North & East Texas
Anderson County Commissioners Court approved a reinvestment zone for construction and expansion of Eagle Railcar Services.
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Bell County Commissioners Court approved a project that will make the county clerk’s docket available online in iDocket, an Internet database of court case information.
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Cherokee County Commissioners Court approved a contract of $154,780 with Sydaptic for a jail control security system.
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Cooke County Commissioners Court authorized a grant of $3,200 to Meals on Wheels.
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Coryell County completed remodeling of the county MHMR building at a cost of $44,000 to convert a wing to mental health crisis services with eight beds for a 24/7 transitional mental health unit.
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Dallas County is working with Tarrant and Travis counties to develop with private software vendor AMCAD a court case management system that can be sold and used in any trial court in Texas. The Dallas Morning News said Dallas County expects to earn up to $1.3 million in licensing fees this fiscal year.
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Ellis County Commissioners Court voted to provide the first month’s funding of $15,000 for the new 443rd District Court in the 2013-14 fiscal year budget. The court will begin Sept. 1, 2014.
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Fannin County Commissioners Court approved a check for $1,095,000 to finish payments for a 1998 bond obligation making the county debt free. “There are few counties in the state that can say they are debt free,” Judge Creta Carter told the Leonard Graphic.
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Grayson County Commissioners Court approved a contract with Kroger Foods stores in Sherman and Denison to allow county residents to register automobiles at stores.
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Harrison County Commissioners Court reduced the number of holidays when county offices will close from 18 to 14.
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Henderson County Commissioners Court approved a contract of $984,988 for an Odyssey judicial computer software package from Tyler Technologies to replace a system the county had used for 15 years.
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Hill County Commissioners Court approved an agreement with Heart of Texas Council of Governments and Everbridge, an interactive communications company with North American headquarters in Glendale, Calif., for reverse 9-1-1 service.
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Jasper County Commissioners Court accepted a grant of about $82,000 through the Deep East Texas Council of Governments for a mental health officer in the sheriff’s office, including vehicle use and fuel.
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Johnson County Commissioners Court approved an agreement with the city of Joshua to send a county sheriff’s chief deputy to serve as acting police chief for up to six months after Joshua lost five officers in one week.
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Kaufman County Commissioners Court approved a contract with Everbridge Mass Notification for $27,000 for an emergency notification system.
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Leon County Commissioners Court adopted the county’s hazard mitigation plan.
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Limestone County Commissioners Court renewed its grant of $25,000 for the Texans Feeding Texans program and a grant for routine airport maintenance, including funding for the automated weather observation system.
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McLennan County saved more than $600,000 in fiscal 2013 by placing 239 inmates on a homebound ankle-monitoring system, according to the Waco Tribune Herald. Eighty-eight percent of the inmates completed their sentences successfully.
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Milam County received a state grant of $275,000 for the North Milam Water Supply Corp. for a new commercial water well near Branchville to replace a well that collapsed.
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Nacogdoches County Commissioners Court approved a justice assistance grant of $15,000 for the county and city for law enforcement, including bulletproof vests and ammunition.
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Navarro County received a matching grant of $11,960 from the U.S. Department of Justice for bulletproof vests for sheriff’s deputies.
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Panola County Commissioners Court approved a contract of $34,474 with Kofile Preservation to preserve documents dating back to the mid-1800s.
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Red River County Judge Morris Harville told the Clarksville Times and Detroit Weekly he will retire at the end of his term in 2014 at the age of 73 and not seek re-election.
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Upshur County Commissioners Court approved the use of a telephone service called Consult-A-Doc for county employees and their families to call physicians for medical advice rather than making an office visit.
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Wood County Commissioners Court accepted from the state an annual grant for routine airport maintenance. The county also received $709,915 to pay for road damages by the TransCanada Keystone pipeline project, and Wood received an award for financial transparency from the Texas state comptroller.
South Texas
Austin County received a grant for indigent defense and a federal homeland security grant for $35,000 to replace a communications tower for the sheriff’s office.
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Bastrop County Commissioners Court voted to renew its contract with Tree Folks for reforestation, including the planting of 738,000 pine seedlings in a burn area.
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Blanco County Commissioners Court authorized a grant of $3,000 to Meals on Wheels.
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Colorado County Commissioners Court approved a lease agreement for the former juvenile detention center with Texas Challenge Academy, a program operated by the Texas National Guard for teens who are at risk of dropping out or have already dropped out of high school.
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Comal County Commissioners Court voted to join the San Antonio/Bexar County Metropolitan Planning Organization.
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Fort Bend County Commissioners Court authorized a grant of $81,109 to Meals on Wheels.
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Gillespie County Commissioners Court agreed to participate in the state’s Routine Airport Maintenance Program (RAMP) and approved payment of $3,720 as the county’s match for maintenance of the airport AWOS (automated weather observation system).
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Guadalupe County Commissioners Court approved an agreement with Denver-based Telerus AIS for automated voice-activated information services for the adult detention center. Telerus said 80 percent of calls to a jail seek information that can be provided by an automated system.
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Hays County Commissioners Court approved a contract with Forestar Group, a real estate and water marketing firm, for 50 years ($1 million a year for the first five years) to reserve pumping rights for up to 45,000 acre feet of water per year from Simsboro Aquifer under Bastrop and Lee counties. “We are proceeding cautiously, but with the understanding that there is an urgent need to acquire water,” Judge Bert Cobb told the Austin American Statesmen.
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Hidalgo County Commissioners Court approved funding for two new courts – a DWI court for $142,819 and a veterans court for $84,074 for FY 2013-14.
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Karnes County Commissioners Court approved the issuance of $8 million in bonds –
$7 million for construction of a new jail and $1 million for maintenance and construction of roads.
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Lavaca County received a 2013 Gold Leadership Circle Award for financial transparency from the Texas comptroller of public accounts.
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Lee County Commissioners Court approved a contract of $12,730 with the Verdin Company for repair of the tower clock at the courthouse, including design, development, and fabrication of a new gear system and new hands for the face of the clock.
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Medina County Commissioners Court approved matching funds of $60,000 for the Texas Feeding Texans home-delivered meal program.
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Nueces County Judge Loyd Neal presented the Friend of County Government Award to Texas state Rep. Todd Hunter, R-Corpus Christi, chair of the House Calendars Committee.
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Orange County Judge Carl Thibodeaux said he will retire at the end of his current term on Dec. 31, 2014, after 20 years.
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Travis County Commissioners Court approved a foreign trade zone for a computer manufacturer in northwest Austin. Flextronics America is expanding its plant and adding 879 employees, according to the Austin American Statesman.
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Val Verde County Commissioners Court approved an agreement with Rockwall County to allow military and overseas voters to use a secure website operated by Rockwall to download a ballot for voting in federal elections to return by mail. Coryell County also is participating.
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Victoria County Commissioners Court established a reinvestment zone for the 4,500-acre campus of Invista, one of the world’s largest integrated producers of polymers and fibers. Invista plans a $500 million expansion.
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Williamson County Commissioners Court voted to establish a court docket for veterans with mental health conditions similar to nearby programs in Travis and Bexar counties. Williamson is home to about 39,000 veterans.
West Texas
Bailey County Commissioners Court voted to discontinue discounts for early payment of taxes effective October 2014.
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Callahan County Commissioners Court approved the formation of a child welfare board, which conducted an introductory meeting with a regional officer of the state’s Child Protective Services.
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Cochran County has a new judge. Billy D. Carter, who served as County Commissioner 1977-96, was sworn in to replace James St. Clair, who retired in October after 15 years. Carter will serve the unexpired term to Dec. 31, 2014. He is a former president of the West Texas County Judges and Commissioners Association.
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Comanche County Commissioners Court approved a reinvestment zone of 72,632 acres and tax abatements for Logan’s Gap Wind I with current plans for 100 wind turbines.
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Hemphill County Commissioners Court approved a grant of $600,000 for River Valley Pioneer Museum for exhibit redesign, construction and other improvements.
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Kerr County Commissioners Court approved the hiring of the Austin firm of Burns, Anderson, Jury as consultant for EMS services. Also, Kerr graduated another class in its Citizens Academy, which started in 2010 to give residents the opportunity to hear more than 30 instructors, ride with deputies, and gain “a deeper understanding of who we are and why we do what we do,” according to Deputy Pam Hicks.
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Kimble County Commissioners Court appointed a new judge, Delbert R. Roberts, to replace Andrew Murr, judge since 2008 who resigned to run for the Texas House of Representatives. Roberts served as judge previously (1995 to 2008).
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Lamb County Commissioners Court approved agreements with area EMS services and fire departments in Amherst, Earth, Littlefield, Springlake, Sudan and Olton.
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McCulloch County Commissioners Court approved the purchase of an updated security system for the jail for a cost of $25,405.
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Midland County Commissioners Court authorized a one-time payment of $6.6 million to completely pay its indebtedness for a 2004 bond for construction of the Horseshoe, a multipurpose events center, leaving the county with the jail as its only current bond debt.
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Mills County Commissioners Court voted to establish the office of pretrial services/indigent defense coordinator for Mills and Brown counties. A grant will fund the program the first year.
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Mitchell County Commissioners Court approved a bid of $99,750 with Harris True Automation of Plano for tax office software.
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Montague County celebrated the 100th anniversary of its courthouse in October. The current courthouse is the county’s fourth, beginning with a log cabin built in 1858.
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Nolan County conducted groundbreaking ceremonies
Oct. 14 for a new jail and sheriff’s office. The 96-bed jail, expected to cost about $10.4 million, is scheduled to be completed in October 2014.
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Reagan County Commissioners Court approved construction of a 12×14 building adjacent to the BLVFD fire hall for the EMS director’s office and the conversion of the previous office into a bunkhouse for EMS personnel.
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San Saba County Commissioners Court approved an agreement with North San Saba Water Supply Corp. that includes $275,000 from the Texas Community Development Block Grant Program.
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Scurry County Commissioners Court accepted the donation of White Buffalo Park from the Randy Hays family.
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Taylor County Commissioners Court voted to return a 125-year-old desk to the original courthouse in Buffalo Gap Historic Village. It had been moved to Abilene in 1883 after an election changed the county seat from Buffalo Gap to Abilene. “I love history,” Judge Downing Bolls told the Abilene Reporter-News. “The romanticist in me likes the idea of that old desk going back home.”
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Terry County Commissioners Court approved state grants for assistance for crime victims and airport maintenance.
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Tom Green County Judge Mike Brown, in office since 1995, resigned effective Dec. 1, 2013, to move to Alpine, according to the San Angelo Standard Times.
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Winkler County Commissioners Court adopted an agreement for ambulance service with the cities of Kermit and Wink and approved a contract of $10,973 with Aprotex Corp. for surveillance cameras in the courthouse.
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Wise County Judge Bill McElhaney of Bridgeport died Oct. 14 in Decatur after collapsing during a meeting of Commissioners Court, according to the Wise County Messenger. He was in his second term.
– Compiled by Garner Roberts