At this point, it looks like there will be no changes to the city of Selma’s police and fire jurisdiction.

The Selma City Council had considered changing the city’s current jurisdiction, which runs three miles outside the city limit, to one and a half miles. After a meeting between the police department, fire department, Dallas County Sheriff’s Department and members of the city council, it appears no change will be made.

We agree that it’s probably best to leave the jurisdictions the way they are at this point. Any further discussion should wait until Selma’s new mayor and new city council have a chance to weigh in, but it’s likely that this will come back up for discussion at some point.

Over the years, it’s been discussed many times and until the law changes, there will likely always be talks about it.

The city did a good job in this instance of weighing the pros and cons. Selma Police Chief John Brock, Dallas County Sheriff Harris Huffman and Selma Fire Chief Toney Stephens all had the chance to make their stances on the issue known publicly.

Brock would like to see the jurisdiction pulled back, while Huffman and Stephens would like it to be left the way it is. All three made valid points to support their arguments.

If the discussion had turned serious enough, the council had also planned to hold future town hall meetings in the affected communities. We applaud them for that.

At some point, the police jurisdiction will come up in discussions again, but right now it’s probably best left the way it is.