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December 11, 2024 - A swearing in ceremony for Shannon Metcalf, to the office of Commissioner Precinct 2 was held during the Shelby County Commissioners’ Court meeting on Wednesday, December 11, 2024.
Due to the passing of Jimmy Lout, Commissioner Precinct 2, Metcalf has been appointed to finish the unexpired term of the late Commissioner Lout. (Click here for Commissioner Jimmy Lout obituary)
Shelby County Judge Allison Harbison administered the oath of office to Metcalf and during his swearing in he was flanked by the commissioners of the other precincts.
The ceremony was well attended by an audience of friends, and family in support of Metcalf.
Metcalf has been working for Precinct 2 for 29 years and was Lout’s foreman for the 22 years that he was in office.
December 6, 2024 - I am pleased to announce the appointment of Shannon Metcalf to finish the unexpired term of the late Commissioner Jimmy Lout.
Mr. Metcalf has been working for Precinct 2 for 29 years and was Commissioner Lout’s foreman for all 22 years of his tenure. I have faith in his ability to perform the duties of the office and I believe he will continue the legacy of Commissioner Lout. He has been assisting Commissioner Lout during his recent health issues with all aspects of the office including working with grants and budgets. Mr. Metcalf knows the citizens of Precinct 2 and I have had an overwhelming number of citizens from different communities support his appointment.
His Oath of Office will be administered at the next Commissioner's Court Meeting on Wednesday, December 11, 2024 at 9:30am in the 2nd Floor Commissioner’s Courtroom. Everyone is invited.
December 6, 2024 - The Shelby County Commissioners approved a road use and repair agreement during their December 4, 2024 meeting between Shelby County and BTA ETG Gathering LLC, a Texas limited liability company, for repair of road damage in Precinct 3 and for acceptance of funds to be held in trust.
John Price, County Attorney, gave some description of the needs in play and the agreement presented to the commissioners.
“Essentially, what the agreement is, BTA is agreeing to place in trust with us the funds to cover the costs to replace or repair the roads at the conclusion of the work that's going to be performed here by this particular company,” said Price. “Those funds, the amount of those funds has been agreeable with Commissioner Smith, subject to approval of the commission. I think it more than adequately covers the amount of materials that would be required as determined by Commissioner Smith to do these repairs. These repairs, obviously, which will also include a certain number of loads of oil sand will have to be done later on in next year in the spring or early summer. Obviously, the oil sand can't be utilized until then anyway.
Price explained that the contract further provides in the interim that there will be ongoing road repairs performed by the company. Precinct 3 Commissioner Smith will make what were referred to as temporary repairs, such as moving materials in, and filling potholes to keep the road in as good a shape as possible until work is completed and the final repair can be done.
To Price’s understanding the work that will be done by BTA will require the use of a number of loads of cement which will all be done at one time and then there will be a very large heavy load compressor being brought in.
According to Price, there are provisions in addition to the amount of money that Commissioner Smith has determined would be necessary to obtain and use materials that are instrumental to do the repair and to possibly repair any additional damage done to a specific culvert crossing that might occur.
“Frankly, we don't anticipate anything occurring but the company has agreed to deposit additional funds bringing the estimate of what will definitely be agreed upon with a little over $43,000 for the materials, including the oil sand up to $50,000,” said Price. “The additional sum being deposited, just in case there's any damage to the culvert, in speaking to Commissioner Smith, and he has done his due diligence and work determining that the amount that's being deposited will be more than sufficient, even if there is a necessity to replace that culvert so we feel like it's a good contract. The money will be in our hands available to be utilized as soon as completion of the project takes place.”
Troy Bergeron, with Enterprise Products, the sole owner of BTA ETG Gathering LLC addressed the court, “We did have damage out there. We do want to make good on that, so we’ve brought two checks for you for that. And then in the interim, we do have more work anticipated over the next three or four months. So, you know, we do want to make sure that precinct three is taken care of and the roads are taken care of. So we brought a roller on site, so that we can constantly roll the road to keep the roads passable. And at the end of the project, we'll meet Mr. Stevie again and, you know, make sure that this covered it. If it didn't, we'll work out something with you on any more.”
Commissioner Stevie Smith stated it was not a situation of negligence on the part of Enterprise Products, rather a tremendous project that the county roads couldn’t sustain.
Commissioner Smith moved to approve the road use a repair agreement and it was met with a second by Commissioner Bellmyer and the motion carried.
Earlier in the meeting when the commissioners approved the weekly expenses Ann Blackwell, County Treasurer, indicated the final payment toward the pugmill in the amount of $127,122.25 plus shipping cost of $3,500 split among the four precincts had been paid.
During the Commissioner Court Reports portion of the meeting, County Judge Allison Harbison shared that the furniture for the Commissioners’ courtroom is now ready and the hope is the furniture will arrive in one to two weeks.
Blackwell noted for the court that the Courthouse Annex is switched over to ETEX fiber as of the meeting day.
Commissioner McSwain referenced an expense for the Pugmill that was $3,500 and he went forward with it because he thought the price was very reasonable as he was expecting a cost of $5,000 to $6,000.
Commissioner Bellmyer referenced several bills that Jim Allison, General Counsel of the County Judges and Commissioners Association of Texas, has indicated are what he calls “good bills.”
Out of the over 2,000 bills that have been submitted for the legislature to consider, the bills mentioned specifically by Bellmyer included SB 854, HB 1367, HB 790, HB 1109, and HB 1461.
“One that I think is really interesting to us is HB790 by representative Spiller increases the bid limit from $50,000 to $200,000,” said Commissioner Bellmyer. ”So last legislative session, they tried to get it from $50,[000] to $100,[000]. So now they're making another run of it and they actually increased it to $200,000.”
Another one that has returned which Commissioner Bellmyer said the court has discussed before was HB 1109 to exempt counties from state motor fuel tax.
HB 1461 also seeks to reimburse counties for some expenses they otherwise haven’t been able to recover.
“HB 1461 by Representative Frank, requires the state to reimburse the counties for mental patients, juveniles, and parole violators. So those are big ones,” said Commissioner Bellmyer.
In reference to being reimbursed and parole violators, Judge Harbison mentioned that Panola County no longer is housing any Shelby County inmates as of the meeting and that there are “50-something” inmates in the jail.
The meeting adjourned into executive session at 9:55am and returned to open session at 10:33am.
Judge Harbison stated that during executive session they discussed the jail now being in compliance, there are no prisoners outside of the county now. There was no action to be taken on those items. She said they spoke of some other things and that those would be added to the agenda in the coming week
The meeting was adjourned at 10:33am.
Agenda items approved during the meeting include:
1. Pay weekly expenses. 2. Pay current Payroll. 3. Road use and repair agreement to be entered into between Shelby County, Texas and BTA ETG Gathering LLC, a Texas limited liability company, for repair of road damage in PCT 3 and for acceptance of funds to be held in trust. 4. Adjourn.
December 5, 2024 - Emergency responders were dispatched to a major two-vehicle crash in the 1100 block of U.S. Highway 59 South outside of Timpson at around 2:42pm on Wednesday, December 4, 2024, which proved fatal to one driver.
In addition to law enforcement, Timpson Volunteer Fire Department personnel were requested to the scene to assist with an entrapment of one driver involved.
According to the Texas Department of Public Safety, Troopers are investigating the fatal crash and a silver Dodge Ram 1500 pickup truck driven by Kristen Lee, 26, of Timpson was traveling north, while a white Freightliner box truck driven by Iso Isoev, 31, of New York was traveling south. It is reported that during a period of heavy rain, the Ram hydroplaned and traveled into the oncoming lane where it was struck by the Freightliner.
Kristen Lee of Timpson, was pronounced deceased on scene by Tracy Broadway, Justice of the Peace for Precinct 5.
Isoev was transported to Nacogdoches Medical Center for treatment of non-life-threatening injuries.
According to DPS, this is an ongoing investigation and no further information is available.
December 4, 2024 - The Shelby County Commissioners moved forward with a new cloud based financial software system during their meeting held November 20, 2024.
Clint Porterfield, County Auditor, then enlightened the commissioners on a written proposal from Financial Intelligence for new cloud based financial system software.
“We've had a good run for 25 years. Shelby County has used Hill Country software financial system going on 25 years. In 2018, local government solutions, LGS (Local Government Solutions) purchased all of the software rights and clientele of Hill Country Software,” said Porterfield. “In 2019, myself, the assistant treasurer, the treasurer and the assistant operator went to College Station for a meeting concerning the acquisition and the new software system that was forthcoming and there were a lot of questions at that time about this company and their software system that had purchased your country.”
Porterfield continued explaining that during the past six years, LGS has taken their software system called Financial Intelligence (FI), and they've added to it some of the nice features of Hill Country that the county has grown accustomed to and, through a blending of the two programs, have created a financial system that caters to small counties, and small to mid-sized counties.
“We were notified in October the first when we started our new year that LGS Financial Intelligence is now trying to convert the rest of the counties that they haven't converted in the last six years. We are at the end of the list. We've kind of held out and hoping we'd all get debugged before it got to us,” said Porterfield.
He explained that the intent of LGS is to have Shelby County systems converted over sometime in the summer of 2025. Porterfield said the county has been fortunate in that it has paid $4,000 a year to Hill Country for their software for 25 years. The new proposal is for $2,675 a month at a total cost of $32,000 a year.
I'm actually very pleased that's all it is, $32,000 a year. I know that we have some friends and counties around us who have gone with other software systems that cost six figures. But I will tell you that I am very confident with the FI program, even though I haven't seen the technical workings of it. I have looked at some of their reporting. I talked to Trinity County just this week. Trinity County just converted within the last three months,” said Porterfield.
Commissioner Bellmyer moved to follow the request by the auditor to move forward with the software and Commissioner Smith seconded the motion. It carried
Porterfield addressed the commissioners to talk with them about an annual expense they were presented with in their expenses regarding the 10th Administrative Judicial Region.
"We are in a judicial region with 32 other counties, and in that judicial region there are judges and those judges prepare a budget and the 32 counties share the budget of the 10th Judicial District for their actions in court and their administrative cause,” said Porterfield. “So Shelby County pays, of that $165,000 budget, Shelby County pays about 1.6% to $2,700 and that's been the same price for many years.”
A motion to pay the weekly expenses was made by Commissioner Tom Bellmyer and was seconded by Commissioner Stevie Smith.
The commissioners considered the payroll presented to them and then Commissioner Smith moved to pay the payroll, which was seconded by Commissioner Bellmyer.
A sponsorship of the Deep East Texas Legislative Reception in Austin in January was considered by the commissioners, and Commissioner Roscoe McSwain stated that normally $500 is donated and he recalled attending the event two years previous to the meeting.
“I guess it's just a partial sponsorship because I was looking at the sponsorship levels and that's below the levels. But yet, according to Lonnie, that typically what we always contribute is the $500,” said Bellmyer.
McSwain continued, “That says in the documentation here, if you have highlighted $500 here, we will receive all the benefits offered to our gold level sponsors.”
Commissioner Bellmyer moved to continue sponsorship of DETCOG at that legislative session, and a second was heard by Commissioner Smith. The motion carried.
Taylor Fanguy, Constable Precinct 4, addressed the commissioners about purchasing a radar for the Precinct 4 patrol vehicle. Constable Fanguy stated the radar he has ceased to function after being moved to his new unit and the company that manufactured it no longer provides support for the unit.
The radar Constable Fanguy was seeking to purchase was a newer version of the same model radar.
Commissioner Bellmyer was surprised with the unit being over 10 years old that it still functioned.
Porterfield recommended paying for the new unit out of Constable Fanguy’s budget and then any future adjustment could be made via a line-item transfer at the end of the budget year.
Commissioner Bellmyer made a motion to move forward with the purchase of the radar and charge it to the constable budget as-is, Commissioner Smith seconded the motion and it carried.
During Commissioner’s Court Reports portion of the meeting, Commissioner Bellmyer commented that Deborah Chadwick, Chamber of Commerce President, brought Leadership Class members to court for the meeting an he thanked them for their presence.
Commissioner McSwain brought up the driveway into the Justice of the Peace Precinct 1 office and preparations for work to be done.
“As the court’s aware, we've been discussing for six months to a year now. Fixing the driveway down at the Justice of the Peace Precinct 1 office. We talked about doing it in-house and the ball kind of got pushed in my corner lately,” said McSwain. “I come up with the idea last week to seek an estimate of what it would cost to have an outside contractor come in.”
Commissioner McSwain said they reached out to Cornerstone Construction and received an estimate of $10,645 from them.
With the project being a repair and just over $10,000 he said they would move forward with the project and pay for it out of Courthouse Repairs.
The meeting was adjourned at 9:29am.
Agenda items approved during the meeting include: 1. Weekly expenses. 2. Payroll. 3. Sponsor the Deep East Texas Legislative Reception in Austin in January. 4. Financial Intelligence written proposal for new cloud based financial system software. 5. Request from Precinct 4 Constable Taylor Fanguy to purchase a Radar for the Precinct patrol vehicle. 6. Adjourn.
December 3, 2024 - A Shelby County Grand Jury handed down 12 indictments on Wednesday, November 20, 2024. The grand jury was impaneled for the July 2024 term of the 123rd/273rd Judicial District Courts.
Christopher Lamar Pleasant was indicted for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, second degree felony. The indictment alleges, on July 7, 2024, Pleasant recklessly caused bodily injury to Crystal Fenley by striking her in the head with a stick, knocking her to the ground, and then choking her. (273rd Judicial District Court)
Elizabeth Ann Barton was indicted for unauthorized use of a motor vehicle, state jail felony. The indictment alleges, on October 1, 2024, operated a motor vehicle, namely a 2019 Chevrolet Silverado, without the effective consent of Tammy Steptoe, the owner. (123rd Judicial District Court)
Shaniya Dominique Moore was indicted for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, second degree felony. The indictment alleges, on September 14, 2024, Moore recklessly caused bodily injury to Chase Akela Carter by dragging him with her car, and Moore did then and there use or exhibit a deadly weapon, to-wit: 2011 Dodge Charger during the commission of said assault (273rd Judicial District Court)
Rodrigo Ronquillio was indicted for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, second degree felony. The indictment alleges, on July 3, 2024, Ronquillio recklessly caused bodily injury to Lyric Tyshea Smith by hitting her car from behind, and Ronquillio did then and there use or exhibit a weapon, to-wit; a 2004 BMW 325 during the commission of said assault.
William Barry Beasley was indicted for assault by choking, third degree felony. The indictment alleges, on September 14, 2024, Beasley caused bodily injury to Annette Bratchett a person with whom Beasley has had a dating relationship, as described by Section 71.002(b) of the Texas Family Code, by intentionally, knowingly and recklessly impeding the normal breathing or circulation of the blood of the complainant by applying pressure to the throat or neck of Bratchett. (273rd Judicial District Court)
Rossell Demon Sherow was indicted for unlawful possession of firearm by felon, third degree felony. The indictment alleges, on August 31, 2024, having been previously convicted of the felony offense of burglary of a habitation on October 29, 2019, in Upshur County, intentionally and knowingly possessed a firearm before the fifth anniversary of Sherow's release from confinement following conviction of the felony. (123rd Judicial District Court)
Brandy Lewis was indicted on two counts of publish/threat to publish intimate visual material, state jail felony. The indictment alleges, on April 27, 2023, Count 1 and Count 2 both state: Lewis intentionally disclosed visual material, namely a photograph, depicting the complainant engaged in sexual conduct and the visual material was created under circumstances in which the complainant had a reasonable expectation of privacy that the visual material would remain private, and the disclosure of the visual material caused harm to the complainant, namely, by disclosing the visual material to the complainant's spouse. The indictment further alleges, the disclosure of the visual material revealed the identity of the complainant, namely, the photograph captured the complainant's recognizable facial features, or the accompanying text indicated the complainant's identity. (273rd Judicial District Court)
Jerry Curtis Lewis was indicted on two counts of publish/threat to publish intimate visual material, state jail felony. The indictment alleges, on April 27, 2023, Count 1 and Count 2 both state: Lewis intentionally disclosed visual material, namely a photograph, depicting the complainant engaged in sexual conduct and the visual material was created under circumstances in which the complainant had a reasonable expectation of privacy that the visual material would remain private, and the disclosure of the visual material caused harm to the complainant, namely, by disclosing the visual matieral to the complainant's spouse. The indictment further alleges, the disclosure of the visual material revealed the identity of the complainant, namely, the photograph captured the complainant's recognizable facial features, or the accompanying text indicated the complainant's identity. (273rd Judicial District Court)
Kenneth Wayne Cravey was indicted for felony driving while intoxicated, third degree felony. The indictment alleges, on April 4, 2024, Cravey operated a motor vehicle in a public place while intoxicated by not having normal use of mental or physical faculties by reason of the introduction of alcohol, a controlled substance, a drug, or a dangerous drug into the body. The indictment further states that prior to the offense, Cravey was previously convicted on July 9, 2010 for the offense relating to the operating of a motor vehicle while intoxicated; on September 3, 2002 for the offense of driving while intoxicated - 3rd degree; and on July 9, 2010 for the offense of driving while intoxicated 3rd or more, 3rd degree felony. (123rd Judicial District Court)
Charged by Information:
Jason Duane George was charged on information on December 2, 2024, for possession of a controlled substance PG1/1-B >=1G<4G.
(Dates in parenthesis indicate the date of the alleged incident):
- Quirino Avelar Jr., possession of a controlled substance PG2 (Delta-9-THC), state jail felony. (August 22, 2024). (123rd Judicial District Court)
- Thomas Gulley, possession of a controlled substance PG1/1-B >=4G<200G (methamphetamine), second degree felony (July 4, 2024). (123rd Judicial District Court)
- April Marie Garza, possession of a controlled substance PG1/1B <1G (methamphetamine), state jail felony (September 17, 2024). (273rd Judicial District Court)
Indictments and Information are not a conviction, and are a matter of public record. All individuals are presumed innocent until found guilty in a court of law.
November 26, 2024 - County Road 2110 will be closed starting Monday, December 2, 2024 due to culvert repair. Work will take place on the SH 87 S side. The road will be re-opened on Thursday, December 5, 2024. Please use FM 2975 to access County Road 2110.
November 29, 2024 - Funeral services for Jimmy Lout, Commissioner Precinct 2, were held Wednesday, November 27, 2024, at Watson & Sons Funeral Home.
Lout was elected to the office of Commissioner Precinct 2 in 2002 and his term began in 2003, with County Judge Floyd A. "Dock" Watson. Following Watson, he then served with County Judge John Tomlin, County Judge Rick Campbell and County Judge Allison Harbison.
During his time as Commissioner Precinct 2, Lout has been very active in the community, serving regularly during commissioner board meetings governing the county and working with his crew on projects in his precinct.
Click here for Commissioner Lout's obituary.
November 28, 2024 - Richardson Street in Joaquin is the site of an alleged illegal dumping incident and authorities are seeking details on those responsible.
According to Joaquin Mayor Jessie Griffith, used cooking grease was discovered on November 27, 2024, and authorities with TCEQ were contacted.
Mayor Griffith reports, a cleanup operation is ongoing and is expected to take days to complete.
Any leads on who is responsible for this illegal dumping are appreciated. Mayor Griffith says they would really like some help from anyone in the community in finding out who is responsible.
The EPA is also involved, and the cleanup operation is under the direction of a HAZMAT crew.
The Shelby County Sheriff’s Department is investigating, along with TCEQ, and anyone with information is asked to contact the city of Joaquin, Shelby County Sheriff’s Office or TCEQ.
November 26, 2024 - To honor and recognize the 22 years of dedication and service to Precinct 2 and Shelby County by Commissioner Jimmy Lout, the Shelby County Offices will close at noon on Wednesday, November 27th. Mr. Lout’s service will be held at Watson and Sons Funeral home on Wednesday at 2pm with visitation beginning at noon.
Mr. Lout or ‘Jimmy’ as everyone in the Courthouse called him will be remembered for his love of Shelby County and its citizens. You will never meet a more down-to-earth man, one who loved his wife, children, and especially his grandchildren, they were his pride and joy. During this Thanksgiving Holiday Season, please remember to be thankful and keep Commissioner Lout’s family in your thoughts and prayers.
The courthouse will also be closed November 28-December 1 and will reopen for business on Monday, December 2 at 8am.
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