Clore will replace White as Milam County Sheriff

Milam County Commissioners appointed Mike Clore as Milam County Sheriff during a meeting on Monday.

Clore will remain in the office until the next election cycle in November 2022.

He replaced Chris White who resigned from his position on Monday, March 1, due to personal reasons. White was sworn in as sheriff in January.

“To my surprise Monday at around 1 p.m. Chris showed up in my office,” County Judge Steve Young said during the meeting. “He called me and I could tell there was urgency in his voice and he said that he was going to resign for personal reasons. The reasons had nothing to do with his work. He has things that he has to deal with and he felt he couldn’t do that while doing his job.”

Young appointed Clore as Acting Sheriff until the commissioners could meet on Monday. 

“I like Chris and he was a good sheriff, we are going to miss him,” Young said. “He had just taken the oath in January. We are going to move forward.”

Commissioners accepted White’s resignation during the meeting Monday. Four people applied for the position: Mike Clore, former Rockdale Chief Thomas Harris, Buckholts Chief Shaun Newsome, and Herbie Vaughn.

Several members of the current sheriff’s department staff were on hand in support of naming Clore as sheriff.

“I think with Mike there would be a smooth transition,” Jail Administrator Doug Veech said. “I think it would be for the benefit of the county and sheriff’s department to have someone who is familiar with the department already.”

Captain John Mendoza said that the staff has learned a lot from former sheriffs and they would all like to continue on that road. 

“We do a lot of public involvement and keeping them involved,” Mendoza said. “With everything else that is going on, just for now we would like to continue with someone who is familiar. A lot of sheriff’s department staff are here.”

Clore will be sworn in at the next commissioners court meeting.

“As many of you know, I was appointed Sheriff of Milam County today,” Clore said in a statement Monday. “I would like to thank the county judge and commissioners court for this opportunity. Thank you to everyone who reached out with their support. I would also like to thank our hard working staff for their continued dedication to the job that they are tasked with. We will continue to operate day to day without interruption. The Sheriffs Office is in good hands and is open for business.”

During the meeting Monday commissioners also took time to honor Dr. Joy Alonzo and Jennifer Ozmetin for work with bringing the OnMed Healthcare Station to the county and their work helping to vaccinate county residents.

In other business commissioners: accepted the racial profiling report for the county; appointed Mike Clore and Henry Hubnik to the Milam County Policy Committee; appointed Hubnik to the Central Texas Council of Governments Hazardous Waste and Disposal Committee and Art Neal to the Milam County Industrial Foundation Board; and approved the deputization of John Anderle as deputy constable for Precinct 1.