In the first June meeting of the Kent County commissioners court, which had been rescheduled from June 10 to Wednesday, June 12, commissioners dealt with a range of issues from employee benefits to IT security for the sheriff’s department.
Present were County Judge Layne Coulter and commissioners Roy Chisum, Robert Graham, Ray Hall and Darryl Ham. Also present were Sheriff William Scogin and Human Resources Director Regina Coulter.
Convening at 9 a.m., the court approved minutes from its second meeting of May 2024, including approval of Kent County Nursing Home report, approval to pay bills for the county, approval of continuation for the bond for treasurer Christy Long, approval of Permanent School Fund investments for capital improvements, report from Sheriff William Scogin on purchases under SB22 grant, review of repairs needed following June 2023 storm damage, and rescheduling of the next regular court date to June 12. Minutes were approved as read.
On the June 12 agenda, the court reviewed and approved bills for payment.
HR Director Regina Coulter presented information on the Texas Association of Counties insurance renewal rates for FY 24-25. With 66 county employees on the health insurance policy, the court recommended continuing its same policy for a $1,000 deductible and maximum dollar amount of out of pocket, “keeping the cost on the county, not on employees,” she said. Plan number 1200-NB was retained.
Regarding the county’s insurance claim resulting from June 23 storm, Cunty Judge Layne Coulter invited any commissioners who wished, to sit in on a review of recommendations following the lunch break on June 12. Coulter said he was recently notified that Phase 1 repairs work on building exteriors would not start until all roofing work was done.
In the sheriff’s report, Scogin discussed the option of changing information technology (IT) service providers to Goldsmith IT Solutions, at a higher price but with anticipation of more responsive service should be better. The current provider, which sold out to a larger corporation recently, charges $13,500 per year; the new provider’s cost would be $22,800 annually, Scogin said. The move would enable statemandated updates such as CGIS system security and compliance, safe uploads of traffic-stop videos to the cloud, and other security and web search matters.
Scogin also reported that the department was still awaiting delivery on new pickup trucks, in light of delays for installation of custom features.
Scogin reported a cen- sus of one prisoner in the Kent County Jail.
For Kent County Nursing Home, the report was delayed as state officials were on site during the meeting time. Judge Coulter noted that easier reporting was now available for the facility’s monthly agreement for the Department of Health and Human Resources. There was some discussion of how to dispose of an older vehicle, and discussion of increasing efficiency and financial profitability.
Applications for the use of county road machinery andmaterialwereapproved.
Next on the agenda, after some discussion of investment strategies, the county approved renewal of a certificate of deposit currently at Kent County State back, at 4 percent annual interest.
The court recessed at 11:12 a.m. for a lunch break before the scheduled insurance claim meeting. Further action in this court session will be covered in the next issue.
