ANTI-METH GROUP DENIED FUNDS

Henderson County was denied aid to help with its growing methamphetamine
problem when representatives from Citizens Against Meth Production traveled
to Austin to ask the governor for financial help.

CAMP President Larry Dow and special projects committee chairman Ronny Snow
delivered a petition to Gov. Rick Perry in Austin last Friday. The petition
asked for funds to help combat meth use and was signed by 1,656 Henderson
County residents, Dow said. The men also presented letters of support from
county commissioners and police chiefs of eight cities.

Dow and Snow met with the governor's executive director for criminal justice
and the director of law enforcement programs. They told the directors
Henderson County leads Texas in meth production and local law enforcement
lacks the resources to cope with the problem, Dow said.

"The state has received $31 million from the federal government to be used
solely for local law enforcement to be distributed at the governor's
discretion," Dow said.

The directors told the CAMP representatives that $5 million was earmarked
for homeland security, leaving $26 million for law enforcement.

Henderson County would not receive any money for a drug task force, although
all surrounding counties will receive task force funds, Dow said.

Perry decided there will be no single-county task forces, but CAMP came up
with the idea of combining Henderson and Kaufman counties together for a
task force, because the two share the lake area drug problem.

Dow said the Kaufman County Sheriff has expressed a desire to join but
"bureaucratic red tape prevents it."

Dow and Snow also asked the directors why Henderson County does not have a
Department of Public Safety drug investigator while all of its sister
counties have one. They were told it would be "looked into," Dow said.

Dow said with 154 counties in Texas the $26 million in federal funds could
be split up and $200,000 could go to each county. He said that money could
go a long way in Henderson County.

With 74,000 people, Henderson County has only one narcotics investigator.

CAMP has put out a call to its members to contact the governor and express
their concern.

Dow formed CAMP in February and the organization has grown to more than 100
members, he said. The group meets twice a month in different areas of the
county. They are forming a countywide crime watch.

Dow said he plans to attend a town hall forum Saturday with U.S. Rep. Jeb
Hensarling, R-Dallas, at Trinity Valley Community College in Athens. He
intends to ask Hensarling for sup-port to get the governor to distribute
federal funds equally, he said.

The next CAMP meeting is scheduled for April 22 at the Senior Citizens
Center in Athens.