation could be a result of some bad accusations. Time will tell.
Real County is probably not unique in this. Kinney County and others, may want to take this onboard as an object lesson, to consider policies and appearances as the bright lights of outside scrutiny come to bear. Even simple things like cash seizures can become fraught with potential issues. In the past, seized funds might’ve been mingled in a bank account— and checks later cut, to restore money to those who held it legally.
It would seem like a perfectly normal thing to do. But if seized bills are actually evidence of something— and frequently they are— it would behoove authorities to preserve the cash as it was, when it was found. This can magnify the issues of safe storage, and so on, but evidence is evidence, and the storage of it must be held to a high standard.
As for vehicle seizures, there are many different layers of complication there. Many of the vehicles seized have been reported stolen, or have liens on them, or have murky titles.
Often, a Deputy will contact the title holder, only to be told they sold the car to someone else a couple of years ago. If that buyer can be found, many times, they will also say they sold the car to someone else.
Sometimes it seems like it’s just new buyers all the way down and no one’s bothered to update the title records.
Awkward.
Does this have anything to do with the raids in Real County? Unknown, and we have no way of finding it out from here right now.
Real County Sheriff Nathan Johnson posted the following statement on his Facebook page:
Serving as your Sheriff in Real County is one of the greatest honors of my life and I have done so to the best of my ability since 2017.
During that time, and especially in the last year, I have taken a strong stand against human smuggling, drug smuggling, and illegal alien traffic in our community and will continue to do so.
We really don’t know who or what prompted the investigation by the Ranger Service and Office of Attorney General, but neither I nor my officers have been arrested and we will continue to faithfully serve as your Sheriff’s Office day in and day out.
I humbly request your prayers and support for my family and my staff as we go through this process. When I have the facts, and the attorneys that represent me and the county determine it is appropriate, I will try to keep you informed as I have the entire time I have served as your sheriff.
Semper Fi
Sheriff Johnson
We’re told Sheriff Johnson used to be a deputy in Uvalde County, prior to his election in Real County. He also seems to be friends with a lot of folks we know on Facebook. His bio says he was educated in Louisiana, and is originally from the Tucson, AZ area.
Some may find the following news release issued Monday from Kinney County to be of interest. Much of it is dry stuff— but pay attention to the bit about the 16-year old from Georgia:
That’s about all we have for now. As signs of life go, we hope it is sufficient. This is just speculation, but it seems as though the Border Crisis story, for Kinney County, is transitioning into a new phase. That is to say, it’s not so much about the enforcement any more. Many of the enforcement questions have been settled. County Sheriff’s Deputies have been augmented by Deputies volunteered from other Texas Counties, like Galveston, and are being supported by DPS Troopers, and members of the Texas State Guard and National Guard. None of that is likely to be changing any time soon. The only other big change that seems possible, if unlikely, would be some kind of policy changes at Customs and Border Protection, that would see Border Patrol returning to the field instead of acting as a refugee resettlement agency.
So, to our way of thinking, the big story over the next few weeks is going to be in the Courtroom and on the administrative side of things, as County and State officials continue scrambling to beef up the judicial pipeline, and stay ahead of all of the cases still awaiting some kind of a hearing.
Obviously the ACLU and other indigent defense organizations will have plenty to say on the matter, and as we’ve said in the past, that’s all part of the process and something to be welcomed.
Even so, we’ve all more than likely not heard the last of breathless coverage wanting to talk about militia men and border enforcement volunteers. Although Operation Lone Star and the Department of Public Safety seem to have possibly eliminated much of the need for volunteers— it remains a very compelling part of this story, one that people will be inclined to press for more information about in the days ahead.
To that end, while we are not personally in contact with the Patriots for America Militia, attempts to track their activities via social media, indicate that they plan to continue activities in the County, but may’ve temporarily stopped while seeking additional fundraising support. We could be mistaken— it may be that only their senior leadership has withdrawn, and others are continuing their efforts.
Their presence in the County has been alarming for many— which is as it should be. It should be alarming. There should be no good reason for armed volunteers to have to leave their homes and report to the Rio Grande.
And yet, here we are.
As always, in the interest of full disclosure, we should point out our employment with the Kinney County Sheriff’s Office. Opinions and speculation expressed here at the Dispatch, as well as any errors, are entirely our own and should not be considered statements of Kinney County policy or belief.