If a county or city that is not presently served by a certified Crime Stoppers program wants to join an existing certified Crime Stoppers program, the following procedures must be followed:

1. (1) The county or city must share contiguous borders with the certified Crime Stoppers program;
2. (2) A citizens' delegation from the county or city must meet with the Board of Directors of the certified Crime Stoppers program to develop an operational agreement or Memorandum of Understanding (MOU); the Board of Directors of the certified program must vote to accept the geographical entity making the request;
3. (3) The certified Crime Stoppers program and the geographical entity that is requesting to join the Crime Stoppers program must choose a new name for the program unless both parties agree to operate under the name of the existing program;

4. (4) The certified Crime Stoppers program must file the following documents with the director of the Texas Crime Stoppers Council requesting certification under a new name (if applicable) and with an expanded geographical territory:

   1. (A) United States Internal Revenue Service (IRS) letter for a 501(c)(3) corporation authorizing the program to operate under a new name, if applicable;
   2. (B) Texas Secretary of State letter for a 501(c)(3) corporation authorizing the program to operate under a new name, if applicable;
   3. (C) Application for Continuing Certification under the new name (if applicable) and with an expanded geographical territory;
   4. (D) Copies of a financial review of all bank accounts for the certified Crime Stoppers program as required in §3.9000(d)(6)(A) of this chapter;
   5. (E) Copy of Board of Directors membership list for the program, to include contact information for Board members and the law enforcement coordinator;
   6. (F) Copies of letters from the Community Supervision and Corrections Departments (CSCD) detailing the amount of court fees paid to the certified program during the previous two years, under the provisions of Articles 42.12, 37.073 and 42.152, Code of Criminal Procedure;
   7. (G) Training certificates showing that at least one Board member, the law enforcement coordinator, and an executive director (if applicable) received training as authorized by the Texas Crime Stoppers Council within the 12-month period preceding the new application for Continuing Certification;
   8. (H) Copies of Probation Fee and Repayment Reports for the certified Crime Stoppers program for the previous two calendar years as specified by §414.010(a), Texas Government Code;
   9. (I) Copy of the Minutes of the Board of Directors of the certified Crime Stoppers program in which the Board voted to add the new geographical entity to the territory served by the Crime Stoppers program; and
   10. (J) A letter addressed to the Council stating that the program will follow all rules applicable to the operations of Multi-County Programs as stated in the Standard Operating Procedures Manual of the Texas Crime Stoppers Council.
5. (5) If the director of the Council determines that the newly expanded program meets all requirements listed in paragraphs (1) - (4) of this section, the program will be presented to the Council for certification at the Council's next regularly scheduled meeting.
6. (6) Once the Council grants certification, the program will be eligible to apply to the CSCDs in the newly acquired geographical territory to receive court fees under the provisions of Articles 42.12, 37.073 and 42.152, Code of Criminal Procedure.
7. (7) The certification is valid for a period of two years.
8. (8) All certified programs, regardless of the date on which any existing mergers occurred, must comply with these rules upon recertification.

Source Note:The provisions of this §3.9021 adopted to be effective June 21, 2009, 34 TexReg 3929; amended to be effective July 11, 2010, 35 TexReg 5803.