November 10, 2015 - 
A new filing software for the District Attorney's office and Wildfire Protection Plan were two items of note which the Shelby County Commissioners approved during their meeting held on Monday, November 9, 2015.
Although the intent of the county was to use Fund 49 to facilitate the purchase of the IDocket software, it was determined the software did not fit within the requirements of items eligible for purchase from the fund. Allison Harbison, County Judge, stated there are ample monies available in the contingency fund according to Clint Porterfield, County Auditor.
Judge Harbison explained the IDocket software is already in use by the County Judges office, County Attorney's office and the County Clerk's office. FullCase by Justice Systems was the software the District Attorney's office employed; however, according to District Attorney Ken Florence, the software is becoming outdated and the new software will actually be less of an expense.
"We are under a mandate to do electronic filing, I thought it would be good to be on the same page as the other agencies. So, when they were training Gary [Rholes'] office to use this software I sent Marlene [Hernandez] and some of my other staff over to kind of observe it," said Florence.
The determination of Florence and his staff is the software will be very useful to his office allowing for files to be digitized and for him to have the mobility to be in the courthouse with 60-70 cases on an iPad instead of lugging around large file boxes. The software also has the potential to provide access to case information for defense attorneys during discovery and help diminish a lot of paper cost to the county.
A scanner and iPad will also be a necessary expense for the District Attorney's office and Florence expects the computer budget for the office should be able to handle that purchase. The changeover to digital mandated by the supreme court and court of criminal appeals actually went into effect on November 1, 2015 with the allowance paper filing would still be accepted after that date; however, the change to digital is encouraged.
I met with Bradley Wilburn, (Shelby County Probation Officer), last week and he says due to budget cuts we might have to start doing all the paperwork for the probation department that they've been doing, and I notice that certain of the filing codes for Lori [Oliver's] officer even talk about probation revocation paperwork being filed that way. So, it looks like we'll be able to utilize that system to do that as well," said Florence.
The cost of the software is $17,500 out of the contingency fund with an annual cost to the District Attorney's office of $2,500 which will be a $300 savings to the already budgeted $2,800 for the previous software. Rholes commented the customer support provided by IDocket has been very helpful and he stated the District Attorney's office has "got to have something."
Fund 49 is the Law Library Fund for the county, which as of September 9, 2015 had a balance of $92,790.56. Judge Harbison stated she feels the state legislature needs to do something to make these funds available for other uses as tangible books are becoming less of a useful item with the transition to digital.
"I feel like probably next session maybe I might ask the legislative council for the judges to maybe look at that and see if we can't broaden that scope, because if we've got 90-something-thousand dollars in an account that we can only use for books, imagine what counties like Dallas has and Houston," said Judge Harbison.
According to Local Government Code, Title 10. Parks and Other Recreational and Cultural Resources, Subtitle B. County Parks and Other Recreational and Cultural Resources, Chapter 323. County Libraries, Subchapter A. County Library Section 323.023 (b)(3) purchasing or leasing library materials or acquiring library equipment, including computers, software, and subscriptions to obtain access to electronic research networks for use by judges in the county.
This suggests the funds from the Law Library Fund would only have been available for a software purchase made by a judge.
A motion carried for the county to purchase the software for the District Attorney's office.
Judge Harbison stated she would like to hire someone for the Emergency Management Coordinator for Shelby County and increase the pay for the position from $200 to $1,000. According to Judge Harbison there is $10,000 in the Emergency Management Budget currently and she would like for the county to hire the coordinator on a contract basis with no retirement or insurance to their benefit, and working no more than 30 hours a week unless they are working during an emergency.
Although she has not yet accepted the position at this time, Judge Harbison stated she has been speaking with Kerri Shofner about taking on the position. Shofner was formerly the Department of Health's liaison during past hurricane issues in Shelby County and Harbison says she has shown interest in the position.
A motion was made to move forward with Judge Harbison's recommendation for the remainder of the budget year; but, for it to be re-evaluated next year before automatically budgeting for it to see how much progress has been gained. The motion carried.
During the meeting the commissioners heard from Brittany Semetko, District Forester out of San Augustine with Texas A&M Forest Service, about the Wildfire Protection Grant Program. Semetko explained how the intent of the program is to reduce the risk of wildfire and promote a healthy environment while also providing safety for residents and firefighters.
A motion was carried to apply for a $10,000 grant to establish a Community Wildfire Protection Plan. This was followed by another motion which carried to adopt a proclamation supporting a Community Wildfire Protection Plan.
Ann Blackwell, County Treasurer, provided her officers report on fees collected for the county during October. Following her report she shared she has been working at reducing the phone rates for the county. The long distance service for the county has been switched to Texann, which is a long distance service provided by the state. Blackwell shared all the land lines have been premium service and she has changed those plans as well. The savings on long distance for the county will be $2,650 a month and the savings on the land lines is going to be about $3,200 a month. This is a great savings of $70,200 a year.
The meeting was adjourned at 10:11am.
Fees collected per office for October:
1. Deborah Riley, Tax Assessor/Collector office: Property Division - $352,125.34; Motor Vehicle Division - $29,634.86 for a total of $381,760.20
2. Jennifer Fountain, County Clerk: $33,548.25
3. Lori Oliver, District Clerk: $18,803.53
4. Maxie Eaves, Justice of the Peace Precinct 1: $11,689
5. Marla Denby, Justice of the Peace Precinct 2: $2,066.30
6. Margie Anderson, Justice of the Peace Precinct 3: $6,847
7. Jenny Hicks, Justice of the Peace Precinct 4: $4,242
8. Mike Crouch, Justice of the Peace Precinct 5: $7,007
9. Zach Warr, Constable Precinct 1: $1,525
10. Jamie Hagler, Constable Precinct 2: $0
11. Billy Hearnsberger, Constable Precinct 3: $180
12. Bryan Gray, Constable Precinct 4: $90
13. Stanley Burgay, Constable Precinct 5: $180
Grand total: $467,938.28
CDs generated $19.47 for a total book value of $60,060.43
Money Market generated $365.13 total market value of $1,719,934.15
Total investments of $1,779,994.58
Agenda items receiving approval include:
1. Minutes of the October 12th, 2015 Regular Meeting and the October 26th, 2015 Special Meeting.
2. Pay monthly expenses.
3. Officers’ Reports.
4. Apply for a $10,000.00 grant to establish a Community Wildfire Protection Plan.
5. Adopt a Proclamation supporting a Community Wildfire Protection Plan.
6. Purchase a new software program from IDocket for the District Attorney's office through the county contingency fund.
7. Approve the hiring of an Emergency Management Coordinator for Shelby County.
8. Adjourn.
