Grayson County sheriff's deputies would be able to weigh commercial trucks and enforce state weight limits under an agreement with the Texas Department of Public Safety that county commissioners take up Tuesday.
The memorandum of understanding is item 9.3 on the Commissioners Court agenda for 10 a.m. Nov. 3 in the Commissioners Courtroom in Sherman. The sheriff's office submitted the request on Oct. 27. The agenda packet does not say how many deputies would take part, what the program would cost the county, or whether the agreement continues an earlier one.
What DPS would do
Under the Texas Transportation Code, DPS sets the terms for local "allied agencies" that want to enforce truck weight rules. In the agreement, DPS commits to train, test and certify qualifying officers, pass along any complaints or challenges about weight enforcement, and supply the software used to enter inspection data, with the county paying the cost.
DPS may also send observers to watch inspections in person without notice.
What the sheriff's office would have to do
- Training. Each officer must be a full-time commissioned peace officer and complete a 40-hour commercial vehicle enforcement course run by the DPS Motor Carrier Bureau, passing with at least 80%. Officers must be retrained and retested after every legislative session.
- Stops. Deputies need reasonable suspicion before pulling a truck aside to be weighed. The agreement says setting up a fixed site that directs all commercial traffic onto a scale conflicts with that rule.
- Limits. Weight checks can happen only while a deputy is on duty, never to help a particular carrier, and no deputy may be paid for doing them.
- Equipment and records. Scales must come from a DPS-approved list and be recalibrated every year by a certified technician, with calibration records kept for three years. The county must buy the hardware and software to send inspection reports to DPS and file an annual report on its weight enforcement by Jan. 31.
- Fines. The county must forward the state's 50% share of qualifying fines to the comptroller, and may impose only the minimum fine unless a truck was weighed on an approved scale.
