Brown County Commissioners, during a special meeting of the court, voted Monday to pay portions of County Attorney administrative employees’ salaries from the general fund.
County Auditor Jennifer Robison, asked for consideration of payment of the County Attorney’s administrative employees’ salaries from the general fund during last week’s meeting of the court. Robison explained that the County Attorney’s hot check fund had previously funded the salaries but currently does not have a balance to fund the payment of these employees’ salaries. The current balance of the hot check fund is $628.89 as of Monday morning, according to Robison.
For several years, the County Attorney’s office has made transfers from their Pretrial Diversion Fund to cover the shortfall of the hot check fund. According to County Attorney Shane Britton, the portion of these salaries that is supplemented by the hot check fund is approximately $1400.
Robison explained during last week’s meeting of the court that the number of hot checks written in the county is down compared to the number of hot checks written in the past, due to the use of debit cards and electronic transfers of funds, reducing the amount of funds available in the hot check frund. She requested the salaries of these employees be paid through the County Attorney’s general fund line item until she could get an opinion back from the Texas Attorney General’s office stating whether or not the transfer of the pretrial donations or payments can be transferred to fund the salaries through the hot check fund, as was done in the past.
Robison’s request of opinion from the Texas Attorney General included four matters regarding financial activities in the Brown County Attorney’s office. One of these matters involves possible comingling of funds from the County Attorney’s hot check fund to supplement staff salaries within the County Attorney’s Office. The request for opinion asks the AG whether “pretrial diversion ‘donations’ or payments otherwise received can be lawfully transferred from the Brown County Attorney’s request and with the approval of the Brown County Commissioners Court to be comingled with money in the County Attorney’s office.” These pretrial diversion payments come from “an agreement with defendants in misdemeanor criminal cases to refrain from prosecuting violation of law if the alleged offender agrees to ‘donate’ or otherwise pay money to the Brown County Attorney as part of pretrial diversion agreements with his office,” according to Robison’s request for opinion.
Commissioners approved Brown County Judge Ray West’s motion for the county to take responsibility to pay these County Attorney administrative employees’ salaries, in whole or supplement, from the general fund until an opinion is rendered from the Attorney General’s Office. West added a caveat to this motion that any money that is paid by the general fund is to be reimbursed from the County Attorney’s Pretrial Diversion fund, if this deposit/transfer of money is deemed lawful by the AG’s office.
In other matters on Monday’s agenda:
*No action was taken to implement a burn ban.
*Brown County Sheriff’s Captain Vance Hill received approval of employee changes. Caleb Hopson was hired recently to replace Deputy Ronnie Bowman who moved away. Deputy John Gramling recently resigned to enter the Texas Department of Public Safety academy and is replaced by new hire Scotty Burke. Both new deputies will begin at starting salaries.
*County Auditor Jennifer Robison received approval to deem items that did not sell on GovDeals.com as surplus items and approve disposal by Office Furniture Specialist. According to Robison, these items include old office chairs that were broken and replaced when some county offices were remodeled. Robison further explained that Office Furniture Specialist, Jack Smith, has been storing these chairs.