Fort Bend County has temporarily closed its police academy, Sheriff Eric Fagan said, as state investigators look into allegations that the facility enrolled ineligible cadets.

The Texas Commission on Law Enforcement's investigation in Fort Bend comes as new money from the Legislature has empowered the agency to conduct more robust reviews of the state's many law enforcement academies.

College of the Mainland in Texas City, for instance, this year shuttered its 58-year-old academy after a state investigation identified compliance issues and revoked 19 of its graduates' licenses.

New leaders at the law enforcement commission are cracking down on "cop certification mills" said Jay Coons, a Sam Houston State University criminology professor and retired Harris County Sheriff's Office captain.

"TCOLE wants to ensure those obtaining peace officer certifications pack the gear, and this is why academies are being inspected more rigorously," he said.

The scope of the Fort Bend probe is unclear. But Fagan, in a prepared statement, said the Gus George Law Enforcement Academy would put its courses on hold and postpone its August cadet class while his office — which runs the academy — works to address compliance concerns and conduct an internal review into the allegations.

The academy has been in operation for more than four decades and has graduated thousands of law enforcement personnel working in Fort Bend and across the state, Fagan said.

"We recognize where improvements are needed, and we are committed to taking the necessary steps to strengthen our processes and ensure continued compliance with TCOLE standards," Fagan said.

A spokesperson for the sheriff's office deferred to the sheriff's statement.

Gretchen Grigsby, the director of government and external relations for the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement, declined to comment on the ongoing review.

She did confirm that the agency had received additional money from the Legislature to conduct reviews of police academies statewide, and that the review of Fort Bend's facility came after the agency received a complaint about an ineligible cadet.

Police cadets must meet various eligibility standards, including having clean records and passing medical and psychological evaluations.

19 Revoked Licenses

The situation in Fort Bend mirrors a state review of the College of the Mainland's Liberty County police academy, said Kevin Lawrence, executive director of the Texas Municipal Police Association.

In that case, the Galveston County Daily News reported the academy ultimately shut down and 19 Liberty County deputies in 2024 lost their licenses after state investigators looked into allegations that the deputies hadn't received a minimum standard of training.

Lawrence estimated that the law enforcement commission's funding has doubled to $8 million, over the last two Texas Legislative sessions, and said changes to state law have given it more power to investigate agencies as well as individual officers.

TCOLE director, Gregory Stevens, in a 2024 interview with a Lubbock publication, said the agency was working to boost professionalism at academies, and acknowledged some might close.

Lawrence said the 19 Liberty County deputies should not have lost their licenses, as the academy's flaws weren't their fault. But he welcomed state investigators probing academies more closely.

"If you want to improve law enforcement and eliminate bad policing," he said. "That's going to take better training, more training, better equipment and better management."

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