The Woodlands Township Board of Directors is moving to replace its 32-year-old mounted patrol contractor with Montgomery County Sheriff's Office deputies on horseback, a shift that would introduce commissioned mounted officers to Town Center for the first time.

The Board allocated $1.5 million in the proposed 2027 budget during its Thursday, Aug. 20 budget workshop to fund the transition, according to Houston Chronicle reporting. In a formal statement released that evening on the Township's Facebook page, the Board framed the move as a public safety upgrade over Alpha & Omega Mounted Patrol, whose non-commissioned troopers cannot detain, arrest or take law enforcement action.

"I will never apologize for putting public safety and responsible stewardship of taxpayer dollars first," Bailey said in the statement.

Alpha & Omega has patrolled Town Center since 1994. Its troopers are not commissioned law enforcement officers: when they observe criminal activity, they must call 911 like any resident. Under the Sheriff's Office proposal, six deputies and one sergeant would patrol on horseback with full arrest authority, direct radio access and law enforcement databases.

The numbers tell part of the story. The Sheriff's Office proposal carries a one-time capital cost of $700,000 and an annual budget of $1.3 million, according to the Chronicle. The Township says that would save roughly $200,000 compared to Alpha & Omega's 2027 bid, though Alpha & Omega disputes that figure.

Alpha & Omega submitted its 2027 proposal on May 8, requesting more weekly patrol hours at a higher cost while keeping the same courtesy-patrol model. The Township's statement said the proposal "did not materially change or enhance its existing scope of services."

The company pushed back hard.

Alpha & Omega said in a statement that the Board acted without providing the company the complete Sheriff's Office proposal, without producing an apples-to-apples cost comparison and without giving Alpha & Omega any opportunity to respond or compete for the work. Lobbyist Mike Hendrix called the move an expansion of local government that displaces "a proven private business" and eliminates 35 local jobs. Alpha & Omega officials said 32 of those affected employees live in Montgomery County.

Board member Shelley Sekula-Gibbs, who has questioned Alpha & Omega's value for several years, was blunt during the workshop. The current service "has become not much more than a cell phone on a pony," she told the Chronicle.

Bailey cited growth in the community and increased criminal activity in Town Center, on Market Street and near The Woodlands Mall as reasons the Board explored alternatives.

No agreement with the Sheriff's Office has been approved. The 2027 budget is scheduled for adoption Sept. 3. Township staff said it expects to bring a formal Sheriff's Office agreement to the Board at a future public meeting after that date, when directors will vote on whether to proceed.