County sheriff debuts new website

GONZALES – Sheriff Matt Atkinson announced the debut of the new GCSO website to the public during Tuesday’s commissioner’s court meeting. Atkinson said the website was implemented not only to give citizens access to more information than before, but also to help reduce non-emergency calls to dispatch when emergency calls take priority.

“When we’re in the middle of a critical incident, like a major car crash or something, our dispatchers are trying to focus on that incident as the main priority,” Atkinson said. “But what happens is they’ll get a call that is a non-emergency. And that could be people just calling in for jail information, or asking about a burn ban or something. Well, that’s one less phone call that dispatchers have to handle because that information will now be on our website.”

But that’s just one tool the new website has to offer, Atkinson said. The updated version includes categories such as most wanted, press releases, sex offenders, crime prevention, crime stoppers and employment opportunities.

“We can also interact with someone like a rancher who has a cow out, or burn ban or other frequently asked questions,” Atkinson said.

The website also includes features such as a history of the sheriff’s office, fallen officers and even Carmella, the GCSO K-9 unit.

“This will allow me to connect with the general public,” Atkinson said. “They can contact me because there is a contact number there, and when they email that website that comes to me and my administrative assistant only.”

Another first is that the public now has the ability to view the 10 most wanted people in Gonzales County, as well as have access to registered sex offenders in the county.

“This is all public information, and it’s important to a lot of people,” Atkinson said.

Atkinson also pointed out that the website was not funded by taxpayer dollars, but rather by funds obtained from criminal case seizures and forfeitures.

“I was able to utilize those funds to build that website, so it didn’t cost the taxpayers anything,” Atkinson said.

The public can access the new site at www.gonzalescountysheriff.org.