The list is growing for cities and counties in Texas who are adding “In God We Trust” to their emergency vehicles. The latest is Kendall County, just northwest of San Antonio.
In the county seat of Boerne, Sheriff Al Auxier has made the decision to place the nation’s motto across the trunk or tailgate of every one of his patrol vehicles.
“It is the motto of our country and there’s no reason why we shouldn’t proudly display that on our patrol units,” the sheriff told KENS 5 News. County resident Carol Hayden added “Boerne is very Christian-oriented, Kendall County is. So it’s interesting, but not surprising, I suppose.”
While “In God We Trust” has been the national motto for 60 years, there have been legal battles over the issue again and again. The sheriff says he has no misgivings. “I have a completely different idea about the separation of church and state,” he told the reporters. Sheriff Auxier added that he’s not worried about a legal challenge since tax money isn’t being spent on the decals; roughly about $400 for all 28 department units.
“We aren’t spending tax dollars,” he said. “We’re spending revenue that has been made off drug seizures.”
Kendall County is the latest municipal entity to bring the motto to patrol units. Among the first was Childress County, which started applying the decals last year. That department then faced a nasty letter from an anti-religion group as was previously reported in Breitbart Texas. And, with state courts being involved, both Attorney General Ken Paxton and Governor Greg Abbott weighed in on Breitbart Texas.
The “Freedom From Religion Foundation” has been sending out letters at a rapid clip to more than 30 law enforcement agencies around the country telling them to remove the decals, or bumper stickers from their vehicles. Most of the agencies are small towns, or rural counties, where there is no local opposition to the phrase or its placement.
Long-time resident Wayne Nelson told Breitbart Texas he’s in favor of the decals, “We all go to church up here, and I can’t think of a single person who will have a problem with that decal, unless they just moved in from California.”
While 2016 is an election year, and Sheriff Auxier is running for re-election, he’s not concerned that these decals would have any effect on the race. The sheriff is unopposed in the Republican Primary. The Democrat Party in Kendall County does not appear to be running anyone against the sheriff.
Rob Milford is a reporter for Breitbart Texas. You can follow him on Twitter.