Emergency Service Districts are political subdivisions of the State of Texas, governed by state law. ESDs have two organizational formations; 1) ESDs with a district boundary within a single County have their governing board appointed by the County Commissioners (with a few exceptions) or 2) ESDs with a district boundary in two or more Counties have their governing board elected by residents within the ESD boundary. Further, ESDs operate by two approaches; 1) the ESD is in total control of all aspects of providing coverage within the district by owning buildings, equipment, and managing employees for fire and EMS response or 2) the ESD contracts with existing fire and EMS departments to provide emergency responses.

Utopia/Vanderpool Area ESD #1 is located in the Texas Hill Country and covers a portion of four counties; the West side of Bandera County, the East side of Real County, the Northeast corner of Uvalde County, and the Northwest corner of Medina County. {MAP}

This ESD contracts with three service providers to cover the district. Utopia EMS provides 100% of the medical coverage for the district; while fire coverage is divided with Utopia Fire covering the Southern 60% of the district and Vanderpool Fire covering the Northern 40% of the district.