Jasper County Commissioners Court
The Jasper County Commissioners Court met on Monday, August 19, 2024 in a Regular Session and covered the following agenda items:
First the Court heard from Sheriff’s Office Chief Deputy Scott Duncan and Lieutenant Jason Hollyfield, who requested authorization to transfer a 30kw military surplus generator that was no longer in use over to Emergency Services District #3 for use by the Roganville Volunteer Fire Department, which the Court approved.
Next, Lieutenant Hollyfield requested authorization to submit a grant application through the School Violence Prevention Program for equipment to conduct state-mandated Advanced Law Enforcement Rapid Response Training for Peace Officers in Jasper County and surrounding areas. Lieutenant Hollyfield advised that the cost for the kits utilized for this training were expensive and estimated to be approximately $65,000.00 and that he was in hopes that the grant would fully fund it. The Court approved the request to apply and noted that this ALERRT training kit could be utilized regularly for continuing education for current Peace Officers as well as for training cadets in future police academies located in Jasper County.
In other business, the Court voted to approve a contract between Jasper County and the Alabama-Coushatta Tribe of Texas to house inmates at the Jasper County Jail at least through January, 2025. The Court was advised that inmates had previously been housed at the San Jacinto County Jail, but that recent storm damage at the facility required temporary housing at another jail facility.
Concluding jail related business, Chief Duncan provided the Sheriff’s monthly report and advised that the Sheriff’s Office had invoiced a total of $50,055.00 for housing inmates from Nacogdoches, Newton and Tyler Counties for the month of July, 2024.
In other law enforcement matters, the Court voted to approve a bid received on GovDeals.com in the amount of $32,000.00 for a Corvette belonging to the District Attorney’s Office, which had been a seized and later forfeited vehicle.
The Court then held a public hearing on the possibility of establishing speed limits on certain county roads in Jasper County, and once again heard from Chief Duncan and Lieutenant Hollyfield, who advised that under new legislation, motorists could drive up to 60 miles per hour on county roads that had no speed limit designation. In the past, Jasper County had adhered a decision to maintain a 35 miles per hour limit on county roadways.
Under the law, a Commissioners Court may establish a speed limit of no less that 20 mph in residential districts. After concluding the public hearing and receiving feedback from individuals present who had concerns regarding safety for children, school buses and motorists entering the roadways, the Court voted to establish a 35 miles per hour speed limit on county roadways and a 20 miles per hour limit in residential districts that fell under the legal Transportation Code definition where larger concentrations of homes exist in an area.
In other transportation business, the Court voted to approve a resolution authorizing Jasper County to join the South East Texas Regional Planning Commission’s Metropolitan Planning Organization to enable Jasper County to become more involved in long term transportation planning on the repair and expansion of federal and state roadways in Jasper County and the Southeast Texas region.
Next, the Court voted to approve a contract labor bid from Texas Materials, Inc. on a road improvement project on Beechwood Drive in Precinct 1 in the amount of $44,314.32.
Concluding road and bridge matters, the Court voted to award a construction contract on a bridge replacement project on County Road 317 in Precinct 3 in the amount of $619,827.00 to Elite Contractors out of Kirbyville, Texas. This project is being funded by the $14.8 million grant received by Jasper County under the Texas General Land Office CDBG grant program as part of the U.S. 96 drainage project running from northeast of the City of Jasper to the south of the Buna community.
In other grant business, the Court voted to grant a change order to Duplichain Contractors out of Alto, Texas to allow for a 185 day construction extension to complete additional work on the Holly-Huff Water Supply grant project in Precinct 2. This project is funded by a grant that Jasper County obtained through the Texas Department of Agriculture Community Development Block Grant program in the amount of $350,000.00.
Next, the Court voted to approve a resolution updating Jasper County’s financial management and procurement policies and procedures for federal grant funding to adhere to changes in federal requirements.
Concluding grant related matters, the Court voted to approve a resolution for the Texas Department of Agriculture confirming Jasper County’s annual $30,000.00 for the local home-delivered meals program to be utilized as a local match to obtain grant funding to assist elderly and disabled citizens in need of home-delivered meals in Jasper County.
In other business, the Court voted to approve the proposed updates to the combined billing fees for jurisdictions for performing joint billing services at the Office of the Tax Assessor/Collector.
Next, the Court reviewed the proposed FY2025 budget, which contained a one percent cost of living adjustment for employees and minor additions to the Sheriff’s Office budget for increased mental health services and care, with a proposed tax rate at the current year’s rate of 0.5588 with no increase at a 96.25 percent estimated collection rate.
The Court held a budget workshop and heard from Chief Duncan and Lieutenant Hollyfield, who advised that they had an additional request from the Sheriff to convert one dispatcher position into a Sergeant Dispatcher position with a 25 cent per hour salary increase and to provide additional pay to dispatchers if available to assist. The Court approved the conversion of the Sergeant position with the salary increase.
The Court also heard from District Clerk Rosa Norsworthy, who requested that she be allowed to convert her current extra help budget line into a fulltime employee position and utilize records preservation funds dedicated to her department to offset any additional expenses, noting that this would be a cost neutral addition with no additional revenue being utilized, which the Court approved.
The Court also considered a request from County Clerk Holly Thomas to utilize records preservation funds as a salary supplement for employees to do routine scanning. After a brief discussion, the Court opted to do a pilot program to authorize the Deputy County Clerks to receive overtime pay for work done while scanning county documents in an attempt to scan all official birth, death, deed, court and marriage records dating back to Jasper County’s origin. The Court also asked to track the scanning program to reassess a supplement for FY2026.
The Court also heard from Justices of the Peace Mike Smith and Gina Cleveland who requested increases in their travel budgets, which the Court took under consideration with no action taken at the time.
Concluding the budget workshop, the Court heard from Juvenile Probation Director Edeska Barnes, who advised that his department was not requesting any additional funding from Jasper County at this time FY2025 but advised the Court that juvenile cases in Jasper County, as in the entire 1st Judicial District, were becoming more frequent and more violent, resulting in more costs to properly handle.
Next, the Court voted to set the expenses, salaries and allowances for employees and elected and appointed District, County and Precinct officers for FY2025.
The Court then voted to propose a tax rate of 0.5711 to reflect an expected collection rate of 94 percent, reducing the anticipated collection rate by 2.5 percent from the current year.
Following this, the Court heard from County Clerk Holly Thomas, who proposed additional changes to early voting locations, times and dates for the November, 2024 General Election. The Court voted to authorize Mrs. Thomas to amend her early voting locations to include separate voting location in Evadale, Buna, Kirbyville, Jasper and Sam Rayburn. The Clerk’s Office will be publishing these locations, dates and time soon with local media outlets and the website.
The Court then voted to renew Jasper County’s declaration of disaster for the April & May, 2024 flood events due to FEMA and SBA application processes still underway at Jasper County’s Disaster Recovery Center location at the Annex Facility.
Concluding business, the Court heard from District Clerk Rosa Norsworthy who presented her monthly civil and criminal fee reports, which the Court approved.
That covers it for this Court meeting. Have a great week and as always, feel free to call me if you need anything my way.
Mark Allen, County Judge
Jasper County, Texas
