Council agrees to pursue a negotiated cost‑sharing agreement with Texas State for downtown coverage while preserving questions on accountability

San Marcos councilmembers discussed a proposed cost‑sharing agreement with Texas State University (TSU) to support downtown law‑enforcement coverage and instructed staff to continue negotiations and, if needed, table the Feb. 3 agenda item for more work.

City and police leadership explained the current arrangement: the Police Department reestablished a downtown unit of four city officers assigned to weeknight coverage and the university offered a one‑time $150,000 reimbursement to help fund that coverage through June; school officials separately have discussed the possibility of assigning their officers in August, but campus police currently average high vacancy rates and any personnel commitment would be contingent on TSU staffing. A police official said the $150,000 is intended to reimburse overtime and related costs incurred when officers are shifted from patrol to downtown duties.

Councilmember Rodriguez proposed language calling for the cost‑sharing agreement to require that any TSU officers working in the city be accountable to the same ordinances, policies and accountability practices as city officers. Police leaders and city staff warned that requiring a state university agency to adopt municipal disciplinary or policy regimes may be legally and operationally complex; they recommended bifurcating money (reimbursement) negotiations from personnel/accountability negotiations. Council agreed staff should continue talks with TSU and bring back refined language and options, noting the Feb. 3 packet already includes a related MOU and that council may table the item to allow more negotiations.

The council emphasized transparency about any agreement and asked staff to return with recommended next steps for the public record. No final binding agreement was adopted at the workshop; council’s actions were to pursue and refine negotiations and to include the matter on a forthcoming agenda.