The Gray County Commissioner’s Court met with all commissioner’s in attendance. Among the many items discussed, the court agreed upon a contract with ‘Perdue Brandon Fielder Collins & Mott LLP’ in agreement on a P.A.C.E. Program. The contract for the program will allow the firm to make collections that are outstanding with the county on behalf of the county, without having to involve the tax collectors office. They will work alongside the court for approval on actions taken.
“I feel good about entering into an agreement such as this,” County Judge, Chris Porter said. “But I want to know the length of the contract but the court needs to make the decision on the length.”
In attendance for this matter was Bill Pinkham of the firm as well as County Attorney Josh Seabourn. Seabourn overlooked the contract. The P.A.C.E. Program will work in the same formula as the property tax. With Seabourn’s stamp of approval on the contract, the motion was passed to enter the county into the agreement with Perdue Brandon Fielder Collins & Mott LLP.
Also discussed with the options of reassigning or replacing the vehicle for Precinct 2 Constable. The current vehicle is out of service, which raised the motion of replacing it or repairing it. At the current moment, Constable Joe Montgomery is using an unused vehicle from the sheriff’s office.
“We aren’t using the vehicle at this time that Montgomery using it,” Chief Deputy, Skinner said. “If we needed it, or it became an issue, we can reassign him to our vehicle that is used to house out S.W.A.T. equipment for the time being.”
The discussion didn’t require a motion or a decision to be made, so until further notice, Montgomery will continue using the vehicle on loan from the sheriff’s office while alternative options are examined for a permanent solution. The court also signed a formal request for Sheriff Ryan to request on site training and review of policies and procedures for the Gray County Jail from Texas Jail Standards Commission. The proposition came from Commissioner Hudson, who worked with TJSC to find delinquencies within our jail and also to find available trainings the jail could undergo. The formal letter that all commissioners and county judge signed off on read as follows; “Sheriff Ryan, It has come to the attention of the Gray County Commissioners Court that the Texas Commissioner on Jail Standards has offered to provide additional training to Gray County Jail Staff due to deficiencies found in policies and procedures within the Gray County Sheriff’s Department. We would request that you contact the Texas Commission on Jail Standards to schedule training on site at the Gray County Jail. This is a great opportunity for Gray County because on site training would allow all jail staff to benefit without scheduling conflicts and travel for Gray County Staff.” With the letter signed it was sent to the sheriff’s office.
After the previous meeting, the court voted to take Gray County out of a burn ban. Presented at Wednesday’s meeting was new updated guidelines for burn bans and what can be done during them. No action was taken on the item but new guidelines were presented and will be reviewed by the court independently to make a decision on adapting or not within the coming meetings. Also discussed and approved was the new commission board for the Gray County Historical Commission Board. Della Moyer will serve as the Chairperson and Ken Fields will serve as the Treasurer.
The Items Presented and voted on are as follows:
Item 1 - Pay Bills as Approved by the County Auditor - APPROVED
Item 2 - Consider Line Item Transfers - NONE
Item 3 - Consider Budget Amendments - NONE
Item 4 - Accept County Treasurer’s Monthly Report - APPROVED
Item 5 - Accept County Clerk’s Monthly Report - APPROVED
Item 6 - Accept the 2022 Racial Profiling Report from Precinct 1 & 3 Constable - APPROVED
Item 12 - Consider Request for Replacement of Employee in District Clerk’s Office - APPROVED
