Denton County honors emergency-management team after four regional awards, approves training and grant funding

Denton County Commissioners Court on Tuesday read a proclamation recognizing county emergency-management staff and volunteers after they received four regional excellence awards from the North Central Texas Council of Governments.

Samantha of the County Office of Emergency Management said the awards covered training and exercises, realistic injury-simulation support, regional instructor recognition and critical communications work during the Kirk County deployment. She said Denton County’s regional preparedness summit draws roughly 175–200 attendees each year and credited multiagency participation for improving response capabilities.

Eric Gildersleeve and Billy Willis were singled out for regional awards for their work during the Kirk County severe-weather and flooding response; county leaders described their efforts as enhancing interoperability among responding agencies. Volunteers Brent Hubily and Lois Layman were listed among award recipients for dedicated service supporting regional exercises and local preparedness.

"We want to be the most prepared county in the state of Texas," Samantha said, noting the county’s emphasis on realistic training and mutual-aid deployments. Eric described the work as embodying a "Texans helping Texans" model when personnel deploy to assist other jurisdictions.

At the same meeting commissioners approved budget amendment 2026304 to transfer $8,117 to technology capital for mobile command center upgrades and $45,000 to training and education to support summit and IMT training (total $53,117). Separately, the court approved acceptance of a FY2025 Homeland Security Grant Program (UASI) award of roughly $132,000 for the Office of Emergency Management.

Commissioner Mitchell and Jody Gonzalez both praised the ongoing preparedness work and the county’s regional contributions; the court approved the proclamation and the spending/grant items by unanimous voice vote.

Next steps: the Office of Emergency Management will use grant and county funds for equipment upgrades, training, and continued regional exercise participation.