Pictured left to right: Kymm, Kylie, and Kinsley Nuckolls, Teresa Gayler, Clint, Hale’iwa, Mimi, and Thomas Gayler and Joe Gayler.

The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department graduated the 61st Texas game warden and state park police officer cadet class Aug. 1 at the Texas State Capitol. The class included 34 game wardens and seven state park police officers. Clint Gayler, a 1996 graduate of Rock Port High School, was a member of the class.
Following their seven month preparation at the TPWD Game Warden Training Center in Hamilton County, the newly-commissioned state peace officers were recognized during a special ceremony that included a keynote speaker, oath of office and commissioning by senior-level department staff and TPWD Executive Director Carter Smith.
The graduates will begin their new careers stationed in counties and state parks throughout the state.
The duties of a Texas game warden include the enforcement of all state laws, but primarily hunting, fishing and water safety regulations. As fully commissioned state peace officers, they respond to emergencies, assist other law enforcement agencies and work to educate the public about conservation issues.
State park police, also commissioned state peace officers, provide law enforcement services to the visitors and users of state parks and help enforce laws within their local jurisdictions.
All graduates met the state-mandated requirements for peace officer certification, including criminal and constitutional law, firearms, self-defense, use of force, defensive driving, arrest, search and seizure, ethics and first aid.
The new wardens and park police are joining the 506 game wardens and 152 park police officers currently in the field and will help enforce TPWD regulations and carry the department’s high standards to every corner of the state.
Clint served in the Marine Corps where he reached the rank of Captain for 11 years and 9 months and then served in the Marines and now Navy Reserves for the last 16 months as a Lieutenant. He then joined the Texas Park and Wildlife Department as a pilot and later entered the academy on January 9. Clint is now a Lieutenant Game Warden and lives in Bastrop, Texas, with his family: wife, Mimi, and their two children, Hale’iwa 7 and Thomas 3.