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County at a Glance
Championing Efforts
The Texas Association of Counties Leadership Foundation awarded the "2008 Best Practice Award" for Delivery of Service in the Human Services Category to the Border Children Mental Health Collaborative.
The BCMHC is a community-base system of care for youth with serious emotional disturbances (SED) and was funded through a six-year grant by the Department of Health and Human Services Substance Abuse and Mental Health Service Administration (SAMHSA).
The Border Children Mental Health Collaborative represents an effort among all the community's state and local child serving agencies to stop removal of local children and adolescents with emotional disturbances to residential treatment centers located over 500 miles away from their homes.
After several Commissioners Court meetings a decision was made to issue a certificate of obligation for$10,000,000 to build the El Paso County Youth Services Center. The facility will host an array of child serving agencies in one centralized family friendly building that will provide mental health services for families in El Paso.
Although there will be no formal awards presentation several representatives from TAC will soon visit El Paso County to recognize BCMHC championing efforts.
In a later date, a committee from the Border Children Mental Health Collaborative will travel to Austin to celebrate the accomplishments and be part of the TAC Annual Conference to be held August 26, 2008.
If you are proud of a specific program in the County of El Paso let the Texas Association of Counties Leadership Foundation know. They recognize counties that show outstanding leadership in innovation, achievement and service in several categories like public safety and corrections, health and human services, financial/general management among others.
For more information visit http://www.county.org/
County Property Robbery Halted 
Sheriff Deputies arrested a man caught in the act by the relative of a county employee while trying to steal $17,000 worth of county property.
The incident happened early in the morning of June 14, 2008 in the yard located at the intersection of Hunt Drive and F.M. 76.
The suspect was caught trespassing by the father of Road Superintendent Roberto Bustamante. "When he realized somebody was inside the yard, he drove his car over there and blocked the entrance so the suspect could not get out," Bustamante Jr. said.
Sheriff Deputies arrived to the scene a short while later and after conducting an investigation, it was determined the suspect was indeed trespassing and did not have any permission to remove the material, as he had stated before. By the time Mr. Bustamante Sr. arrived, he had already loaded his pickup truck with county property.
These goods were 108 guardrail bump-offs and 13 street headlights.
Road and Bridge Personnel estimated the value of the property at $17,013.
The suspect was arrested and charged by authorities. All of this thanks to the prompt response of three citizens in particular, Roberto Bustamante Sr., Lily Esparza and Joe Bustamante.
Border Fence Lawsuit
The County of El Paso filed a civil lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Homeland Security challenging the constitutionality of the waivers for federal, state and local laws issued to facilitate construction of the border fence along the U.S.-Mexico border.
Attorneys from the law-firm Mayer Brown LLP filed the lawsuit at the local Federal Courthouse on June 2nd, 2008.
During a special meeting, County Attorney Jose Rodriguez told the members of the Commissioners Court the lawsuit challenges Secretary Chertoff's statutory authority to issue waivers for more than 30 federal, state and local laws, to accelerate the construction of a border fence.
The lawsuit alleges such waivers are unconstitutional because they represent an illegal delegation of Congress' constitutional powers to Secretary Chertoff, in violation of Article 1, Section 1 of the U.S. Constitution and constitutional principles of separation of powers.
Plaintiffs seek a preliminary injunction asking the court to bar the Department of Homeland.
Security from proceeding with the construction of the fence until the government has complied with all applicable laws.
The case will be heard at a local U.S. District Court on a later date.
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