March 21, 2023 - Donna Hughes, Justice of the Peace for Precinct 1, addressed the Shelby County Commissioners' Court March 8, 2023, with a proposal for some needed refurbishment in the building where her office is located.
The floors are concrete in the building and without any covering, sound travels throughout the building. Hughes explained she has placed rugs on the floor in attempts to dampen the sound; however, there is very little privacy in her office or in the courtroom.
She presented a bid from Russell Flooring for carpeting in the building.
"The building is so nice and I think eventually we're going to need to invest this in the building and I say, hey lets do it while we can go ahead and get all the years of use out of it because this carpet is going to last probably as long as the building does," said Hughes.
A motion carried by the commissioners to approve the expenditure of "right at $10,000" and use funds out of Courthouse repairs.
The commissioners went into executive session at 9:48am and returned to open session at 10:13am.
Following the executive session Tom Bellmyer, Precinct 4 Commissioner, commented on Judge Allison Harbison and County Attorney John Price researching and coming up with the right and legal answer to the subject of their executive session discussion.
Tracy Broadway, Precinct 5 Justice of the Peace, has been covering the duties of Precinct 4 Justice of the Peace in addition to his own duties as JP 5.
A motion carried to compensate Broadway retroactively from the date Judge LeAnn K, Rafferty assigned him to those additional duties at half the normal JP 4 salary, $591.73 per pay period, until a decision is made and someone is placed in that office.
The meeting then adjourned at 10:15am.
Agenda items approved during the meeting include: 1. Minutes of February 1, 2023 Special meeting, February 8, 2023 Regular meeting, February 15, 2023 Special meeting, February 22, 2023 Special meeting of the Shelby County Commissioner’s Court. 2. Pay weekly expenses. 3. Commissioner Pct. 1 and Commissioner Pct. 2 to sell a Lee Boy Lay Down Paver to Angelina County for $35,000 and for the proceeds to split between Precinct 1 and 2. 4. Make renovations to the Precinct 1 Justice of the Peace courtroom and office. 5. Compensate Broadway retroactively from the date Judge LeAnn K. Rafferty assigned him to those additional duties at half the normal JP 4 salary, $591.73 per pay period, until a decision is made and someone is placed in that office. 6. Adjourn 10:15am.
