Starbase is a city without a police department, but not without police.

For months, Cameron County sheriff’s deputies have patrolled the roads and beaches surrounding SpaceX’s sprawling rocket facility in South Texas. Now, less than a year after Starbase residents voted to incorporate , the city has signed formal agreements making those deputies its de facto police force and Cameron County jails the destination for anyone arrested within city limits.

The two interlocal deals, approved in September and effective beginning Wednesday, are sweeping. One requires Cameron County to dedicate eight deputies to Starbase, though only two will patrol the city during a single shift.

The other sees Cameron County providing “jail services,” with Starbase agreeing to pay $100 per day per inmate and

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