Sheriff Otto H. Hanak
Longtime Texas lawman, Otto H. Hanak was sworn in as Washington County's 27th Sheriff on January 1, 2013. His law enforcement career has covered more than 35 years with his last two duties being a Texas Ranger assigned to Washington County and as the District Attorney's Investigator, assigned to the 21st Judicial District of Texas.
At the national level, Sheriff Hanak served on the Executive Security-Protective Detail for the George W. Bush Presidential Campaign. He also provided executive security for in-state and out-of-state dignitaries for more than 15 years. Sheriff Hanak's formal education was at Sam Houston State University, majoring in Criminal Justice. His professional education includes more than 4,300 training hours in various law enforcement training programs.
At the national level, Sheriff Hanak served on the Executive Security-Protective Detail for the George W. Bush Presidential Campaign. He also provided executive security for in-state and out-of-state dignitaries for more than 15 years. Sheriff Hanak's formal education was at Sam Houston State University, majoring in Criminal Justice. His professional education includes more than 4,300 training hours in various law enforcement training programs.
The Washington County Sheriff has countywide jurisdiction, but in practice, mostly concentrates his activities outside the city limits where municipal officers cannot operate.
Sheriff Hanak, as an elected official, is responsible for the overall entire operation of the county jail (housing over 95-110 inmates per day), along with over-operational supervision of approximately 60 employees and contract staff. This makes it the largest office within the Washington County government system. Besides this, Sheriff Hanak is charged with the authority and responsibility of the daily safety of its citizens by ensuring sheriff's deputies are making arrests of criminal suspects, investigating all crimes reported to his office, enforcing traffic laws and regulations on State and County roadways, maintaining security in both the County and District Courts, along with being charged with civil and criminal processes such as subpoenas, warrants, criminal indictments, writs, and maintaining sexual offender records.
Sheriff Hanak's responsibilities require him to develop procedures to serve as guidelines for proper conduct of employees, monitor effectiveness of narcotic and criminal investigations, initiate investigations of civilian complaints against Sheriff's members and determine and approve disciplinary actions to be taken based on evidence secured for violations of rules and regulations.
Sheriff Hanak is also charged with the collection and the analysis of data of all Sheriff's activities, prepares and administers capital and operating budgets as approved by the Washington County Commissioner's Court. Sheriff Hanak is part of the Washington/Brenham Emergency Management Group and serves as the Incident Commander during the times of heightened emergencies, when occurring in Washington County.
Sheriff Hanak manages three command supervisors who are responsible for the overall direction, coordination, and evaluation of its units and divisions. Additionally, Sheriff Hanak carries out supervisory responsibilities twenty-four hours a day and seven day a week, in accordance with State and Federal Law, and County policy and procedures. Sheriff Hanak is responsible for the interviewing, hiring, and the training of all civilian employees and peace officers working under his direction.
The Sheriff does develop and maintain a productive relationship with other offices, including other governmental agencies, and public and private organizations to benefit the sheriff's office and Washington County.
As Washington County's chief law enforcement officer, he maintains an active alliance with other professional police authorities and participates in programs for mutual improvement and proficiency in controlling crime and problems.
