The Texas Department of Public Safety announced Jason Bobo as the new chief of the Texas Rangers Division, a promotion confirmed by the Public Safety Commission during its meeting at DPS headquarters, according to an Aug. 27 news release. Bobo takes over for Chief Scotty Shiver, who is retiring after 31 years with the department.
The change places new leadership atop one of the nation’s oldest law enforcement bodies. The appointment is effective Sept. 1.
“Scotty Shiver has served the Texas Rangers and the Texas Department of Public Safety with tremendous dedication, and we are grateful for his years of service and leadership,” Colonel Freeman F. Martin said. “As a Texas Ranger myself, I know the responsibility that comes with wearing that badge.” Martin said the agency was “passing the torch of a centuries-old legacy” and expressed confidence Bobo would carry it forward.
Shiver has served as chief since February 2024, the release said. He began his DPS career in 1995 with the Texas Highway Patrol in Navasota, later transferring to Huntsville, and in 2001 was promoted to sergeant/investigator in the Criminal Law Enforcement Division’s Motor Vehicle Theft Service in Arlington and Houston. His first Ranger assignment came in 2011 with Company C in Lubbock, followed by Company A in Houston. He was promoted to lieutenant in 2014, Ranger captain in 2017 and later major, overseeing the Public Integrity Unit and then the Special Operations Group, before being appointed regional director for the Capitol Region in November 2021.
Bobo brings more than two decades of investigative and law enforcement experience, according to DPS. He joined the department in 1999 as a highway patrol trooper, was promoted to sergeant in the Criminal Law Enforcement Division in 2005 working narcotics and auto theft investigations, and joined the Texas Rangers in 2010. He previously served as team leader for the Company F Crime Scene Team and was named Ranger assistant chief in August 2025. He is a certified crime scene investigator through the International Association for Identification and holds a bachelor’s degree from Sam Houston State University.
Ranger Major Kip Westmoreland is being promoted to assistant chief, the agency said. Westmoreland joined DPS in 1998, served on the Texas Ranger Reconnaissance Team and, as a Ranger captain, led the team operating the state’s Border Security Operations Center in Austin. Most recently he served as company commander for Ranger Company A, covering the 35 counties of the Southeast Texas Region. Both men will be stationed in Austin.