A Smith County Sheriff’s Office vehicle is seen in July 2020 while responding to a shooting near Tyler State Park. Smith County will use more than $2 million of its federal relief funding to purchase more 40 vehicles, including 38 for the sheriff’s office.

Smith County will use about $2.2 million of its federal relief funding to purchase more than 40 vehicles, most for use by law enforcement.

“This is a very important item for us,” said Smith County Judge Nathaniel Moran. “This is going to be very helpful for our officials that are in the public safety realm that qualify for certain vehicles under (the American Rescue Plan Act) so that we can get ahead of the buying curve that would have come next year in October when our budget was approved.”

Smith County Purchasing Director Jaye Latch said the ordering period for vehicles opens May 24, which allows the county to “be first to order our police pursuit vehicles and our public safety vehicles, which is huge, because we’re going to be in line with a lot of other entities that are going to want to make the orders as well.”

If the county were to order the vehicles after approving the 2022-23 budget, they likely would not arrive until 14 to 16 months later, Moran said. Ordering the vehicles now likely means the vehicles will arrive by the beginning of the next fiscal year at the latest.

“We’ve squeezed every vehicle we think we can get into this purchase (for the federal relief funding),” he said..

The purchase will include:

• One grapple truck for the Road and Bridge Department;
• Four dump trucks for the Road and Bridge Department;
• One truck for the Fire Marshal’s Office; and
• 38 Chevrolet Tahoes for the sheriff’s office, District Attorney’s Office and several constable’s offices.

Smith County is set to receive about $45 million in federal relief funds, according to the county. These funds must be spent by 2026.

Also during this week’s meeting, commissioners also named May 17 as Fritz Hager III Day in Smith County and approved the canvassed votes from the recent constitutional amendment elections.

Hager, of Tyler, recently finished among the top five contestants on “American Idol.”