By james art The Lubbock County Commissioners Court on Monday appointed the county’s second deputy sheriff less than a year after hiring the first.
During a regular meeting Monday, commissioners unanimously approved the appointment of Celestino Carrillo as deputy constable in the Lubbock County Police Precinct 3 office. Circuit Judge Curtis Parrish administered the oath of office to Carrillo immediately afterward.
Carrillo has spent the past four years as a Lubbock County sheriff’s deputy assigned to courthouse security. Parrish said that experience makes Carrillo well-suited for the new job.
“I’m just proud of the guy that got elected,” Parrish said. “I’ve known him and worked with him in the courthouse for years and he fully understands the function of Lubbock County. Going from the sheriff’s office to the constable’s office is kind of a seamless transition.”
Carrillo will join Officer Jose Sanchez in the Precinct 3 Constable’s Office. Sanchez was appointed to the position on January 8 of this year after longtime Democrat Marina Garcia resigned from the post. Sanchez, a Republican, is unopposed in the Nov. 5 general election.
Carrillo is the second person appointed as a deputy in one of the Lubbock County Sheriff’s Offices. Last November, commissioners approved Officer Paul Hanna’s request to appoint Janet Calderon as Precinct 1 deputy.
As the county grows, Parrish said commissioners plan to appoint deputies to all four police departments, future budgets permitting. For this year, he said, the court agreed that District 3 had the greatest need.
“As far as evictions and things like that, District 3 is always the busiest, so we always saw that there would be a need for a deputy in District 3,” Parrish said. “Last year when we funded one in Precinct 1, it was more … to see how it would all fit into the county. Since Precinct 1 did really well and we were able to see that it made a big improvement in the function of the constable’s office, we added one in Precinct 3.
“We need more deputy constables, but from a budget standpoint, that’s what we can do this year.”