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Meet The Chief
Criminal Investigation Division (CID) Police Chief Justin A. Scott began his law enforcement career in 1993 serving as a peace officer in various local law enforcement agencies. In 2003, he joined the Texas Comptroller as a state police officer for the CID in Odessa, where he worked his way through the ranks from sergeant investigator to lieutenant over the West Texas region. In 2017, he moved to Austin to serve as captain over all field operations and later promoted to deputy chief/assistant director. He was named the chief/director of law enforcement for the agency on Jan. 1, 2025.
Scott’s pursuit of “too many criminals to count” has led to numerous successful investigations and prosecutions in federal and state district courts. He has worked to become a subject matter expert in motor fuels and tobacco tax fraud and has always been concerned about leveling the field of competition for taxpayers and putting tax cheats out of business.
“I am passionate about law enforcement and will continue to lead by example and share my experiences and wisdom with less tenured officers,” Scott says. “I will provide them with the necessary resources and support to carry out the mission of enforcing the tax laws, penal laws and the code of criminal procedure.
“We literally have pursued criminals across the country for committing felonies. We have a saying here: ‘Don’t Mess with Texas.’ Criminals who run into one of our police officers enforcing the penal and tax laws may end up in jail.”
Scott holds a bachelor's degree in business administration from Abilene Christian University and a master's degree in criminal justice administration from the University of Texas Permian Basin. He is a Texas Commission on Law Enforcement-certified Master Peace Officer and instructor, and he is a graduate of the FBI Law Enforcement Executive Development Association trilogy program. Scott is also the second Texan to have completed the Texas Police Chiefs Law Enforcement Officer Command Program. He is a past national chair of the Federation of Tax Administrators (FTA) Tobacco Tax Section and now serves as the national vice-chair of the FTA’s Motor Fuels Tax Section.