Texas Ranger with Lee County ties promoted to Captain

 

Saturday, January 14, 2012

 

Texas Ranger Frank Malinak, who raised in the Dime Box area, has been promoted to the rank of Captain and will soon be moving to Austin for his new job.

 

Malinak was promoted to lieutenant in 2009 after serving approximately 14 years in the Bryan/College Station area. As a lieutenant Malinak worked in Waco for two years.

 

Malinak moves to his new position years after beginning his law enforcement career in Giddings with the Lee County Sheriff's Department. He has been involved in law enforcement for 30 years, beginning in 1979 as a Sheriff's deputy in Lee County.  

 

After serving as a deputy under Sheriff Joe Goodson, Malinak moved to a position with the Texas Department of Public Safety serving with the highway patrol as a trooper and auto theft agent. He became a Texas Ranger in 1993 and was stationed in Midland before being transferred to the Brazos Valley in 1995.

 

According to a report posted by TheEagle.com he will begin his new job on February 1st. The new position will include more administrative duties and less investigative work in the field.  

 

 

Lee County law enforcement agencies launch first ever "No Refusal Weekend"

 

Monday, December 26, 2011

 

Lee County Attorney Martin Placke announced today that Lee County law enforcement agencies will be out in force New Year's weekend, cracking down on impaired drivers by using a strategy referred to as a "No Refusal Weekend."

 

The Lee County "No Refusal Weekend" begins Friday, December 30th at noon and continues through 12:01 A.M on Monday, January 2nd.  Agencies participating in the program are the Texas DPS, the Lee County Sheriff's Department, and the Giddings and Lexington Police Departments.

 

"Every person suspected of drunk driving this weekend will be tested one way or another," said County Attorney Placke. Placke added, "If someone refuses to voluntarily provide a specimen of their breath or blood for analysis, as the law requires them to do, we will obtain a search warrant signed by a local judge." According to Placke, the warrant will require the person to give a sample of their blood for alcohol testing. Placke said that with the approval of a judge, a person suspected of driving while intoxicated who refuses to provide a breath sample is required to submit to blood testing.

 

This "No Refusal Weekend" is the first of its kind in Lee County.

 

"Blood draw search warrants are a tool to combat drunk driving. Without a

24-hour local medical facility to draw blood, or the immediate availability of a magistrate to sign a blood draw search warrant, local law enforcement agencies have not been able to regularly use this DWI enforcement tool," Placke said. The effort this weekend will involve the cooperation of local law enforcement, local magistrates and the Lee County Attorney.

 

Testing will be done at the Lee County Law Enforcement Center by phlebotomists who will be on call the entire weekend.

  

In Texas, anyone driving with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of .08 or higher is considered to be legally intoxicated. According to Placke, many impaired drivers refuse to submit to BAC testing in an attempt to avoid - or have reduced - the criminal sanctions they could face upon conviction.

 

The "No Refusal Weekend" is designed to address the refusal problem. Law enforcement officers will work quickly, according to Placke, to obtain blood draw warrants for drivers who refuse BAC testing.

 

Placke said, "Our ideal situation is for no one to drink and drive. Think ahead and hand the keys to a designated driver if you plan to drink. The police will not be out to get you, but they will be on the lookout if you break the law."