The City of Point, Texas, shuttered its police department earlier this month amid a severe budget crisis.
The entire department, including reserve officers and the chief, was eliminated effective March 6, Point Mayor Angela Nelson announced in a letter to all City personnel. The closure followed the discovery of a “substantial financial shortfall.”
Nelson attributed the crisis to the previous city secretary’s failure to make consistent payroll tax payments to the IRS, dating back to 2018, with many missed payments in recent years. Interest and penalties pushed the debt past $300,000. A concealed misappropriation of city funds also left insufficient money to pay existing employees.
However, the mayor clarified that the city employee who misused the funds did not do so for personal gain.
“That is not to say that these funds were used for that employee’s personal use, instead it appears that the funds were moved into general fund in order to make payroll. As a former council member and now your Mayor, I assure you this was not disclosed to Council, and it appears that it was actively concealed,” the mayor’s letter states.
The city believes it owes another $200,000 to the State Comptroller, with the possibility of additional missing funds. An IRS audit is underway, and officials expect the agency to seize city property.
The Rains County Sheriff’s Office now handles law enforcement for Point. Laid-off officers may apply for reinstatement in May after a city council election, though Nelson said funding remains unlikely.
The Texas Commission on Law Enforcement has opened an investigation into the closure.
Point lacks a full city council after several members resigned in December 2025. Voters will elect new members in May to address the next steps.
“It’s just hard to believe with all of this,” resident Emily Rhoades told Fox 4 KDFW. “It’s gonna be rough.”
Rhoades, who runs a donation center in Point, questioned the lost funds amid local crime and drug issues.
“Yeah, I do wonder. But only the ones that have done wrong is gonna know the true answer,” she said.
Point is located in Rains County, approximately 60 miles northeast of Dallas. With a footprint of just 2.78 square miles, the small city is home to 985 residents.
