During Monday’s meeting of Brown County Commissioners’ Court, members offered thanks and regrets to former Precinct 1 Commissioner Steve Adams as they make plans to fill the vacancy on the court after Adams resigned as part of a plea bargain Friday in District Court.
“In regard to paying the bills and in that Commissioner Adams has resigned, I appreciate all of his long time service and I believe that in regarding to his bills, they will be reviewed by the auditor’s office and submitted by the foreman,” said Commissioner Richard Gist of precinct 3. “I believe if there are any questions on this matter, I think they should be touched on now. If there are any questions on that matter, this is going through the normal chain that we always handle in this matter, I believe that the commissioner had reviewed these purchase orders.”
Auditor Nina Cox stated that there is no one in charge at this time regarding payment of outstanding bills in Precinct 1 and that there needed to be someone appointed regarding precinct 1 purchasing matters.
County Judge Ray West explained that he is working on resolving the matter through consultation with the county attorney, Shane Britton.
“I have asked Shane, in no uncertain terms, to advise the court on that procedure,” said West.
When asked by Commissioner Joel Kelton of Precinct 2 just when that would be, West stated, “Do you know when the world is going to end? He will come to me.”
West further explained that it is the court’s job to appoint a new or interim commissioner. He further explained that he asked Britton about the procedure of this appointment on Friday, so no information was available as of Monday morning since some research had to be done.
Adams (pictured above left) agreed Friday to a plea bargain, admitting he was guilty of “theft by deception” as stated in the original indictment issued on September 29, 2011 on theft charges stemming from an incident from July 18, 2008 that involved using county taxpayer money to benefit himself. The 2nd degree felony charges were reduced to a 3rd degree felony; however in the plea agreement, Adams was to resign immediately be placed on 10 years deferred adjudication probation, pay a $5000 fine on Friday, and make a $26,000 restitution payment to Brown County.