Republican Tarrant County Sheriff Bill Waybourn wins bid for third term
Two-term incumbent Republican Tarrant County Sheriff Bill Waybourn defeated Democratic challenger Patrick Moses in Tuesday’s election.
Waybourn received 53.72% of the vote to Moses’ 46.28%, according to unofficial results, with all 350 vote centers reporting.
Waybourn came out of the gate leading by just under 10% after the absentee and early voting results were released just after 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 5, and his lead grew slightly since then.
Moses arrived at his watch party at the east Fort Worth restaurant Turkey Den just after 8 p.m. His team was expecting better results out of the gate, he said, but he was not ready to bow out.
“At this point, there’s still a lot of votes to count,” he said.
Attendees of Waybourn’s watch party at Arlington’s BBQ hot spot Hurtado’s headed home before the race was called, but he appeared pretty confident the race would be called in his favor.
“We’re almost in a double-digit lead, so we feel pretty comfortable about where we’re at,” he said.
Waybourn, who took office in 2017, served in the Air Force and as police chief of Dalworthington Gardens. He has faced criticism in recent years for issues of safety in the county jail. While over half of the more than 65 deaths in the county jail during his tenure were due to natural causes, the Sheriff’s Office has come under intense scrutiny for inmates who have died at the hands of guards or from drug overdoses.
Waybourn said that he has been and will be putting time and effort into the jail and the problems it faces.
“The jail is 60% of my job. I am 100% focused on issues in the jail. Every day I walk those floors, I go in and see people. We’re searching out solutions,” he said, mentioning that he would like to invest more in technology like heart-monitoring wrist bands to keep inmates safe. “Can’t afford it yet, but I think it’s out there.”
Two jailers were indicted on murder charges in June in the death of Marine veteran Anthony Johnson Jr. in the jail in April. In July, the mother of an inmate whose July 2022 death was attributed to a fentanyl overdose sued the department alleging a culture of negligence has allowed drugs to “run rampant” in the jail.
In October, Waybourn presented the findings of a federal inspection of the jail that found that “the custody, medical, and mental health teams do a solid job of meeting the needs of incarcerated individuals within a high-volume setting.” The report also noted a staffing shortage of nearly 200 employees, saying it is “critical” the positions be filled, and described the county’s Green Bay jail as one that “does not reinforce a culture of rehabilitation and humane treatment.”
During his term, Waybourn has focused largely on hot-button national-level issues like immigration and border security. In January, he told the Star-Telegram that “foreigners in the community” were committing crimes that negatively affect law enforcement, health and educational institutions in the county. His and other law enforcement agencies in the county, however, have been unable to provide evidence of criminality by immigrants in Tarrant County.
Moses was the only candidate in the race to fill out the Star-Telegram’s candidate questionnaire in October. In his responses, Moses said he would de-politicize the office and create a “Citizen Oversight Commission” to review use-of-force and in-custody death cases.
This story was originally published November 5, 2024 at 7:11 PM.
