Naked City

Doyne Bailey back in 1983, during his first of three terms as Travis Co. sheriff.

If business takes you to the Travis Co. Courthouse any time soon, and you see a tall man leaning against a wall in front of the security entrance, and he's smoking a cigarette -- his hair disheveled and he looking as if in urgent need of a tailor -- that's probably Doyne Bailey. It's a name you should know in this town. He's a cop -- in fact, a cop's cop, the real thing -- who's held most of the major law enforcement positions in this region over a career longer than three decades.

One day 25 years ago, for example, Bailey was a city homicide sergeant investigating a murder on the Eastside. There had been a burglary in which the homeowner was killed. The only known item missing from the house was a guitar (we do live, after all, in the Live Music Capital of the World). When a young man stopped at the crime scene and asked Bailey what leads he had, the sergeant turned the interview back on the interviewer, and asked him what theories he had of the killing. Of course, it was a way for Bailey not to answer the question, but it also taught the visitor to think for himself. Bailey doesn't remember the case. The young man -- no longer young -- does.

Even then, Doyne Bailey was already president of the Austin Police Association. A short time later, in 1981, he would be elected Travis Co. sheriff, a job he would hold for 12 years, after defeating incumbent Raymond Frank, who had advertised himself as "the sheriff that shoots straight." With the help of county commissioners, Bailey would build a new jail. Next, he would be tapped by Gov. Ann Richards as her criminal justice department head. Then, he would serve as executive director of the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission, enforcing the state's arcane liquor laws. Then he was head of security for Seton Healthcare Network. Since January, he's been back at the courthouse as chief deputy to Sheriff Margo Frasier. She says she's delighted to have him at her side.

"You can ask Doyne a question," says Travis Co. District Attorney Ronnie Earle, who has been around as long as Bailey, "and he may not tell you everything he knows, but he'll never lie to you." That's the most you can ask from anyone, public servant or not.

There must be a lot of Doyne Bailey stories, but one is particularly appropriate. As sheriff he was once sitting out on the courthouse grass discussing a case with a Texas Ranger. A prisoner who had just escaped from the county jail jumped down from the roof of the courthouse and landed near the two men. That may have been Bailey's easiest bust.

Maybe that's why he hangs out so much in front of the criminal courts building. He's waiting for another jumper.