Galveston College students question campus safety after county considers cutting sheriff's contract

GALVESTON, Texas (KTRK) -- Some Galveston College students are wondering what the security plan is after a county agenda item nearly cut its security contract months early.

When it comes to police protection, Galveston College relies on the Galveston County Sheriff's Office. Right now, there's a contract between the school and county to provide protection through September.

However, an item on last weeks commissioners court agenda would've terminated the contract months early.

"I think safety is one of the number one concerns especially with how much stuff has happened in the past with people bringing guns into schools and stuff," Galveston College student Jesse Ramirez said.

A county spokesperson told ABC13 the item was brought to commissioners by Sheriff Jimmy Fullen. They were set to vote on it last Friday, but we're told Fullen asked them to pull it.

If passed, the contract would've ended on June 23. ABC13 asked Fullen why he asked county leaders to end the contract early.

He told us the college's president is exploring options to start the school's own police agency. Something Galveston College hasn't confirmed to ABC13.

A school spokesperson told us they'd look into the issue. We didn't hear back.

"There's private security," Galveston College student Trinity Delafunete said. "I couldn't see why they couldn't have somebody up at the door with a private funded security. I think that would be good."

When it comes to school safety, the college's latest incident report doesn't show a lot of reported crimes. In fact, the only arrests from 2021 through 2023 were for two drug-related incidents.

Still, with summer classes set to start next week, some students are anxious about what could be coming to the college's security plan. "It's not even for safety of people," Ramirez explained. "You want to make sure people aren't doing any other bad stuff."

The college security contract with the sheriff's office runs through September 30th. We asked Fullen if he plans to bring the early termination item back to commissioners before September. He didn't answer our question.

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