Sheriff launches mobile app

Hays County Sheriff Gary Cutler announced the release of their new smartphone application for the community, The Sheriff App.

The Hays County Commissioners Court unanimously supported the app as presented at its meeting Tuesday.

The free app will serve as a new way for the sheriff’s office to connect with Hays County residents and visitors, providing information quickly and efficiently to anyone with a smartphone.

“This is a very innovative product that only a handful of counties in the state were considering at the time,” said Commissioner Walt Smith.

The Hays County Sheriff’s Office is the seventh county sheriff’s office of 254 counties in Texas to use this new technology.

The funding was initially proposed in February, and the app ended up costing just less than $18,000, according to Cutler as he presented in Tuesday’s meeting. He said the funding came from discretionary funding and not tax-payer dollars.

“I’ve been one of the ones beta testing this app the last week,” Smith said. “It’s been full of information, and just the options for our citizens to gain citizens on a daily basis, relative to if they want to find out if their family members are in our judicial system, or most up to date information about incidents in their neighborhood.”

The new sheriff’s app takes less than one minute to download and offers quick access to items of public interest. In just a few clicks, users can provide comments and feedback, view community outreach information, view a staff directory, submit a tip, search and view jail information and local inmates, receive emergency alert notifications, search sex offenders in the area, view the list of Hays County Most Wanted, connect to social media, read the latest news and find out about upcoming events.

Several sections are already translated to Spanish but more sections are in the process of being translated.

“Technology is evolving, and we are, too,” Cutler said. “With today’s technological advances, I think it’s critical that we continue to keep up with the times in order to stay connected with our communities and constituents. People are accustomed to getting news alerts and information in real time, and I think that remains true for law enforcement and public safety information. During these unprecedented times in our country it is all the more important that we in public service communicate with our citizens.”

The Hays County Sheriff’s Office mobile app was created by TheSheriffApp. com, a division of OCV, LLC, which specializes in mobile app development for public safety organizations across the country.

“More and more public safety agencies are realizing the opportunity they have to reach and serve their public where they are ... on their smartphones,” said Kevin Cummings, vice president with OCV. “We are proud to serve Sheriff Cutler and the citizens of Hays County.”

The Hays County Sheriff’s Office app is available for download for free in the App Store and Google Play. Just search “Hays County Sheriff TX.”