TXDOT To Host
Open House
On 69 Corridor
If you are able to attend, please consider going. Although this is the segment of HWY 69 from Kountze to Warren and not in front of Ivanhoe, it is important for our people to show up and demonstrate interest in what happens with the HWY 69 expansion.
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Pictured Left to Right: Deputy Chuck Marshal, Deputy Mark DeShazo, Chief Deputy Steven Hoke, Marshal Terry Riley, Mayor Cathy Bennett, Mayor Pro-tem Tommy Morris. Unable to attend: Deputy Arin Dees.
A capacity crowd gathered at the Ivanhoe Civic Center Thursday evening the 24th to show their appreciation to City Marshal Terry Riley and his Deputies.
Mayor Cathy Bennett expressed her gratitude to the City of Woodville for their cooperation. Captain Mike McCulley representing Woodville PD, congratulated Marshal Riley for a job well done, mentioning that the three part time Deputies serving Ivanhoe are full time officers with Woodville PD.
Mayor Bennett and Mayor Pro-tem Tommy Morris presented Marshal Riley with a Proclamation which outlined many of the outstanding accomplishments he has achieved in the two short years his department has been functioning.
Marshal Riley was the guiding force as the city applied for and achieved its City Marshal status, doing the research and preparing the documentation required.
Realizing the limited funds the City of Ivanhoe had, he bought and maintained the first vehicles the city used.
Subsequently, he pursued and obtained, much-needed grants for equipment, including cameras, computers and a brand new vehicle for the Department. He has also acquired other vehicles at little or no cost to the City, one being a Hum-V that will serve us well in the event of another storm situation like we experienced with Hurricane Harvey.
He has built a strong and effective department, bringing in the three part time Deputies and most currently, a full time Deputy (32 hours per week).
Last year the Marshal’s Department responded to a total of 587 calls, 327 of which were responded to by Marshal Riley.
There were two major incidents in this past year.
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One was an assault with a deadly weapon. A warrant was issued and served. The victim is recovering and the suspect is in jail awaiting trial.
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The second was a “Wellness Check” which resulted in the discovery of two deceased bodies. Officially the case was determined to be a natural death and a suicide. There was no foul play.
What many do not realize is that cases like these take a lot of time to resolve. Everything was handled in the best manner possible.
As mentioned earlier, the City of Ivanhoe is sorely underfunded. Marshal Riley is doing an amazing job with the funds available. He had been given a grant for additional funding for his department but the funding for that program was withdrawn shortly before the election and directed toward funding school security. That grant was to have been for five years and we are hoping that the funding will be available this year.
We currently have a budget for 45 hours per week which Marshal Riley has managed to stretch into 60 hours. When they are not on duty we rely on our County Sheriff’s Deputies and we certainly want to acknowledge their service to our community.
The City of Ivanhoe would like to acknowledge and express our appreciation for all of our dedicated law enforcement officers throughout the county and the state. Most importantly, we sincerely appreciate our City Marshal and his Deputies for the outstanding service to the City of Ivanhoe!
