Eleven more students completed the Hays County Citizen Sheriff's Academy/Phase I. Residents gained a working knowledge of the Sheriff's Office and how law enforcement operates. Participants drove patrol vehicles, fired weapons, watched SWAT training, toured the jail and rode along with deputies. Graduates were treated to a barbecue meal provided by the Hays County Citizens Academy Alumni Association. CSA Phase II is scheduled to begin February 2010 and appears to be filling up quickly. For information contact Deputy Mike Thielen, academy coordinator at the Hays County Sheriff's Office at 393-7373. Applications can be found on line at www.sheriff@co.hays.tx.us. Graduates include (standing left to right) Deputy Mike Thielen/CSA coordinator; Richard DeLeon, San Marcos; Felix DeLeon, San Marcos; James Wier, Buda; Patrick Johnson, Austin; James Lancaster, Wimberley; Dax Verleye, Wimberley; George Hack, Kyle; Leo Butler, Wimberley; Lieutenant Leroy Opiela, Crime Prevention, (seated left to right) Elizabeth Lipich, Kyle and Lynda Chambers, Wimberley. Graduating but not pictured is Michael Wilmore of Driftwood.
