Without a doubt, 2025 was an interesting year, challenging for just about everyone on just about every level.
Trinity County had its share of big news, some of which even put it on the national scene briefly.
Here, in no particular order, are some of the bigger stories from last year.
After a contentious year and heated arguments between the County Commissioners Court and the Sheriff’s Office, Trinity County voters decided the price of a new jail was too high.
The Trinity County Commissioners Court placed a $16.6 million bond issue before county voters in hopes to get funding to replace the old, dilapidate and entirely-too-small facility it currently has. The plan was for a 60-bed jail facility to be built on Highway 287 near Groveton, which will put it near the necessary infrastructure, such as water and sewer service.
The current jail was built in 1938, and state requirements have ultimately left the prison with a capacity of only seven.
The rift between the offices was shown in the financial analysis. County Commissioner Tommy Park pointed out the cost of retiring the bonds, while at the same time saying that a six-year average of the cost of housing prisoners was $721,073.15 a year. While the housing costs would remain in-county once the new jail is built, the expense of running the new jail will change.
Sheriff Woody Wallace said the cost of inmate housing is expensive, and a new jail would not save the county any money, but everyone knows they need a new jail.
He also said that relying on other jails is a problem, since county sheriffs have the say on whether the county accepts other prisoners and how much it would cost. Currently, the cost of housing prisoners averages $75 per day per inmate, and while the county is averaging $721,000 a year, it could climb as high as $2 million per year if prices rise, something Wallace said he expects.
Following the vote, Wallace said it was time for everyone to come together as a community and as a county and figure out how to move forward.
TRINITY — There’s a new chief in town as city leaders officially hired a police chief.
Steven Jeter took the reins of the struggling department around Feb. 1.
Jeter is a former Texas Ranger and retired from the Department of Public Safety after 21 years. Since then, he has worked in Madisonville. His salary will be $85,000 and will rise to $100,000 after three years.
In the meeting, Mayor Billy Goodin said that it has been a long process for the hire, as former chief Daniel Kee resigned in October, and during the search he developed deep concerns about the position, particularly the salary requirements and the impact on the city budget.
However, he and City Manager Tracy Hutto researched other departments and what pay was being offered, and were “surprised” that in Texas, many other cities were paying police chiefs around $30,000 more than county sheriffs were paid, which is around $70,000 per year.
Council Member Bubba Smith voted against hire, stating that he feels the city is putting itself in “a predicament” by the level of pay.
Council Member Scott Womack said council members have heard that the city didn’t need a former Ranger as chief, and that the city didn’t care about the police department, but still called the hire a good decision.
TRINITY — The Texas Historical Commission has recognized Trinity Volunteer Fire Department as a significant part of Texas history by awarding it an Official Texas Historical Marker.
The designation honors Trinity Volunteer Fire Department as an important and educational part of local history.
A dedication ceremony to commemorate the event was held in February at Trinity Fire Department, 203 South Elm. Speakers for the afternoon included the Honorable County Judge Danny Martin and Fire Chief Keith Johnson.
GROVETON — The city of Groveton’s water system left city residents without water for several days in March.
According to city officials, the pump for the main well failed at around 5 a.m. due to a power outage on Wednesday. When power was restored, the pump operated at half capacity. Pennington Water also lost power and was not sending water as well.
The outage also affected the city’s phone system, meaning city officials did not find the problem until days later.
Officials say that regarding its water supply, they were operating hand-to-mouth, and the margin for error was very small.
Maintenance crews worked throughout the weekend to replace the pump, and while repairs were affected, Pennington Water Supply kept water flowing, and the city and Trinity County Sheriff’s Office began providing affected residents with bottled water and water for other purposes. County volunteer fire departments kept the community restocked with water.
TRINITY — Mid Coast Health System will cease operations and close Mid Coast Medical Center Trinity, a vital rural hospital serving the Trinity County region, after operating for a little more than a year.
The closure took effect April 25 following months of efforts to secure financial stability and long-term sustainability for the facility.
Mid Coast Health System, which contracted to manage and operate the facility, notified local leaders after discussion with locally elected officials of the Trinity Memorial Hospital District and presenting several funding options. Mid Coast cited significant financial challenges experienced by hundreds of rural hospitals, which have been exacerbated by delays in establishing Medicare and Medicaid billing and contracts with commercial health insurers.
Additional setbacks included lower-than-expected revenue from collections owed on patient co-pays, increasing accounts payable for supplies and services, and insufficient local tax revenue to cover operational shortfalls.
The hospital, which previously closed in 2017, had hoped to qualify for the federal Rural Emergency Hospital designation — a program designed to support struggling rural facilities with enhanced reimbursement for emergency and outpatient services.
Unfortunately, because the facility was not operational as of the federal eligibility cutoff date of December 2020, it does not qualify for the designation under current rules.
AUSTIN — The Public Utilities Commission of Texas in September approved a route for a power line, one that crosses Lake Livingston and affects eight East Texas counties.
At a hearing held in Austin, the commissioner, without any public comment, approved the route.
Commission Chairman Thomas J. Gleason, prior to the meeting, had filed a memorandum that stated he felt Route 10 is the best route to move forward with the project, and that concerns about the project interfering with development were not correct since there were no plans in place.
Many East Texas residents agree that the Southeast Texas Area Reliability Project is necessary for power reliability, but those same residents believe that routing the power lines across Lake Livingston is a bad idea.
The project was approved by the Public Utilities Commission of Texas, which also will decide the project’s route, affecting Jasper, Montgomery, Newton, Polk, San Jacinto, Trinity, Tyler and Walker counties.
However, the preferred route would have the power lines cross Lake Livingston at a narrow portion between Trinity and Onalaska, directly through Barrett’s Landing, an upscale subdivision.
Another concern of those in opposition is that the construction process will create an environmental hazard as the lake is listed as containing dioxides in the lakebed.
According to Entergy, the new line will connect the proposed Babel 500 kilovolt switching station to the proposed Running Bear Substation. The proposed Babel station would be constructed at one of three potential locations and connect into the existing Layfield to Hartburg 500 kilovolt transmission line south of Toledo Bend Reservoir in Newton County.
The proposed Running Bear Substation is planned to extend from one of four potential locations that will connect into Entergy Texas Inc.’s existing Lewis Creek facilities along Longstreet Road between Lake Conroe and Interstate Highway 45 or ETI’s existing transmission facilities east of Willis between FM 1097 and County Line Road in Montgomery County.
Texas has a new, GOP-friendly congressional map will be used for the 2026 midterm elections.
Gov. Greg Abbott praised the ruling.
"We won! Texas is officially — and legally — more red,” he said. “The new congressional districts better align our representation in Washington, D.C., with the values of our state. This is a victory for Texas voters, for common sense, and for the U.S. Constitution."
Justice Samuel Alito ruled that it was “indisputable” that Texas’ motivation for redistricting was “pure and simple” partisan advantage, which the court has previously ruled is permissible. Alito rejected the argument that Texas had engaged in racial gerrymandering.The change in districting puts Trinity County in District 10, which currently is represented by Republican Michael McCaul of Austin, a 20-year veteran of Congress. However, McCaul said he plans to retire at the end of 2026, leaving the position open.
Trinity County, at least until the end of 2026, is in District 17, which is represented by Republican Pete Sessions of Waco. The county ended up in that district after the redistricting following the 2020 Census when it was moved out of District 8.
