The Hill County Commissioners Court heard from Sheriff Hunter Barnes about a public information portal that is expected to go live in Hill County in the coming weeks during a regular meeting held Tuesday, September 23.
Sheriff Barnes presented information about the SheriffApp, which Barnes said will be accessible from any smart phone and will allow the sheriff’s office to disseminate information to the public. It will also provide options for submitting tips to law enforcement.
Some of the features the app will offer are: a local most wanted list, a map and listing of local sex offenders, an active warrant listing, an inmate search for the county jail, commissary submissions for inmates, a local news digest, a staff directory, Amber Alerts, Silver Alerts, gun permitting, weather alerts and other information.
Barnes said that the sheriff’s office budget for the fiscal year beginning this month includes funds to pay for the first year of the app, which will be $7,000. Emergency Management will also chip in $1,000 to cover the cost. An initial fee of $7,000 will be necessary this first year to cover the setup and migration of the app and domain, and that fee will be covered through the sheriff’s office seizure funds account.
“The use of this app by the public will be unlike anything this county has ever used before,” Barnes wrote in his brief to commissioners. “There will be a large amount of information that is available to our citizens for the greatest of reasons — primarily for the sake of public safety.”
The sheriff said many sheriff’s offices in the United States are now using SheriffApp and review it highly.
“This app could forever change how the sheriff’s office is able to give our citizens an up-to-the-minute service when it comes to all services pertaining to public safety, information, press release information, inmate services and social media,” said Barnes.
Commissioners approved the contract with SheriffApp after incorporating minor changes requested by County Attorney David Holmes.
In other agenda items related to the sheriff’s office, commissioners tabled a discussion about the purchase of vehicles for the department, but they were in favor of moving forward with the purchases. The sheriff’s office previously presented information to the court about its plan to use an estimated $750,000 to $800,000 in funds left over from the fiscal year ending in September to purchase vehicles outright, eliminating the interest payments that the office has had in the past on lease-purchase agreements.
The plan is to purchase a fleet of Ford F-150 trucks. A few other county departments can make use of the Chevy Tahoes the department currently owns, and remaining units can be sold. The sheriff said that some local volunteer fire departments had also expressed interest in purchasing Tahoes.
The item was tabled until this week’s special meeting so the court can vote on the exact amounts and number of vehicles, which were expected to be available as the fiscal year came to a close.
Chief Deputy Tim Westmoreland presented a request to commissioners to amend the sheriff’s office’s career advancement plan (CAP) policy. He said that he believes there is a better way to handle the policy that will help the department recruit and retain employees. He explained that the existing policy is not in line with what other area departments are doing and makes it difficult for employees to move up in their careers.
Under the current policy, it can take two to three years for deputies, jailers and dispatchers to advance from step to step in the payscale. The proposal would change the policy so that employees increase a step each year until they reach their fourth year and top out. At that point, their pay would only increase through cost-of-living adjustments or promotions.
No additional funding would be needed for the change in the current year’s budget, as everyone’s “day one” would start this October.
After discussion, the court opted to table the item because the issue may need to be addressed in county-wide payscale conversations involving other departments.
Commissioners also approved the sheriff’s office’s contract with AXON Systems for fleet cameras, body cameras and cloud storage. Sheriff Barnes said that after taking office, he realized that the sheriff’s office was inundated with billing from AXON in a sporadic fashion, and there was insufficient funding in the existing budget to pay for services already in place. “After receiving multiple unknown invoices from AXON, we felt there was a better way of doing business,” the sheriff wrote in his brief to the court.
The sheriff said he found that there was no existing contract with AXON on file in the county clerk’s office, and considering the high costs associated with the services, he felt this was a problem and a comprehensive contract needed to be in place.
After working with AXON, the sheriff worked a deal to centralize billing for AXON services. The department will receive one invoice for services at the beginning of each year, and five separate contracts signed by the previous administration will become null and void.
AXON expenses were funded by the court in the county budget, and commissioners voted to approve the contract.
The court conducted a public hearing on a proposal to place a yield sign at HCR 3100 and Stadium Drive in Hillsboro. Hillsboro ISD Director of Operations Raymond Nors spoke during the public hearing about the importance of following federal and state guidelines and submitted recommendations from the Texas Department of Transportation. After discussion, the court voted to install a stop sign at the intersection.
In other action, commissioners approved amendments to the county’s tax abatement guidelines. County Judge Shane Brassell said that the changes will incorporate other industries that may come to Hill County other than wind and solar projects, and they update the process for seeking a tax abatement.
The court voted to appoint Sheriff Barnes to the Behavioral Health Network Board of Trustees. Brassell said that the board asked for a Hill County representative, and having the sheriff on board would be a benefit to the county.
Commissioners voted to purchase two used Ford F-150s from Hillsboro Ford, one for the new development services office and another for the county’s maintenance department. The Precinct 3 constable’s office was also authorized to trade in a Dodge truck and purchase a new truck.
Commissioners convened in executive session to discuss economic development. No action was taken when open session resumed.
The court was expected to meet in a special session Tuesday, September 30, and the next regular court date is Tuesday, October 14, at 8:30 a.m. in the Hill County Courtroom of the courthouse.
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