TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY

DIVISION OF EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT

The Texas Department of Emergency Management (DEM) is the overall governing agency for Emergency Preparedness within the State. They are responsible for the establishment and propagation of the planning, mitigation, response and recovery efforts for the state, counties and local cities, communities and smaller jurisdictions. They also administer the SLA-50 program for the issuance of funding to qualifying jurisdictions under federally administered Emergency Preparedness programs.

The DEM provides training in all aspects of Emergency Preparedness. The courses offered were developed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) at the Emergency Management Institute (EMI) in Emmetsburg, Maryland. These courses are far-reaching in scope and provide management skill instruction in all phases of emergency preparedness.

The DEM sets the overall planning standards that are followed by most jurisdictions. Those that do not necessarily follow these standards are those jurisdictions that do not receive SLA-50 federal funding. Jurisdictional qualification for receipt of federal funds, must include a complete Emergency Plan with annexes and appendices. These documents were described in the EMERGENCY PLAN DEVELOPMENT section of this website.

Questions about coordination of Polk County with DEM or other comments should be directed to emcpolk@livingston.net The Website for DEM is: http://www.txdps.state.tx.us/dem.