New fees possible in JP Court

Justice of the Peace Stacy Spurlock brought forward the possibility of additional fees being charged to file a case in her court to commissioners during their Aug. 10 meeting.

Other counties have gone up on their filings anywhere from $1 to $20 per case in recent months. With the possibility of many credit card fraud cases coming in upcoming months. Spurlock is still charging $46 for civil cases in her court with county court charging $230. No action was taken.

In other news, an amendment to the present budget to purchase an additional vehicle for the Sheriff’s Department. County Judge keith Umphress said the discussion on the Sheriff’s fleet being rotated out had been discussed with two new vehicles coming in every year. The department does have a surplus in its budget for that purpose.

The department will now be taking delivery of its two vehicles by the middle of October. The newest vehicle is costing $30,258 plus the addition of a radio and lights for a cost of between $33,000 and $34,000, Spurlock said.

The county will be receiving around $905,346 in final CTIF monies for grant monies due to recent flooding. The county is expected to hire a second assistant county auditor to maintain just the CTIF funds in its 2020-21 budget.

Elections Administrator Lynn Casteel told the court Early voting will begin Oct. 13 for the Nov. 3 election with polling locations remaining the same as previous. There will be a Saturday voting which has not been determined. Voting from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. will take place on election day and the first day of early voting.