Lieutenant Billy Shelton (Active)
Director Billy Shelton was born in Weslaco, Texas and raised in Donna, Texas where he graduated from Donna High School in 1985. He joined the United States Air Force in January of 1987 where he served our country for three and a half years. During that time, he served as an aircraft armament systems specialist at Edwards AFB, California working with all types of military aircraft. After leaving the military in 1990 with an Honorable Discharge as a Sergeant, he started his law enforcement career as a police officer for the City of Weslaco. He served as a patrol officer and as an Auto-Theft investigator.
In 1992, Director Shelton joined the U.S. Border Patrol and after completing the academy in Glynco, Georgia, was stationed in Las Cruces, New Mexico as a border patrol agent. In 1994, Director Shelton joined the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) and graduated from the DPS Training Academy (Class A-94). He was assigned to the Texas Highway Patrol Service and was stationed in McAllen, Texas. In 1996, he transferred to the License & Weight Service in McAllen. He promoted to Sergeant in 2002 and served in Commercial Vehicle Enforcement (CVE) in the Rio Grande Valley until 2014 when he transferred to the Motor Carrier Bureau as a CVE Training Sergeant. During that time, he trained state, county and city law enforcement officers on the enforcement of commercial vehicle laws.
In 2016, Director Shelton was promoted to Lieutenant with the Texas Division of Emergency Management (TDEM) in Austin where he oversaw the State Management Team. He served as Operations Section Coordinator for numerous emergency activations of the State Operations Center, including Hurricane Harvey. In 2019, he transferred back to the Highway Patrol Division to the Capitol Region and has worked at the Texas State Capitol overseeing Capitol security and special events. During his career, Director Shelton has been involved in numerous operational deployments to different parts of Texas for hurricanes, floods, and operations along the border. Director Shelton was also involved in the operational and logistical support of the Capitol Region during the George Floyd protests in 2020. He has served in law enforcement at the city, state, and federal level for 32 years. Director Shelton was a member of the Texas State Troopers Association from 1994 until 2002 and rejoined TSTA when its membership was opened to all commissioned officers of DPS, including supervisors.