There are two special divisions within Hays County Sheriff's Office Law Enforcement: Special Weapons and Tactics and School Resource Officers. More information about each is below.

Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) Team

The Hays County SWAT Team is comprised of regular, full-time peace officers commissioned by the State of Texas and qualified medics trained to perform high-risk operations that fall outside of the abilities of regular officers. Hays County SWAT is a volunteer/collateral team of operators, negotiators, and medics who maintain regular assignments in various capacities within their respective agencies.

The Hays County SWAT team was established in 1994 and was originally called SORT (Special Operations Response Team). In 1999, the team was reorganized to include the San Marcos Police Department and was renamed SWAT. In 2000, the Crisis Negotiations Team (CNT) was created and today is an integral part of SWAT.

The primary mission of the Hays County SWAT team is to professionally resolve life threatening critical incidents, while striving to minimize negative impact on the residents of Hays County. In addition, SWAT assists any requesting law enforcement agency with tactical, administrative, and training support.

The Hays County SWAT team’s primary function is addressing special threat situations including hostage rescue, barricaded criminal suspects, serving high-risk search and arrest warrants, counter-terrorism, and engaging heavily-armed criminals.

School Resource Officers Division

The School Resource Officer Division is commanded by Lt. Chris Treat. The Hays County Sheriff’s Office (HCSO) provides School Resource Officers (SROs) to the Wimberley, Dripping Springs, and Hays Consolidated Independent School Districts along with the San Marcos Academy. These SROs are licensed peace officers in the state of Texas as well as being full-time deputies with the Hays County Sheriff’s Office.

They received additional training relevant to School Based Law Enforcement. During the school year they fulfill SRO duties with their assigned school and during the summer months, they fill in where needed as full-time deputies. As of January of 2024, the Hays County Sheriff’s Office employs 25 SROs as well as three sergeants and one lieutenant.

Sgt. Ronny Torres and Sgt. Ken Carpenter are the supervisors over the Hays CISD campuses.

Sgt. James Young is the supervisor over the Wimberley ISD, Dripping Springs ISD, and San Marcos Academy campuses.