Sheriff announces retirement, endorses deputy

Hays County Sheriff Gary Cutler announced that he will not seek reelection and will retire at the end of his term on December 31, 2024.

“I’ll say right now today that it is a job that I truly love,” Cutler said. “It’s been a great career here as Sheriff. You know why it’s great? Because the men and women that work at the Sheriff’s Department here are some of the best in the country.”

Cutler was originally elected to office in 2010. He will have served more than 50 years in law enforcement. He said he was most proud of “all the advances we’ve made in so many different areas” over his tenure.

“From the training of our employees to all the different programs we brought in, the expansion of the number of employees, because of the growth of the county, and how we’ve all just done so much here to make this county just a little bit better,” Cutler said. “I didn’t do this by myself. This is a group effort of all my employees and my command staff.”

Cutler endorsed Hays County Sheriff’s Deputy Anthony Hipolito, who announced that he will be running for Hays County Sheriff in the next election.

Hipolito has worked for the Hays County Sheriff’s Office since September of 2021 after serving 23 years with the Austin Police Department. Most recently, Hipolito has been involved in educating the students and citizens of Hays County on the dangers of fentanyl.

Hipolito said that he is running because he “loves cops.” His father was in the Austin Police Department for 29 years.

“So I grew up in the Austin Police Department,” Hipolito said. “I grew up looking up to role models and looking up to the officers that were in Austin. And I truly love cops. Cops are my heroes. They are, and it starts with my dad.”

The election for Hays County Sheriff will be held in November of 2024.