Rockwall County wins Texas Excellence in Safety Award

Rockwall County earned one of Texas’ rarer safety honors, becoming one of only 13 counties in the state to receive the Excellence in Safety Award. The county announced the recognition June 11 and said it reflects safety performance that goes beyond symbolism, reaching into the daily work of county government.

The award comes from the Texas Association of Counties Risk Management Pool, better known as TAC RMP, which says its program recognizes counties and other governmental entities for controlling claims costs and strengthening safety and loss-control programs. In Rockwall County’s own February notice, the county said the Excellence in Safety Award is reserved for TAC RMP workers’ compensation participants with a 60 percent or less loss ratio in 2025 who also met the program’s criteria. The county described it as the highest level of recognition offered by the pool.

That matters locally because the award points to how Rockwall County manages risk across the operations residents see every day, from office service and records work to facilities, roadwork, and other public functions. In a county where growth continues to put pressure on government services, a safety award can signal more than good housekeeping. It can mean fewer workplace injuries, tighter claims control, and better odds that public dollars stay focused on operations instead of avoidable losses.

Rockwall County’s public posting of the award on its official website also framed the recognition as part of ongoing county business, not a one-time celebration. That is consistent with a pattern the county has already established. Rockwall County said in early 2025 that it had earned a 2024 Safety Achievement Award from TAC RMP, and it posted the same recognition again in July 2025. The new Excellence in Safety Award suggests the county has moved beyond a single year of strong performance and into sustained compliance with the pool’s safety standards.

The broader context gives the honor extra weight. Rockwall County had a population of 107,819 in the 2020 Census, and its 127.2 square miles of land make it the 254th largest county in Texas by total area. Rockwall, the county seat, sits in a fast-growing corner of the Dallas-Fort Worth region, where small shifts in training, equipment, and risk management can have outsized effects on public service and taxpayer exposure.

TAC RMP says its awards program has been in place for more than a decade, and applications for the 2025 cycle were due Dec. 15, 2025. Rockwall County’s 2022 Recognition and Rewards process also shows a county government that has tried to formalize how it acknowledges strong performance. Taken together, the award suggests Rockwall County is treating safety not as a side note, but as a core part of how it runs.