Liberty County, Texas

Liberty County, Texas
Location in the state of Texas
Texas's location in the U.S.
Founded	1836
Seat	Liberty
Area  - Total  - Land  - Water	1,176 sq mi (3,046 km²) 1,160 sq mi (3,004 km²) 16 sq mi (41 km²), 1.41%
Population  - (2010)  - Density	75,643[1] 65/sq mi (25/km²)
Website	www.co.liberty.tx.us

Liberty County is a county located in Texas within the Houston–Sugar Land–Baytown metropolitan area. As of the 2010 United States Census, the population was 75,643.[2] Its county seat is Liberty.^[1]

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 1,176 square miles (3,045.8 km²), of which 1,160 square miles (3,004.4 km²) is land and 16 square miles (41.4 km²) (1.41%) is water.

The Trinity River flows through this county, dividing the county approximately in half. The river begins on the northern border of Liberty County, forming the San Jacinto - Polk County line through the Liberty County line. The east fork of the San Jacinto River flows through far Northeast parts of the county, Flowing through Cleveland. Tarkington Bayou begins in the Sam Houston National Forest in San Jacinto County, working its way south through Northeast and east Liberty County and joining other feeders, before traveling into Harris County and emptying into Galveston Bay. The highest point in Liberty County is "Davis Hill", the roof of a salt dome in the northern part of the county.

Major Highways

• U.S. Highway 59
• U.S. Highway 90
• State Highway 61
• State Highway 105
• State Highway 146
• State Highway 321

• See List of Highways in Liberty County for more roadways in Liberty County.

Adjacent counties

• Polk County (north)
• Hardin County (east)
• Jefferson County (southeast)
• Chambers County (south)
• Harris County (southwest)
• Montgomery County (west)
• San Jacinto County (northwest)

National protected areas

• Big Thicket National Preserve (part)
• Trinity River National Wildlife Refuge

Demographics

As of the census^[2] of 2000, there were 70,154 people, 23,242 households, and 17,756 families residing in the county. The population density was 60 people per square mile (23/km²). There were 26,359 housing units at an average density of 23 per square mile (9/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 78.90% White, 12.82% Black or African American, 0.47% Native American, 0.32% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 6.03% from other races, and 1.43% from two or more races. 10.92% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 23,242 households out of which 38.10% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 60.50% were married couples living together, 11.40% had a female householder with no husband present, and 23.60% were non-families. 20.40% of all households were made up of individuals and 8.90% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.80 and the average family size was 3.23.

In the county, the population was spread out with 27.60% under the age of 18, 9.20% from 18 to 24, 31.60% from 25 to 44, 21.40% from 45 to 64, and 10.30% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females there were 95.70 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.40 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $38,361, and the median income for a family was $43,744. Males had a median income of $37,957 versus $22,703 for females. The per capita income for the county was $15,539. About 11.10% of families and 14.30% of the population were below the poverty line, including 18.30% of those under age 18 and 15.00% of those age 65 or over.

Elected officials

United States Congress

Senators		Name	Party	First Elected	Level
	Senate Class 1	Kay Bailey Hutchison	Republican	1993	Senior Senator
	Senate Class 2	John Cornyn	Republican	2002	Junior Senator
Representatives		Name	Party	First Elected	Area(s) of Liberty County Represented
	District 2	Ted Poe	Republican	2004	Western and southern areas
	District 8	Kevin Brady	Republican	1996	Northern areas

Texas Legislature

Texas Senate

• District 4: Tommy Williams (R)- first elected in 2002

Texas House of Representatives

• District 18: John Otto (R)- first elected in 2004

Liberty County Elected Officials

Position	Official	Party
County Judge	Craig McNair	Republican
County Commissioner Precinct 1	Todd Fontenot	Democrat
County Commissioner Precinct 2	Charlotte Warner	Republican
County Commissioner Precinct 3	Melvin Hunt	Democrat
County Commissioner Precinct 4	Norman Brown	Republican
County Attorney	Wesley Hinch	Republican
County Clerk	Paulette Williams	Republican
District Attorney	Michael R. (Blue) Little	Democrat
District Clerk	Donna Brown	Republican
Sheriff	Henry Patterson	Republican
Assessor-Collector	Mark McClelland	Democrat
County Treasurer	Kim Harris	Republican
Constable Precinct 1	Tim Allison	Democrat
Constable Precinct 2	Leslie Hulsey	Democrat
Constable Precinct 3	Danny Frankum	Democrat
Constable Precinct 4	Chad Pafford	Republican
Constable Precinct 5	L.W. DeSpain	Democrat
Constable Precinct 6	Royce Wheeler	Democrat
Justice Of The Peace Precinct 1	Bobby Rader	Republican
Justice Of The Peace Precinct 2	Ronnie E. Davis	Democrat
Justice Of The Peace Precinct 3	Cody Parrish	Democrat
Justice Of The Peace Precinct 4	Barry Graves	Republican
Justice Of The Peace Precinct 5	Wade Brown	Republican
Justice Of The Peace Precinct 6	Peggy Dunn	Democrat

Economy

Around 1995 the economy of Liberty County was mainly focused on agriculture and oil. As of that year the economy of Liberty County was struggling. At that time the Texas Department of Criminal Justice had established four correctional facilities (Cleveland, Henley, Hightower, and Plane) in the county within a six year span. As of 1995 the facilities employed 1,045 employees and contributed $22 million in the county's annual payroll. Since Cleveland is a privately-operated facility, the county receives tax revenue from the prison's operation.^[3]

Cities and towns

Ames Cleveland Daisetta Dayton Lakes

Devers Dayton Hardin Kenefick

Liberty Mont Belvieu† North Cleveland Plum Grove

^†Mostly in Chambers County

Other Communities

Davis Hill Dolen Eastgate Hightower Hull, Texas

Macedonia Moss Bluff Moss Hill Rayburn Raywood

Romayor Rye, Texas Tarkington Prairie

Education

Where "ISD" means "Independent School District".

• Dayton ISD (portions of the district extends into another county)
• Liberty ISD
• Cleveland ISD (portions of the district extends into other counties)
• Tarkington ISD
• Hardin ISD
• Hull-Daisetta ISD
• Devers ISD

The Sam Houston Regional Library and Research Center, operated by the Texas State Library and Archives Commission is located 3 miles (4.8 km) north of Liberty in an unincorporated area. Judge and Mrs. Price Daniel donated 114 114 acres (46 ha) of land for the purpose of establishing a library on September 27, 1973. Construction began in the fall of 1975; by then $700,000 had been raised through private donations. The library opened on May 14, 1977.^[4]

Government and infrastructure

The Texas Department of Criminal Justice operates one women's prison and two women's state jails, all co-located with one another, in an unincorporated area. The L.V. Hightower Unit prison and the Dempsie Henley Unit and Lucille G. Plane Unit jails are 4 miles (6.4 km) north of Dayton.^[5][6][7] The Cleveland Unit, a prison for men privately operated by the GEO Group, Inc. on behalf of the TDCJ, is in Cleveland.^[8]

Cleveland opened in September 1989.^[8] Hightower opened in March 1990.^[5] Henley and Plane opened in May 1995.^[6][7] As of 1995, after Henley opened, of all of the counties Liberty County had the fourth largest number of state prisons and jails, after Walker, Brazoria, and Coryell counties.^[3]

Transportation

Two general aviation airports are located in unincorporated sections of the county.

• Liberty Municipal Airport is located east of Liberty.
• Cleveland Municipal Airport is located east of Cleveland.

The Houston Airport System stated that Liberty County is within the primary service area of George Bush Intercontinental Airport, an international airport in Houston in Harris County.^[9] In addition Liberty County is in proximity to Hobby Airport.^{[citation needed]}

The TTC-69 component (recommended preferred) of the planned Trans-Texas Corridor goes through Liberty County.^[10]

Emergency services

Outside of the city limits ambulance services are provided by Liberty County EMS, and City of Cleveland EMS. Fire protection is provided mostly through Volunteer Fire Departments, two of which in Liberty County are funded by Emergency Services Districts (ESD).^[11]

Police services

The headquarters of the Liberty County Sheriff's Office is within the city of Liberty. Most incorporated areas operate their own police departments, including Cleveland, Dayton, Kenefick, Liberty

Liberty County operates the Liberty County Sheriff's Office, which serves unincorporated areas and supplements police forces of incorporated areas.

Liberty County also has a constable for each of its six precincts and deputies assigned to each.

Fire services

Incorporated cities of Cleveland and Liberty operate their own fire departments staffed by a combination of paid and volunteers. Both departments cover territory outside their respective city limits. Unincorporated areas have fire service through Volunteer Fire Departments.

Fire departments serving unincorporated areas:

• Ames VFD 1 Station
• Big Thicket Lake Estates VFD 1 Station
• Cleveland VFD 2 Stations (Covering areas inside the City of Cleveland, and unincorporated Liberty County)
• Cypress Lakes VFD 1 Station
• Dayton VFD 2 Stations (Covering areas inside the City of Dayton, and unincorporated Liberty County)
• Devers VFD 1 Station
• Hardin VFD 1 Station
• Highway 321 VFD 1 Station
• Hull-Daisetta VFD 1 Station
• Kenefick VFD 1 Station
• Liberty VFD 1 Station (Covering areas inside the City of Dayton, and unincorporated Liberty County)
• Moss Bluff VFD 1 Station
• North Liberty County VFD 1 Station
• Plum Grove VFD 1 Station (Covering areas inside the City of Plum Grove, and unincorporated Liberty County)
• Raywood VFD 1 Station
• Tarkington VFD 2 Stations
• Westlake VFD 1 Station
• Woodpecker VFD 1 Station

Emergency Medical services

EMS services inside the City of Cleveland are provided by the City of Cleveland EMS, who also provides EMS service to Northwest Liberty County and is made up by area that Cleveland VFD, Plum Grove VFD, and Tarkington VFD each serve.

EMS services inside the City of Liberty are provided by the City of Liberty Fire & EMS.

EMS services for the areas not covered by the above mentioned agencies is provided by Liberty County EMS.

See also

Houston portal

• National Register of Historic Places listings in Liberty County, Texas

References

1. ^ "Find a County". National Association of Counties. http://www.naco.org/Counties/Pages/FindACounty.aspx. Retrieved 2011-06-07. 
2. ^ "American FactFinder". United States Census Bureau. http://factfinder.census.gov. Retrieved 2008-01-31. 
3. ^ ^{a b} Horswell, Cindy. "For hard-hit economy of Liberty County, crime officially pays." Houston Chronicle. Thursday June 29, 1995. A30. Retrieved on July 23, 2010.
4. ^ "Sam Houston Center." Texas State Library and Archives Commission. Retrieved on April 5, 2010.
5. ^ ^{a b} "Hightower Unit." Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Retrieved on May 10, 2010.
6. ^ ^{a b} "Henley Unit." Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Retrieved on May 10, 2010.
7. ^ ^{a b} "Plane Unit." Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Retrieved on May 10, 2010.
8. ^ ^{a b} "Cleveland Unit." Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Retrieved on May 10, 2010.
9. ^ "Master Plan Executive Summary." George Bush Intercontinental Airport Master Plan. Houston Airport System. December 2006. 2-1 (23/130). Retrieved on December 14, 2010.
10. ^ TxDoT, TTC Section N, Detailed Map 2, 2008-01-24
11. ^ What is an Emergency Services District?.

External links

• Liberty County government's website
• Liberty County in Handbook of Texas Online from The University of Texas at Austin
• I-Dineout-- Liberal Twist, Local news Mainly focuses on south Liberty County.
• Liberty Dispatch-- Conservative Twist, Local news Mainly focuses on politics in Liberty County Texas.
• Cleveland Advocate Cleveland Area Newspaper, covers north east Liberty County.
• Liberty County, TXGenWeb Focuses on genealogical research of Liberty County.

Coordinates: 30°09′N 94°49′W / 30.15°N 94.81°W / 30.15; -94.81