August 2, 2023 - The Shelby County Commissioners decided during their August 2, 2023, meeting to keep the burn ban in place.
The court agreed they have not received any rain in any of their precincts, and Tom Bellmyer, Commissioner Precinct 4, felt compelled to express gratitude to several agencies in light of a fire that recently occurred.
“I’d like to publicly thank the Tenaha [Volunteer] Fire Department, and the Center Volunteer Fire Department, the Texas Forestry Service, and Seth Shrell (Texas Department of Emergency Management). Last Friday we had a heck of a fire and Seth was there,” said Bellmyer. “I’m on the backside of the fire, it kind of looped around a couple of my county roads, and I’m just sitting there and all of a sudden I looked up, Seth pulls up on me, and this is 7 o’clock Friday evening.”
Commissioner Bellmyer said the departments were able to extinguish the fire, and in talking with the Tenaha VFD Fire Chief Mark Odom, Commissioner Bellmyer learned that was their third fire to respond to that day. He said all of the fires were trash fires, such as people burning trash in a barrel.
“I really think that citations should be issued,” said Judge Allison Harbison.
She asked Shelby County Chief Ruth Gonzales if the Sheriff’s Department is issuing citations, and she responded they have not issued any citations yet, but they can.
Judge Harbison said she knows of some chicken houses that were being burned in the Shelbyville area. Chief Gonzales said if Judge Harbison wants the Sheriff’s Department to issue citations, for the commissioners to reach out to them so a deputy can issue those citations.
“I think they should be cited, I mean my daddy always told me the best lessons in life are those you have to pay your hard earned money for, and I think they should be cited if they’re burning,” said Judge Harbison.
Judge Harbison encouraged further that citations need to be issued, and Chief Gonzales said the Sheriff’s Department can do that.
Commissioner Bellmyer moved to extend the burn ban for another week, and Jimmy Lout, Commissioner Precinct 2, seconded his motion, the motion carried.
Lori Oliver, District Clerk, addressed the court and explained her office is starting to implement changes mandated by House Bill 3474, Article 8. Oliver shared that juror turnout has been incredibly low and some actions are being taken to change that.
“I think they thought, maybe if we increase the jury pay that’ll help,” said Oliver. “Currently jurors are paid $6 for their first day of service, and $40 for every day thereafter. What they have decided to do effective September 1 is increase their first day of service to $20 and then every day thereafter would be $58.”
According to Oliver, across the state some courts are paying more than that, but that it’s up to the commissioners to decide if they want to go above the minimum. She asked the court to pay the $20 and then on the subsequent days to pay $60 to simplify the process for the office of the treasurer.
Stevie Smith, Commissioner Precinct 3, moved to make it $20 first day and $60 every day thereafter for juror pay, and Commissioner Lout seconded his motion, which carried.
The commissioners considered a request from Tracy Broadway, Justice of the Peace Precinct 5, to discontinue compensation for his duties as interim JP for Precinct 4. Judge Harbison referenced an email where Broadway says he believes Dee Dee Green, Justice of the Peace Precinct 4, is coming along really well.
Commissioner Bellmyer moved to discontinue Broadway’s JP 4 compensation, effective July 28, and his motion was seconded by Commissioner McSwain, an the motion carried.
Chief Deputy Gonzales requested to obtain quotes to scan the Sheriff’s Office’s paper case files, and she explained that these are decades old cases which they currently cannot digitally access. The Sheriff’s Department has contacted a company for file retention and research is still being conducted since case files are different than other county files which must be retained as case files contain pictures an some video.
As files are digitized, some physical copies will be able to be destroyed to free up space; however, Judge Harbison cautioned against destroying files that may be for cold cases, or have some other validity. She encouraged Chief Gonzales to research the proper retention schedule.
A motion made by Commissioner McSwain to go out for quotes was seconded by Commissioner Lout, and the motion carried.
The commissioners considered accepting bids for three constable vehicles for Precinct 1, 2, and 3. Commissioner McSwain moved to go forward with purchasing the vehicles out of the contingency fund from Caldwell Ford in the amount of $159,940, the motion was seconded by Commissioner Smith, and the motion carried.
During the meeting Josh Tipton, Constable Precinct 5, introduced his new deputy Travis Vaughn to the court, and announced he has just started August 2, 2023. Vaughn shared he is from the area and has just come back.
The meeting adjourned at 10:10am.
Agenda items approved during the meeting include: 1. Pay weekly expenses. 2. Current payroll. 3. Declaration and Order Prohibiting Outdoor Burning. 4. Increase in jurors pay, $20 first day and $60 every day thereafter for juror pay to take effect on September 1, 2023. 5. Discontinue JP Broadway’s JP 4 compensation, effective July 28. 6. Application for the 2nd payment of the Local Assistance and Tribal Consistency Fund (LATCF) established by the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021. 7. Seek quotes to scan Sheriff’s Office case files.. 8. Purchase constable vehicles for Precinct 1, 2, and 3 in the amount of $159,940. 9. Adjourn at 10:10am.
