Texas SB 22 Funds Rural Sheriff Pay. There Is No HELP Act.

Texas did not pass a “HELP Act.” Senate Bill 22, enrolled in the 88th Legislature, created rural salary-assistance grants for sheriff’s offices, constable’s offices, and prosecutor’s offices in qualified counties. The Comptroller of Public Accounts runs the program. Coordinators and sheriffs who still have “SB 976” or a texas.gov/helpact link in a lesson plan should pull it. That bill and that page were never the law.

SB 22 pays rural offices first to hit minimum salaries, then to hire or buy equipment.

A qualified county for the sheriff grant is one with a population of 300,000 or less. Award amounts are set in statute: $250,000 if the population is under 10,000; $350,000 from 10,000 to under 50,000; $500,000 from 50,000 through 300,000. The county must use the money to put a floor under pay before it buys gear: at least $75,000 for the sheriff, $45,000 for each deputy who makes motor-vehicle stops in the routine performance of duties, and $40,000 for each jailer whose duties include safekeeping prisoners and jail security. After those floors, remaining grant funds may increase those same salaries, hire additional deputies or staff, or purchase vehicles, firearms, and safety equipment. The Act took effect September 1, 2023. Offices could not apply before January 1, 2024.

The Legislature appropriated $330 million for the 2024–25 biennium. The Comptroller reports that in fiscal 2024, 223 sheriff’s offices were awarded $77.25 million, and in fiscal 2025, 230 were awarded $79.3 million. That is a staffing and retention tool, not a training mandate. A rural academy still has to report hours against the real TCOLE catalog. The grant does not create a new course reporting number, and it does not replace TCLEDDS.

Teach the statute, the Comptroller rules, and the salary floors. Do not teach an invented acronym or a fake population cutoff of 200,000.

Sources: 88(R) SB 22 enrolled; Texas Comptroller, Rural Law Enforcement Grants; Comptroller statewide grant overview.