Colonel Prentice A. Lindsay is retiring after 14 years on the Hays County Sheriff’s Office Academy Board. Lindsay, who spent several of those years as chairman, was honored in a ceremony by Hays County Sheriff Tommy Ratliff.

Hays County was the 11th most active county in the country when it came to conducting National Night Out events, according to rankings recently produced by the National Association of Town Watch (NATW).

The Hays County Commissioners Court last week declared the week of Oct. 17-23 as Red Ribbon Week. Red Ribbon week is a celebration of the life of Enrique “Kiki” Camarena Salazar, the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) operative who was abducted and killed while investigating a major drug cartel in Mexico in 1985.

Hays County Deputy Luke Lysek is returning to his job with the Hays County Sheriff’s Office after a recent deployment to Iraq.

Hays County Sheriff Tommy Ratliff has hired forensic hypnotist Kevin Ficke as his office’s Criminal Investigation Division Lieutenant. Experts say hypnotism can help witnesses remember more, but not necessarily more accurately.

Starting Friday, Hays County deputies are allowed to issue field citations instead of booking people into jail on charges such as marijuana possession and various Class B misdemeanors.