Brown County recently received monies from the State’s Indigent Defense Extraordinary Expense Grant which will help cover some of the unexpected costs of 5 murder trials in the past three years.

According to County Auditor Nina Cox, the county applied for and received the grant funding of $200,000 to help offset expenses of for court appointed attorneys in these cases, which cost the county $375,000, according to Cox.

The revenue from the grant was certified by commissioners and will be held in the general fund according to Cox.

District Judge Stephen Ellis received approval for some of this money to be allocated to hire a new full time assistant to help the Indigent Defense Coordinator/Pretrial Services Director, Nita Richardson.  The position will pay $24,000/year plus benefits which total approximately $47,700.  Benefits for the position include phone, travel, insurance, and such related to the responsibilities of this position.

In other unrelated matters on Monday’s agenda:

*No action was taken on implementing a burn ban.

*District Clerk Cheryl Jones received approval to appoint a replacement chief deputy.  According to Jones, Deputy Amanda Bundick took a position with Judge Sam Moss in the County Court at Law and will be replaced by Audrey Ward, effective February 1, 2015.

*Becky Caffey, Jail Administrator received approval of the maintenance agreement for the Morpho Trust USA Lifescan equipment.  Caffey also reported that the jail count was 177 as of Monday morning.

*The Brown County Sheriff’s office received approval of three employee changes.  Amanda Cardenas will replaced jailer Lisa Jowers; Shade Tidwell will be promoted, replacing Sgt. James Stroope who was recently promoted to CID; Mr. Caffey will be retiring and will be replaced by Ronnie Bowman.

*T’Anna McClure, Indigent Health Care Coordinator, received approval of an amendment to the Integrated Prescription Management Contract.  According to McClure, this amendment incorporates administrative changes, which will upload into the system.

*Elections Administrator Suzy Young received approval of a resolution supporting Online Voter Registration.  Young stated that many counties with elections administrators across the state are approving such resolutions which will allow online registration as an option when registering to vote.  She explained that the process will require a Texas Driver’s License and the audit number which is on the back of each license, which she stated makes the process very secure as the records will be verified by Texas Department of Public Safety.

*Caffey reported to commissioners that the Brown County Jail passed its annual inspection.