“I’ve told you this before, the Biden administration created an unmitigated disaster,” outgoing Jackson County Sheriff Kelly Janica told The Center Square, repeating a claim he first made in 2022 about the border crisis. Cartel operatives, human and drug smugglers take Highway 59 to and from Houston, which runs right through Jackson County.

Janica was one of the first to join the OLS task force, coming out of retirement to lead the sheriff’s office after serving decades in public service.

He and incoming sheriff Rick Boone sat down with The Center Square at Janica’s retirement celebration – his final one this time – to discuss the success of the OLS Task Force.

“Roy Boyd had the right idea and put together this coalition of all these agencies of like-minded sheriffs, deputies and willing to work criminal law enforcement officers. That’s the bottom line. And after January 20th, I think that’s going to play a major part on what we’re going to do about taking our state back,” he told The Center Square.

“Operation Lone Star was one of the best things in my career that ever happened to Texas.”

The Jackson County Sheriff’s Office has played a major role in apprehending fugitives, human and drug smugglers, finding and seizing stolen cars and contraband. Janica was also among the first to sound the alarm of alleged smugglers transporting illegal foreign nationals with what appear to be brand new U.S. passports and court dates scheduled for years into the future, The Center Square reported.

His deputies have helped track down 18-wheeler smuggling operations and major human smuggling operations, The Center Square exclusively reported. Three years into the border crisis, Janica and Wharton County Sheriff Shannon Srubar highlighted OLS successes, explaining their counties are the “last two links in the enforcement chain on U.S. 59.

“We’re committed to criminal law enforcement in our counties. We will not give the cartels a foothold. We will not allow them to use our county for stash houses and staging areas. We will not allow them free passage through our counties so they can prey upon other Texans,” The Center Square reported.

Border-related crime in the county isn’t new, the sheriffs acknowledged. “Ever since I’ve been in law enforcement, there’s been a trickle. And I’m talking back from the seventies,” Janica said. “But in 2022, 2023 it just exploded.”

The difference is this time, counties received support through OLS, created by Gov. Greg Abbott and funded by the Texas legislature.

With “59 being a drug corridor, we never could get any help,” Janica said. “We never could get a task force operation that involved these small counties.” He said they tried in the late 1980s. Members of Congress come to Jackson County and they “tried to show them what the problem was. And we still never got any funding.”

Thanks to Abbott, the legislature, and Boyd, OLS “is the first operation put together by a coalition of sheriffs,” Janica said.

“And it’s absolutely been one of the best things ever happened to a small-town Texas.”

Janica is passing the torch to incoming sheriff Rick Boone, who was elected with overwhelming support. Janica first hired Boone when he was 19. Boone has served in law enforcement ever since, including in nearly every position in the sheriff’s office including chief deputy and as Edna’s police chief. Boone was heavily involved in finding the alleged killer of an Edna high school cheerleader who was found stabbed to death on Dec. 5, 2023. Her alleged killer, an illegal border crosser from Mexico, was indicted for her murder. His capital murder trial is scheduled for February.

While Boone’s entire law enforcement team was consumed with the case and tracking the alleged killer to another county, OLS officers provided support, Boone explained. Sharing resources was helpful for school safety and other operations, he said. “Having the availability and the MOUs in place for us all to be on the same team of like-minded officers who are goal and objective oriented. It really helps.”

“I’ve never seen anything put together as well as this,” he added. “The main thing for me that I notice different than any other thing that I’ve been involved in is it’s not ‘look at me’ or ‘look what I did.’ It’s ‘look what we did.’ It’s a team effort.

“That’s what I like about it. It’s not just a county deal. We have cities that are involved in it. DPS is on board and it takes all of us to get the job done.”

There are currently 52 agencies involved in the task force in dozens of counties.

Law enforcement officers in other states like Missouri are hoping to replicate what the task force is doing, The Center Square exclusively reported.

“I feel proud to be part of it that other states are looking at us as a frontrunner and example,” Boone said. “I think that speaks volumes.”

The task force works, Janica said, because “It goes back to what I said earlier, we’re like-minded and willing to work. Criminal law enforcement officers, that’s what we are. If you’re not, you don’t need to be in this business.”