At Monday’s meeting of the Brown County Commissioners Court, approval was given to the purchase of Automatic External Defibrillators (AED) for County buildings.  Cliff Karnes, the Emergency Management Coordinator for Brown County, made the presentation.  He proposed the purchase of six AED’s, three of which would be placed in the Courthouse, one in the Treasurer/Elections building at 613 North Fisk Ave., one at the Agriculture Extension Office at 605 Fisk Ave., and one at the recently acquired building at 600 Fisk Ave., which will soon house various County offices.  Karnes said the AED’s will be the same ones as used by the local ambulance service, Life Guard EMS, so that they will be familiar with the AED’s if they are helping with a health situation in one of the County buildings.  The total cost of the six AED’s, plus bleeding control kits, will be $13,858.86.  They will be paid for with money received from the State of Texas “Opioid Abatement Grant,” with over $50,000 received by Brown County in the grant.

The Commissioners also approved the purchase of a County vehicle for Karnes, to be used in his work and travel as Emergency Management Coordinator.  The vehicle to be purchased is a new Chevrolet Equinox, to be purchased from Bruner Auto Group at a cost of $30,295.05

In other business:

*** Commissioners approved the lifting of the Burn Ban.

*** Commissioners approved authority for County Judge Pro Tem/Commissioner Precinct 2 Joel Kelton to execute a “Memorandum of Understanding between Brown County and Central Texas Rural Transit District to establish a framework for the provision of transportation services during emergencies and/or disasters.”  With this agreement, the Rural Transit District could help transport Brown County residents in times of flooding, ice storms, etc.

*** Commissioners received the Brown County Historical Commission Annual Report for the year 2025.  The report was presented by Ronnie Lappe, President of the Historical Commission.  The report details the various activities of the Historical Commission in 2025.

*** Commissioners received and approved the 2025 End of Year Financial Statement, presented by Jennifer Robison of the Brown County Auditor’s Office.