For nearly two decades, the Comal County Sheriff’s Office documented Shawna Rangel’s conduct through counseling memos, reprimands, and internal complaints. The records span from 2006 to 2025 and reveal a persistent pattern of insubordination, disregard for command, unprofessional conduct, and poor judgment — all while she continued to rise in rank.

Rangel’s career officially ended in 2025, after she was placed on administrative leave and subsequently separated from the agency. The Hawk’s Eye obtained her complete disciplinary file — totaling more than 200 pages — through an Open Records request to the Comal County District Attorney’s Office. The file, redacted in accordance with state law, covers a breadth of internal concerns rarely seen compiled in a single deputy’s record.

This is not a story of one bad day, or a handful of isolated mistakes. It is a story of systemic failure, missed warnings, and a department that enabled a problem it had long documented.

Early Warnings: The Pattern Begins

On March 1, 2006, the paper trail began. Shawna Rangel — then Shawna Collins — was counseled for inappropriate language during a shift. It would be the first of many similar entries, marking a pattern of unprofessional conduct that followed her through the ranks and remained unresolved for nearly two decades. That same year, she was again cited for a verbal conflict with a jail supervisor, and received another written counseling in 2007 for “unprofessional conduct” and attendance problems.

By that point, her personnel record was already beginning to reflect a pattern — but what followed on July 20, 2007, revealed the depth of the problem.

That morning, during a disagreement about inmate transport assignments, Rangel (Collins) refused to follow orders from a supervisor and engaged in a loud, profanity-laced confrontation in front of Captain John Bell and Lt. Jeff Paullus. Witnesses confirmed that she shouted, “I don’t care if you write me up, I’m f***ing pissed,” in defiance of their efforts to deescalate the situation.

Though a one-day suspension was considered, the incident resulted in only a written reprimand. She was back at work the next day.

Leadership in Title, Not Practice

Despite this rocky foundation, Rangel continued to move up in rank — and the disciplinary entries didn’t stop.

By 2010, she was being counseled again — this time for inappropriate comments about another employee and for improperly accessing promotion testing materials, a violation of policy. In 2011, she was cited for making disparaging remarks during Field Training Officer (FTO) school, breaching the agency’s professional conduct standards.

In 2012, now in a supervisory capacity, she was documented for profane outbursts toward jail staff after a gate allegedly closed near her patrol vehicle. “You almost hit my f***ing car!” she shouted, according to reports. While she denied the language at first, she later admitted it and signed a memo acknowledging her need to improve. “You have my word that I will continue to improve,” she wrote.

Yet improvement never came — or if it did, it was temporary.

The following year, she was again documented for undermining her supervisor, calling a lieutenant directly to protest a personnel decision that bypassed her for an out-of-county transport assignment. She was reminded — again — about the chain of command.

The reminders continued for more than a decade.

A Disregard for Supervision — and Consequences

Records show that violations of chain-of-command were a nearly annual feature of Rangel’s conduct.

In July 2018, she contacted IT to request replacement of a jail printer, triggering confusion when the department learned the printer was under a service agreement with Xerox. The matter had already been assigned and did not involve her. Yet she acted unilaterally — again, without informing her supervisor.

She was counseled again. The department noted that this was not an isolated issue — she had been told in prior meetings to follow command protocol.

Two years later, the problem repeated itself. In August 2020, Rangel received a formal reprimand — later downgraded to a letter of counseling — for disobeying a direct order from Chief Deputy James Jones. She had ignored instructions issued just days prior and failed to route requests through the proper supervisory channels.

Then, in October 2020, she was written up again — this time for trying to override an order from Major Bill Jennings. After Jennings told her that one chase vehicle was sufficient for an inmate transport assignment, she approached another captain while Jennings was out of the office in an apparent attempt to get a different answer.

It was the same pattern — again and again.

Unprofessional, Retaliatory, and Often Defiant

Not all of Rangel’s violations were administrative.

Some were deeply personal, involving belittling behavior, open disrespect, and/or aggressive posturing toward coworkers. Her record includes multiple incidents where she was accused of retaliation, or of creating an uncomfortable or hostile work environment.

In one 2009 case, she bypassed her chain of command during a dispute involving a county purchasing card and instead sought advice from the auditor’s office. Supervisors noted this as a serious breakdown in procedure — especially since she had been instructed on how to resolve such matters through internal channels.

In a 2012 incident, she was described as rude, disruptive, and/or volatile toward other staff after being passed over for a transport assignment.

Throughout her file, she is frequently described as defensive, combative, and/or uncooperative when confronted about her behavior. Many memos document her offering explanations or rationalizations — but rarely accountability.

A Career That Outlasted Its Warnings

From 2006 through 2020, the Comal County Sheriff’s Office had more than a dozen opportunities to address Rangel’s repeated misconduct with serious consequences. Instead, she remained in uniform, and eventually climbed to the rank of lieutenant — supervising other deputies despite her record.

Only in 2025, after a long series of complaints and a history of conflict, was Rangel placed on administrative leave and later separated from the agency.

While officials have not disclosed the exact reason for her final departure, it coincides with a DWI-related arrest involving Santana Joseph Flores, in which Rangel was reportedly a passenger. That arrest occurred on July 5, 2025.

The Sheriff’s Office has not confirmed whether Rangel’s separation is linked to that incident or to her disciplinary record.

A Public Right to Know — and a Department’s Silence

Despite the scale and consistency of the disciplinary record, Comal County has never publicly explained why this pattern was tolerated for so long — or why it was later overlooked as Rangel continued to rise through the ranks. The final result: over 200 pages of disciplinary documentation.

The public deserves better than silence. This was not a case of one bad day. This was a two-decade failure to act on behavior that repeatedly undermined policy, eroded morale, and put the agency’s credibility at risk.

And until there’s accountability for that, the paper trail may be long — but the lesson remains unfinished.

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