Waller County, Texas should not be confused with Walker County, Texas.
| County: | Waller County |
| State: | Texas |
| Founded: | 1873 |
| Seat Wl: | Hempstead |
| Largest City Wl: | Prairie View |
| Area Total Sq Mi: | 518 |
| Area Land Sq Mi: | 513 |
| Area Water Sq Mi: | 4.4 |
| Area Percentage: | 0.8 |
| Census Yr: | 2020 |
| Pop: | 56794 |
| Density Sq Mi: | auto |
| Ex Image: | Waller county courthouse.jpg |
| Ex Image Size: | 250 |
| Ex Image Cap: | The Waller County Courthouse in Hempstead |
| Web: | www.co.waller.tx.us |
| Time Zone: | Central |
| District: | 10th |
Waller County is a county in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 census, its population was 56,794.[1] Its county seat is Hempstead.[2] The county was named for Edwin Waller, a signer of the Texas Declaration of Independence and first mayor of Austin.
Waller County is included in the Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX metropolitan statistical area. It is home of the Prairie View A&M University.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of, of which (0.8%) are covered by water.[3]
| White alone (NH) | 19,260 | 23,494 | 44.58% | 41.37% | |
| Black or African American alone (NH) | 10,537 | 12,104 | 24.39% | 21.31% | |
| Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH) | 141 | 210 | 0.33% | 0.37% | |
| Asian alone (NH) | 213 | 785 | 0.49% | 1.38% | |
| Pacific Islander alone (NH) | 9 | 10 | 0.02% | 0.02% | |
| Some Other Race alone (NH) | 54 | 314 | 0.12% | 0.55% | |
| Mixed race/multiracial (NH) | 455 | 1,391 | 1.05% | 2.45% | |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 12,536 | 18,486 | 29.02% | 32.55% | |
| Total | 43,205 | 56,794 | 100.00% | 100.00% |
As of the 2000 census,[6] 32,663 people, 10,557 households, and 7,748 families resided in the county. The population density was 64/mi2. The 11,955 housing units averaged 23/mi2. The racial makeup of the county was 57.83% White, 29.25% Black or African American, 0.49% Native American, 0.38% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 10.28% from other races, and 1.76% from two or more races. About 19.42% of the population was Hispanic or Latino of any race.
Of the 10,557 households, 35.1% had children under 18 living with them, 55.7% were married couples living together, 13.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 26.6% were not families. About 21.0% of all households were made up of individuals, and 7.5% had someone living alone who was 65 or older. The average household size was 2.79, and the average family size was 3.25.
In the county, the population was distributed as 25.70% under 18, 18.10% from 18 to 24, 26.40% from 25 to 44, 20.50% from 45 to 64, and 9.40% who were 65 or older. The median age was 30 years. For every 100 females, there were 98.70 males. For every 100 females 18, and over, there were 96.10 males.
The median income for a household in the county was $38,136, and for a family was $45,868. Males had a median income of $34,447 versus $25,583 for females. The per capita income for the county was $16,338. About 11.50% of families and 16.00% of the population were below the poverty line, including 20.00% of those under age 18 and 12.30% of those age 65 or over.
Igloo Corporation, a manufacturer of cooling and portable refrigeration products, is headquartered in unincorporated Waller County between Brookshire and Katy.[7] In 2004, Igloo announced that it was consolidating its corporate, distribution, and manufacturing operations in Waller County.[8]
Goya Foods has its Texas offices in an unincorporated area of the county near Brookshire.[9]
| Senators | Name | Party | First Elected | Level | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Senate Class 1 | John Cornyn | Republican | 2002 | Senior Senator | ||
| Senate Class 2 | Ted Cruz | Republican | 2012 | Junior Senator | ||
| Representatives | Name | Party | First Elected | Area(s) of Waller County Represented | ||
| District 10 | Michael McCaul | Republican | 2004 | Entire county | ||
District 18: Lois Kolkhorst (R)- first elected in 2014.
District 3: Cecil Bell, Jr. (R)- first elected in 2013.
A history of controversies exists regarding the reluctance of county officials to allow students attending historically black Prairie View A&M University to vote in Waller County.[10] [11] https://web.archive.org/web/20110717130309/http://www.usstudents.org/press-room/articles/february-2008/prairie-view-students-experiencing-voting-problems-in-waller-county-texas/?searchterm=voter
As reported by the US District Court (Southern District of Texas, Corpus Christi Division) in Veasey v Perry, October 2014 (CIVIL ACTION NO. 13-CV-00193), pp 6–7 verbatim:
In 2018, the NAACP Legal Defense Fund filed a lawsuit in U.S. district court, alleging that the county's early-voting plan unduly limits early voting opportunities for students at Prairie View A&M.<ref>"Fighting for the Right to Vote in a Tiny Texas County" by Vann R. Newkirk II and Adam Harris, The Atlantic magazine. On October 10, Jacob Aronowitz, a field director for Democratic U.S. House candidate Mike Siegel, delivered a letter from Siegel, which indicated a solution to attempts to keep students at Prairie View A&M University from voting, to a clerk on the county executive's staff. As a result, Aronowitz was arrested for what he was told was "48 hour investigative detention."[12]
the current sheriff is Troy Guidry, who was elected in 2020.[13] [14] The previous sheriff was Glenn Smith, who had been sheriff since 2008. Smith was previously chief of the police department of Hempstead, where he had been fired by the town council. after allegations that he and four white officers had exhibited racism and police brutality during the arrest of a 35-year-old black man.[15]
In November 2021, a 16 year old was charged with six counts of aggravated assault for crashing into six people on bicycles while attempting to roll coal. All four of the riders were hospitalized for their injuries, two of them being airlifted.[16] [17] According to attorneys hired by the injured, the injuries included "broken vertebrae, cervical and lumbar spinal injuries, broken collar bones, hands, and wrists [requiring surgical intervention], multiple traumatic brain injuries, lacerations, soft tissue damage, road rash, and extensive bruising"[18] The Waller county district attorney, Elton Mathis, released a statement about the handling of the case by the Waller Police Department in which he said "This case was not handled appropriately by the investigating agency. PERIOD." According to his statement, the Texas Department of Public Safety urged the local police to treat the scene as a crime scene, and to contact the district attorney's office. Despite this, the local police released the 16 year old without doing an investigation.
School districts serving Waller County include:[19]
Brazos Valley Sudbury School was previously in operation in Waller County.
Blinn College is the designated community college for all of the county.[20]
Prairie View A&M University is the only university located within the county.
See main article: The Waller Times.
The Waller Times publishes local community news, school news, and sports news weekly on Mondays.[21] It was founded in 1991 and is still family owned and operated.
The TTC-69 component (recommended preferred) of the once-planned Trans-Texas Corridor went through Waller County.[22]
Houston Executive Airport is located between Brookshire and Katy in an unincorporated area. Skydive Houston Airport (Skylake Airport) is located south of Waller in an unincorporated area.
The Houston Airport System stated that Waller County is within the primary service area of George Bush Intercontinental Airport, an international airport in Houston in Harris County.[23] In addition William P. Hobby Airport in Houston and in Harris County has commercial airline service.