The Courier of Montgomery County reports that a plan for renovations to a middle school no longer in use has been initiated by Montgomery County to house a permanent active shooter training facility. Agencies across Texas will be able to use it.
On Tuesday, commissioners decided to get things underway to hire personnel, find contractors and put together a master plan for the effort in New Caney.
The state agreed to $23 million in funding earlier this year for the training center that will be jointly operated by the Texas Department of Public Safety and Montgomery County.
County law enforcement agencies have been leasing the former Keefer Crossing Middle School to provide training. The privately owned facility was leased for $23,000 a month.
Precinct #3 Commissioner James Noack said, as the master plan gets underway, that if any grant or state funding were to stop for the project, the county should make sure personnel positions would end.
Development plans and staff planning is being worked on by Executive Director of the County’s Office of Homeland Security and Emergency, Jason Millsaps, and the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office. Costs for the plan will be put together by Millsaps and presented to the court for their approval.
According to Millsaps, funding by the state will take care of operations, the staff and dorms. The Advanced Law Enforcement Rapid Response Training put together by Texas State University will be required for all law enforcement.
