[1:58] e

[8:24] 8ye old was going down the and I'm like

[8:28] man I can't do

[8:30] the youngest one speed it's fast that's

[8:33] cool man you say happy new year happy

[8:36] New Year H where's the rest of our crew

[8:38] here oh they'll be around he's

[8:46] [Music]

[8:48] [Applause]

[8:51] [Music]

[8:58] here

[9:02] [Music]

[9:27] all

[9:28] right

[9:29] [Music]

[9:35] I got

[9:37] see oh that's shiny

[9:40] new I saw

[9:42] it good morning welcome to the first

[9:45] tarant County Commissioner Court meeting

[9:47] of 2024 Happy New Year to everyone I

[9:50] will now call the meeting to order T Mo

[9:52] County Judge present Roy Charles Brooks

[9:55] commissioner Precinct one present Alisa

[9:57] Simmons commissioner Precinct

[9:59] here Gary F commissioner Precinct 3 here

[10:03] Manny Ramirez commissioner Precinct 4

[10:06] here thank you so for today's invocation

[10:09] we have a special guest that I thought

[10:10] would be nice to have come uh lead us in

[10:13] our first prayer of the year a South

[10:15] Lake resident and UT quarterback the

[10:18] number three ranked Texas Longhorns

[10:20] quarterback Quinn ERS Quinn come up do

[10:22] the invocation for

[10:28] us

[10:30] [Music]

[10:32] all right everybody please bow your

[10:35] heads Heavenly Father Lord we just thank

[10:37] you for waking us up this morning Lord

[10:39] thank you for getting us here safely

[10:41] Lord thank you for waking us up with

[10:42] breath in our lungs Heavenly

[10:44] Father Lord we pray that you just be

[10:46] with the families um that were in the

[10:49] explosion yesterday here in our own

[10:51] County Lord Lord we ask that you open

[10:54] our hearts and fill our minds with your

[10:56] truth Lord Lord help us to understand

[10:58] the truth true meaning of what it means

[11:00] to be a Christ follower Lord it says in

[11:03] Joshua 1:9 have I not commanded you be

[11:06] strong be courageous for the Lord your

[11:08] God is with you wherever you go Lord so

[11:11] I ask that you just help us understand

[11:13] the true meaning of that verse that you

[11:15] truly are with us wherever we go Lord we

[11:18] love you and we thank you for everything

[11:19] that you do and everything that you will

[11:21] continue to do for us it's in Jesus's

[11:23] mighty name I pray amen amen thank you

[11:26] please join me for the Pledge of

[11:28] Allegiance I pledge Al to the flag of

[11:32] the United States of America and to the

[11:35] for it stands Nation God indivisible

[11:40] withy and justice for all and now the

[11:43] Texas

[11:45] flag

[11:53] St thank you you may be

[11:55] seated thank you Quinn for coming this

[11:58] morning uh Quinn is a resident of south

[12:01] lake like me uh obviously the

[12:03] quarterback at Texas and this morning uh

[12:06] the final rankings were released and

[12:08] Texas came in at number three so

[12:09] congratulations again to you for

[12:14] that he represents tarant County

[12:18] well all right do we have any agenda

[12:20] announcements Mr Merritt yes sir good

[12:22] morning Court members and Happy New

[12:24] yeary New Year couple of quick

[12:26] announcements uh we have several items

[12:28] that have been pulled from the consent

[12:29] agenda the first one is number

[12:35] a12 the next one is

[12:40] E3

[12:42] [Music]

[12:45] F3

[12:49] G2 and in your red folders you should

[12:51] have an updated Court communication for

[12:54] j6 in the purchasing section that's all

[12:56] we have

[12:57] sir a12 D3 F3 G2 and j6 j6 wasn't pulled

[13:04] you just have an updated Court got j6

[13:08] remains a12 D3 F3 G2 is it D3 or E

[13:12] Edward E Edward E E3 my mistake yeah

[13:17] E3 f is and Frank Three G is and girl

[13:20] two all right do we have any

[13:22] Commissioners Court

[13:25] announcements I do okay um on January

[13:30] 18th we are having a town hall meeting

[13:34] it's our first town hall meeting over in

[13:36] Precinct 2 everybody is welcome uh it is

[13:40] entitled state of the tarant county jail

[13:44] and our very own Sheriff uh wver will be

[13:47] on the panel uh along with others so I

[13:50] think it starts at

[13:53] 6:30 gate 5:30 5:30 on uh January 18th

[14:00] so everybody's welcome to come

[14:04] over um on February the 9th we'll have

[14:08] our I believe our 14th

[14:11] annual um transportation Summit it'll be

[14:16] at the um first convention center and

[14:21] start at 8 in the morning and go till

[14:24] about uh 1:30 and we have a

[14:29] are have kind of a unique speaking group

[14:34] we have a team of U Ross pero

[14:38] Jr speaking with the president Lori the

[14:43] president of the Federal

[14:46] Reserve

[14:47] um Lori what's her last

[14:50] [Music]

[14:53] name sorry yes you what is it on the U

[14:58] laor Logan Lor Logan CEO of the D

[15:02] Reserve she's the CEO and president of

[15:05] the Federal

[15:06] Reserve

[15:08] so very excited about uh that team

[15:14] and I think it's going to be a a great

[15:20] day excellent uh as you all know Stock

[15:22] Show season is here and um tent County

[15:25] CR for this year we're partnering with

[15:27] the for wor Stock Show Rodeo on January

[15:30] 29th it's Monday for the Taran County

[15:33] salutes veterans event it'll the stock

[15:35] show is providing free entry uh to all

[15:37] veterans that day and we're going to

[15:39] have an expo there with um you know

[15:42] hundreds of vendors that will provide

[15:44] valuable services to our Taran County

[15:45] veterans so please come out at noon uh

[15:48] it'll be from noon to about 5 or 6

[15:50] depending on what what volume we have

[15:52] we'll have Medal of Honor recipients it

[15:55] it'll be a really great event so looking

[15:57] forward to January 29th please come out

[16:00] all right so everybody knows about the

[16:02] gas explosion by now there were 21 total

[16:05] people injured one critically that one

[16:08] that was injured critically was

[16:09] stabilized at

[16:11] JPS and uh then air flighted to Parkland

[16:15] uh and they're being treated at Parkland

[16:16] currently fortunately and miraculously

[16:19] um no casualties nobody died in this and

[16:23] uh yesterday we sent everybody home in

[16:27] County buildings down down town just out

[16:29] of an abundance of caution at around 415

[16:33] 420 uh but they're still working in the

[16:36] area and still trying to make clean it

[16:39] up and do a lot of things so please

[16:41] remember to uh pray for uh those who

[16:44] were injured and their families uh y'all

[16:47] may remember last meeting I think it was

[16:50] I had talked about uh how Maricopa

[16:52] County came and donated a ton of eggs to

[16:56] uh the tan area Food Bank as a result of

[16:59] the World Series bet we made where where

[17:01] we fortunately won uh they've invited me

[17:04] they're going to actually do the same

[17:05] donation to a food bank in

[17:08] Phoenix uh this Thursday they've invited

[17:11] me and uh the terrant area Food Bank

[17:15] executive director so the two of us are

[17:16] going down there paid for by campaign

[17:18] funds I might add uh but we're going

[17:21] down there on Thursday so we'll be

[17:23] representing Taran County and Maricopa

[17:24] County for that and if you didn't see

[17:27] someone vandalized two nights ago the

[17:31] Old Courthouse across the street so take

[17:34] a look at the video if you have any

[17:35] information on who that may be please

[17:37] contact the tent County Sheriff's Office

[17:39] so we can uh give that person an all

[17:42] expenses paid trip to the County Jail uh

[17:45] next up we have approval of the minutes

[17:48] do we have any motions Corrections or

[17:50] any comments on the minutes for appr

[17:53] second all right we have a motion to

[17:54] approve the minutes and a second any

[17:56] discussion there

[18:00] all right please cast your

[18:11] vote all right passes unanimously next

[18:14] up uh we have our proclamations

[18:17] resolutions and presentations section

[18:20] the uh first one is our

[18:23] employee dear Heavens where did that go

[18:27] our employee

[18:29] recognition and I would like to say um

[18:33] to all of our employees we greatly

[18:35] appreciate you we would appreciate you

[18:38] even more if I had the list of all the

[18:40] people that I was supposed to

[18:43] recognize and I will find that here

[18:47] shortly uh let's start with our

[18:49] five-year employees I'm going to call

[18:51] your name and ask you to stand so we can

[18:53] recognize you all at once uh Tamara

[18:57] Alden Mark

[19:00] adaberry Abu Baba Wendy

[19:03] [Music]

[19:06] Buress judge Jason

[19:09] shanet Annette

[19:11] Coniglio

[19:13] Judy

[19:15] doy Matthew

[19:19] Duffy Janet

[19:22] farmer Deborah

[19:24] Flores Cindy

[19:27] Grisham a ail

[19:29] [Applause]

[19:31] Hanks Kevin

[19:34] Higgins Matthew

[19:36] HOSA meline

[19:39] Jones Jeffrey

[19:42] kiter Judge Alex

[19:45] Kim Christopher

[19:48] lroy Iman

[19:50] nachawati Joshua nice

[19:53] wonderer judge Kenneth

[19:55] nle Brian Ray

[19:58] Abraham

[20:00] Sanchez judge Kenneth

[20:04] Sanders Derek

[20:05] [Music]

[20:07] Sutter Tamara

[20:10] sord Christine

[20:12] Torres Danielle wesac who help me out

[20:17] there

[20:18] Danielle uh and Stephanie zanino those

[20:21] are all of our fiveyear employees thank

[20:23] you all very

[20:27] much

[20:32] uh now for our 10year

[20:36] employees we

[20:39] have Patrick

[20:41] Bernett Lila

[20:46] Delgado Rebecca

[20:49] Gutierrez Pamela

[20:52] Maples Shayla

[20:53] [Music]

[20:56] Moses Patrick n

[20:58] [Music]

[21:00] Christine neevis

[21:02] Medina

[21:03] [Music]

[21:05] Prana py

[21:08] p and Larry

[21:12] Vermilion thank you all very much for

[21:21] your all

[21:24] [Music]

[21:27] right do does this mean we do not have

[21:29] any 15-year employees today okay we have

[21:33] one I don't have that in our none of us

[21:35] have that in our court

[21:37] [Music]

[21:38] notes 15 that's 15 all right we're going

[21:41] to we're going to find you can y'all

[21:42] find me a list of the 15 20s 25

[21:47] oh okay here we go all right here we

[21:51] are thank you Andy 15year employees

[21:54] Michael

[21:55] Barnett Delila Crow

[22:02] Domingo

[22:03] Garza Calvin

[22:05] Jennings Allan

[22:08] Ludwick Eric metf Eric

[22:16] metf Isaac

[22:19] Sano ad doph Taylor Jr and judge Melody

[22:24] Wilkinson thank you all for

[22:26] your

[22:32] Eric you don't like you you don't look

[22:33] like you returned 15 kicks for

[22:36] touchdowns on the NFL

[22:38] so I was in high school he okay

[22:41] excellent means he's younger than me I'm

[22:44] getting old all right so our 20-year

[22:47] employees we only have three today

[22:49] Kathleen

[22:51] gon Carol

[22:52] [Music]

[22:54] laddins and Wesley

[22:56] Lowden

[23:05] thank you all for 20

[23:08] years now we have some 25y year

[23:11] employees and yall may know that what we

[23:14] normally

[23:15] do for our 25 year employees and 30 and

[23:19] 35 and 40 if we have any in this time

[23:21] and Bas we have two normally we invite

[23:24] them to our office uh sit down meet with

[23:26] them because of the holidays and

[23:28] vacations and things we did not do that

[23:30] for January but for anyone who is

[23:33] interested in coming by and meeting and

[23:35] visiting and talking tell me what's

[23:36] going on in the county or just getting

[23:38] to know me and so I can get to know you

[23:40] you are welcome to come by this month uh

[23:43] we do have some uh some folks here quite

[23:46] a few from for 25 years and we have some

[23:48] information on them so first is uh El

[23:52] morce

[23:56] May

[23:58] [Applause]

[24:00] she was born in Fort Worth went to

[24:02] Terell high school has two kids she

[24:06] loves to shop and especially at retail

[24:09] stores um loves to travel and visit

[24:12] other

[24:13] states her most memorable moment was

[24:16] when she received her 25 year award here

[24:19] at the county and that's right now so

[24:20] you're you're all

[24:22] [Applause]

[24:24] part and she loves going out to eat with

[24:27] family and friends so thank you very

[24:29] much for your 25 years we appreciate

[24:34] you next we have Susan strange Susan

[24:38] here with

[24:39] us okay Susan has also been with us 25

[24:42] years uh she is the Repro Graphics

[24:46] manager she was born in conquered

[24:48] California went to high school in

[24:50] California went to college at tarant

[24:52] County junior college she has one

[24:54] son um as a child she collected arroe

[24:58] heads and rattlesnake buttons that's a

[25:00] fact no one knows about her two facts um

[25:03] for fun she loves gardening and shooting

[25:06] Firearms other job titles she's had with

[25:09] the county she's had several she's been

[25:10] Graphics assistant to what she is now

[25:12] Reaper Graphics manager but all have

[25:14] been with Facilities Management her most

[25:16] memorable moment uh she remembers the

[25:20] flood the snakes the exploding toilet

[25:23] and Roger the raccoon that was stuck in

[25:25] our

[25:26] ceiling and what she likes the most she

[25:28] said she is blessed to work with a great

[25:30] graphics and printing team and thankful

[25:31] for the support that they have all had

[25:34] throughout the years so thank you Susan

[25:36] we appreciate you for 25

[25:42] years next we have Eric Martinez Eric

[25:45] are you with us there we go hi Eric how

[25:47] are you welcome uh he is a lieutenant

[25:49] over the combined narcotics enforcement

[25:52] team and the SWAT Commander for the tant

[25:54] county sheriff's office SWAT team so

[25:55] thank you for that uh born in Fort Worth

[25:58] graduated from Boswell High School um

[26:01] has three children one son two daughters

[26:04] here's some facts that no one um knows

[26:08] about him he was originally hired as a

[26:10] clerk and was assigned to be Captain Dan

[26:12] West secretary at the Green Bay

[26:15] facility um he is the first and only one

[26:18] in his family who is in law

[26:20] enforcement what he likes to do for fun

[26:22] he loves to play golf he enjoys

[26:24] traveling to new

[26:26] destinations uh when he can and when he

[26:28] has the money uh when the weather is

[26:30] right he loves to bass fish and he loves

[26:33] pretty much anything outdoors he has had

[26:36] a host of job titles with the county uh

[26:39] Clerk and confinement Jailer release

[26:41] desk Deputy Patrol Deputy SWAT operator

[26:44] narcotics detective emissions

[26:46] enforcement task force investigator

[26:49] Patrol Sergeant criminal investigations

[26:51] division Sergeant CID Lieutenant Patrol

[26:54] Lieutenant Patrol administrative

[26:56] Lieutenant CET lieutenant and SWAT

[26:58] Commander pretty remarkable um his most

[27:01] memorable moment there's so many to talk

[27:03] about but he was given a small tip uh

[27:06] about a drug situation on an individual

[27:08] that suspected of Distributing bulk

[27:10] marijuana as a result they developed

[27:12] probable cause and executed a search

[27:14] warrant on his residents yielding over

[27:16] 600 lbs of marijuana and significant

[27:18] amounts of US

[27:20] currency um this was at the time the

[27:22] largest marijuana seizure in the

[27:24] narcotic unit's history there was a

[27:26] media release that aired before he could

[27:28] get home that day and as he walked in

[27:29] the door his oldest daughter called him

[27:31] the Dooby king after seeing it on the

[27:35] news he would later receive the

[27:37] commodation bar service award for this

[27:40] investigation quite a memory I'm sure

[27:42] what he likes the most is being a part

[27:45] of leadership and supporting the tarant

[27:46] county sheriff's office team members as

[27:48] they grow on their career paths and he

[27:50] loves to mentor and pass on all that he

[27:53] has learned uh thank you very much for

[27:56] your 25 years we appreciate

[28:05] next we have Michael

[28:07] Ford how are you sir good good thank you

[28:10] for being here he was born in Fort Worth

[28:12] 25 years with us went to Western Hills

[28:15] High School has one daughter this is

[28:18] pretty cool a fact no one knows about

[28:20] him his grandfather wrote the song Walts

[28:22] across Texas that's pretty cool uh what

[28:25] does he like to do for fun gol and

[28:27] saltwater fishing um other job titles

[28:31] he's had he started with the jail when

[28:33] he was 19 years old since then he's had

[28:36] various assignments in the Patrol

[28:38] Division Narcotics Division warrant

[28:39] division judicial division uh EF task

[28:43] force and the criminal investigations

[28:45] division his most memorable moment he

[28:48] once watched a 16-year-old kid back his

[28:50] father's new truck and boat trailer into

[28:52] Ben Brook Lake he forgot to put it in

[28:55] park before getting out and he bet he

[28:57] has hasn't made the same mistake

[28:59] twice um what he likes most is having uh

[29:03] the privilege to help people when they

[29:04] need the help the most uh thank you for

[29:07] 25 years Deputy 4 we appreciate

[29:14] you next we have Tracy

[29:16] Kirby is Tracy with

[29:19] us okay so Tracy is a Corporal and

[29:22] instructor born in Fort Worth went to

[29:25] Northside High School has five kids four

[29:27] girls and a

[29:29] boy so maybe there's hope for me and uh

[29:34] fact no one knows about him oh this is

[29:35] really cool uh he's been to 17 of the 32

[29:40] NFL stadiums I got to correct him

[29:42] there's 30 NFL stadiums because two

[29:44] teams share stadiums but he wants to

[29:47] visit all of them I I I want to do the

[29:50] same thing I've been I went to my 18th

[29:51] this year the Buffalo one uh very cool

[29:54] we're going to have to talk about that

[29:56] uh what what does he like to do for fun

[29:58] he enjoys cooking and training in

[30:00] Brazilian jiu-jitsu other job titles

[30:02] he's had with the county he started off

[30:04] as a tech one in the jail in 1999

[30:06] because he wasn't old enough to be a

[30:08] detention officer um he's been a

[30:10] background investigator a security

[30:12] control specialist he was promoted to

[30:14] senior specialist Corporal in the first

[30:16] group when the position was restructured

[30:18] uh working in booking for 15 years he

[30:20] moved over to housing as a floor super

[30:22] supervisor and he's currently the

[30:24] primary instructor for the jail Academy

[30:28] um Tracy I'm sorry well Tracy is a

[30:32] female Tracy's not here so not he she

[30:35] and she became the first female Hispanic

[30:37] instructor for the Sheriff's Office and

[30:40] what she likes the most is traveling and

[30:42] getting to experience different cultures

[30:44] and Cuisines Deputy Kirby thank you very

[30:47] much for your service for 25 years we

[30:49] appreciate you wherever you

[30:56] are all right next we have Michelle

[30:58] Sanders also with us 25 years she is a

[31:02] legal assistant with the mental health

[31:04] unit is Michelle

[31:06] here oh hi there did you think you were

[31:09] going to get away with not being

[31:10] standing up there all right she was born

[31:13] at Carswell Air Force based Hospital in

[31:15] Fort Worth I went to Polytech uh went to

[31:19] college at Taran County College and

[31:21] UTA uh has three kids two sons one

[31:24] daughter uh this is pretty cool a fact

[31:27] that no one knows about her she was a

[31:29] preey and weighed 2 lbs when she was

[31:32] born so pretty cool uh what does she

[31:35] like to do for fun shop till I drop then

[31:39] crawl fishing singing and spending time

[31:43] with family she has been a supervision

[31:46] clerk with cscd an Associate clerk with

[31:49] the District Clerk's Office a legal

[31:51] secretary with the DA's office and

[31:54] mental health coordinator with the DA's

[31:56] office her most memorable uh moment

[32:00] showing up to work on a scheduled off

[32:02] day and working with her son Demarcus

[32:05] and daughter cristani for years while

[32:07] working with the county What She Likes

[32:10] most meeting some very nice people

[32:12] making friends along the way and she

[32:14] gets to retire to enjoy the backside of

[32:16] her life with the husband of her youth

[32:18] while she can still recognize

[32:20] him so thank you Michelle for 25

[32:26] years

[32:30] next we have Carl Cole is Carl with us

[32:34] hello Carl are you uh he is micro

[32:37] Imaging scanner operator also born in

[32:40] Fort Worth we got a run of Fort Worth

[32:42] folks today uh Brewer high school went

[32:45] to college at un was it un when you went

[32:49] yes sir okay all right um fact no one

[32:51] know oh this is cool in fact no one

[32:53] knows about him he is a Hall of Fame

[32:56] member

[32:58] of the 1989 football team from Brewer

[33:01] High School very cool what did you play

[33:03] I play defensive tackle excellent all

[33:05] right what does he like to do for fun

[33:07] read history and military books his most

[33:10] memorable moment he participated in the

[33:12] 2015 Jingle Bell run as a member of the

[33:14] county clerk's office he was stretching

[33:16] getting gear ready doing all that that

[33:18] you do and got a tap uh on the shoulder

[33:21] from Mary Louise um that told him he had

[33:25] just missed the start of the event

[33:28] oh but he was Lumber uh what he likes

[33:32] the most is to find humor in everyday

[33:34] occurrences Carl thank you very much for

[33:36] 25 years we appreciate

[33:44] you next we have another 25 years Dr

[33:48] Evette Windgate it's Dr Windgate here

[33:50] hello there uh she is a Community Health

[33:53] Equity and inclusion division manager

[33:56] she was was born in Austin Texas uh her

[33:59] High School St St Stevens Episcopal and

[34:01] laner high school she went to college at

[34:05] the University of Texas at Arlington

[34:07] where she has degrees a master of public

[34:09] administration Bachelor of Arts and

[34:11] sociology and Bachelor of Arts in

[34:12] criminal justice and

[34:14] criminology she also went to Dallas

[34:16] Baptist where she got a doctor of

[34:18] education and educational leadership

[34:20] which means she is probably the smartest

[34:22] person in this room uh she has two uh

[34:26] children to adult boys and her oldest

[34:29] son is a former student athlete at UTA

[34:32] her youngest son is a junior at Houston

[34:35] tilletson University and a published

[34:37] poet which I bet you're proud of them uh

[34:40] fact no one knows about you I can see

[34:42] this this pretty cool she trained in the

[34:44] long jump to compete in the 1994

[34:46] Olympics pretty

[34:54] cool what does she like to do for fun

[34:56] game night with her sons she has had

[34:59] other titles with the county health

[35:00] educator health education coordinator

[35:02] senior policy analyst and Health Equity

[35:05] coordinator and her most memorable

[35:10] moment she managed an award-winning

[35:12] nationally recognized program for teens

[35:14] for 15 of its 20 years of existence teen

[35:17] video Fest um the youth were exposed to

[35:20] various aspects of Public Health

[35:21] Community Based organizations and the

[35:23] professional world of video production

[35:26] uh there was a competition those who

[35:27] competed had to identify a health

[35:29] problem a solution and share health

[35:30] statistics along with resources one of

[35:32] those years she hosted a show on the

[35:34] Fort Worth cable channel to highlight

[35:35] the winners one of the categories was

[35:37] physical health and a team of two young

[35:39] men were the winners one of them was

[35:40] overweight and he told me that he was

[35:42] glad that his teacher made his class

[35:43] participate in teen video Fest he said

[35:46] that because of what he learned while

[35:47] doing the research creating the video he

[35:48] decided to eat healthier and exercise

[35:50] regularly he stated he understood the

[35:52] importance of how this decision will

[35:53] impact the health of future generations

[35:54] and his family pretty cool uh what she

[35:57] likes the most is being a servant leader

[35:58] and being able to meet people where they

[36:00] are able to improve their quality of

[36:01] life Dr Windgate thank you for your 25

[36:10] years all right next we move to 30 years

[36:14] Bobby D Harden

[36:18] Jr good afternoon sir 30 years good

[36:20] morning it is birthplace Pasadena

[36:23] California home of the Rose Bowl um went

[36:26] to South Grand Prairie High School uh

[36:28] went to uh college at UTA also has two

[36:32] kids both daughters and uh they both

[36:37] this last year had babies so they became

[36:39] grandparents two times uh this uh past

[36:42] year in fact no one knows about him

[36:44] everyone knows everything about me that

[36:46] I want them to know I like it that's a

[36:48] good answer you been my office you

[36:51] wouldn't have gotten away with that but

[36:52] you're okay uh what do you like to do

[36:54] for fun golf camping fishing in hunting

[36:57] watch old western movies and work on

[36:59] projects around the house what's your

[37:01] favorite old western

[37:03] movie Jud Big Jake yep that's a good one

[37:07] have you been to the John Wayne Museum

[37:09] you should check it out it's very cool

[37:11] uh what other job titles has he had with

[37:12] the County Deputy field training officer

[37:15] instructor judges Bay and tcla president

[37:18] his most memorable moment as tcla

[37:22] president killing a bill that was going

[37:24] to alter tcdrs and our retirement

[37:27] and what he likes the most besides the

[37:29] people he works with having the

[37:32] opportunity to do something significant

[37:34] each and every day so thank you very

[37:36] much Deputy Harden for 30 years we

[37:39] appreciate

[37:45] you Captain Harden Captain Harden all

[37:49] right Floyd Heckman Jr is Floyd

[37:52] here all

[37:55] right Floyd has been with us 35 years so

[38:00] thank you for

[38:02] that he was born in Easton Pennsylvania

[38:05] for the baseball players out there yes

[38:07] that is where the baseball bats come

[38:09] from he went to Joshua High School uh he

[38:12] got a Bachelor's degree and a master's

[38:14] degree from Lamar University he has five

[38:17] kids adopted four of them and he's been

[38:20] married for 32 years very

[38:23] [Applause]

[38:25] coolow

[38:27] fact no one knows about him he's a huge

[38:29] fan of Rush what's your favorite Rush

[38:33] song that's mine too all right good what

[38:35] does he like to do for fun family he

[38:37] just loves spending time with his family

[38:39] doing things for his family um and he is

[38:42] a big advocate of anything that is uh

[38:45] helping autistic kids or adults anything

[38:49] autism related he's a big advocate for

[38:52] other job titles he's had with the

[38:53] county he's worked in the training

[38:55] academy started in the jail he's done

[38:56] Patrol he's done Internal Affairs he's

[38:59] done SWAT he's done undercover in

[39:01] Narcotics he's he's been all over the

[39:03] agency his most memorable

[39:06] moment uh he helped a lady find her kids

[39:12] who had been kidnapped and they had been

[39:14] gone over 2 and A2

[39:16] years um what yeah that's worth a round

[39:20] of

[39:25] applause

[39:27] and uh those two kids one of them is now

[39:30] a rocket

[39:32] scientist and one of them is a very

[39:34] successful businesswoman two two girls

[39:37] and he's he's followed them to see how

[39:39] they're doing which is pretty cool and

[39:41] then another very remember moment was an

[39:43] active shooter situation he was involved

[39:44] in something that I noticed about uh

[39:48] Captain Heckman is he really does have a

[39:50] heart of gold a heart of service he also

[39:53] served in the US Army thank you very

[39:55] much Floyd for 35 years with tant County

[39:58] We Appreciate

[40:05] You Now last year if I remember

[40:07] correctly we only had two people that

[40:11] this applied to I mean one person this

[40:13] applied to somebody that had been here

[40:15] 40 years and she worked in public health

[40:17] y'all may youall may know who she is

[40:20] today we have two people celebrating

[40:22] their 40th anniversary with tarant

[40:24] County which is unbelievable when you

[40:27] get right down to it so uh James where

[40:29] are you James

[40:33] Mich cor hello did I get that

[40:41] right I don't think you'll heard me 40

[40:50] years he is a bayth in County court at

[40:53] law number one born in cane Pennsylvania

[40:56] went to high school in Pennsylvania uh

[40:59] went to college at New Mexico State

[41:01] University uh University of Pennsylvania

[41:05] and University of Houston uh has one

[41:08] daughter and this even deserves a bigger

[41:10] round of applause this month he will

[41:13] have been married to his wife for 56

[41:23] years this is really cool a fact no one

[41:25] knows about him his final reenlistment

[41:28] in the US Air Force the oath of offic

[41:31] the oath of office was administered by

[41:33] an army officer which doesn't happen all

[41:35] that often but that officer was his

[41:37] daughter so very

[41:41] cool he loves to travel loves to fish

[41:45] loves sports other job titles he's had

[41:47] with the county started in

[41:49] Patrol um he's worked the release desk

[41:52] classification grievance and

[41:53] disciplinary bayth and then he's now

[41:56] he's he's a judge's bayth his most

[41:57] memorable moment um and not necessarily

[42:01] the most memorable but the most serious

[42:03] when an individual came into the

[42:04] courtroom and fatally shot an individual

[42:06] in judge Mills Court when he was there

[42:08] to testify on another issue I'm sure

[42:10] that's something you don't forget easily

[42:12] and stays with you forever um he just

[42:15] wanted to remind folks that shootings

[42:17] can happen do happen be on guard Be

[42:19] watchful what he likes the most tant

[42:22] county is a great place to work he has

[42:25] worked the last 13 years and nine days

[42:27] today for judge Don Pearson in County

[42:30] court at Law at the 1895 courthouse in

[42:33] his opinion it's the best Courthouse to

[42:34] work in in tarant county and best of all

[42:37] he works with a great group of people

[42:40] James thank you very much for 40

[42:51] years when uh I'm done with the next one

[42:54] I would like you James and our next one

[42:56] to come up to the podium so we can all

[42:58] take a picture with you that you get

[43:00] that after 40 years so you get that's an

[43:03] incentive to hang on another

[43:05] 15 all right our final one to recognize

[43:08] today 40 years an

[43:22] Diamond so she is an assistant district

[43:25] attorney in the Civil Division uh she

[43:28] was born in Illinois went to high school

[43:30] in Illinois went to college and law

[43:31] school at Illinois uh she got an MBA

[43:34] from UTA via the County's tuition

[43:37] reimbursement program and yes it has

[43:40] been useful on the job um no kids but

[43:43] blessed with multiple nieces nephews

[43:46] Grand nieces Grand nephews fact no one

[43:49] knows about her her brothers and an they

[43:53] spoke French as small children at home

[43:56] French was her mother's first language

[43:58] pretty cool her brothers and her

[44:01] promptly refused to speak French once

[44:03] they went to elementary school where all

[44:04] the other kids only spoke English and

[44:06] she has forgotten most of her

[44:08] French uh what she likes to do for fun

[44:11] hang out with friends and have great

[44:14] conversations uh other titles she has

[44:17] had with the county she has always been

[44:18] an assistant criminal district attorney

[44:20] 40 years that's very cool uh I won't put

[44:24] you on the spot and ask how much longer

[44:25] you're going to do it but I'm going to

[44:26] ask you privately cuz that's a that's a

[44:28] incredible run most memorable moment uh

[44:31] so many moments good and bad the one

[44:33] moment that has had the most instant

[44:35] lasting impact on her was a difficult

[44:36] one the 1992 fatal shooting in the old

[44:39] court of appeals courtroom and the Old

[44:41] Courthouse where a fellow uh criminal

[44:45] district attorney Chris Marshall and

[44:46] another lawyer died other people she

[44:48] knew were wounded that day forever

[44:50] changed her uh there have been great

[44:53] moments too but that day is the one that

[44:54] stands out the most

[44:56] uh what she likes the most two things

[44:58] the people she has worked with both at

[45:00] the cda's office and with other County

[45:02] offices are amazing as to the cda's

[45:05] office the Civil Division team members

[45:06] are some of the most talented attorneys

[45:07] and best human beings you will ever meet

[45:09] and it has been great working with them

[45:11] over these decades she truly appreciates

[45:14] the opportunity to continually learn new

[45:16] aspects of Law and apply that knowledge

[45:18] to resolve complex uh legal problems

[45:21] ideally without inadvertently creating a

[45:23] new problem and she says the County

[45:25] employee benefit are great never

[45:27] underestimate the importance of great

[45:29] employee benefits so an thank you so

[45:31] much for your 40

[45:42] years I will entertain a motion to

[45:44] receive and file the employee

[45:46] recognition so Mo second I have a motion

[45:49] in a second please cast your

[45:51] vote all right passes unanimously and

[45:54] Ann and James if you'll join us up front

[45:56] please let's take a picture with

[45:59] [Music]

[46:24] everybody ask for St

[46:54] about

[46:58] [Music]

[47:24] having

[47:33] [Music]

[47:47] you got

[47:54] picture

[48:05] [Music]

[48:24] for any employees that do not

[48:28] no I it's just

[48:32] [Music]

[48:54] unexpect

[48:59] [Music]

[49:24] in

[49:30] [Music]

[49:47] all right where are

[49:48] [Music]

[49:49] we that's

[49:51] right all right as we continue the

[49:54] meeting next up up on the agenda is a

[49:57] memorial resolution um this is presented

[50:00] by commissioner

[50:01] Simmons and uh commissioner Brooks this

[50:04] is a joint

[50:08] resolution um and before I turn it over

[50:11] to commissioner Brooks I um want to

[50:15] say that I had the opportunity to uh

[50:20] attend congresswoman Eddie Bernice

[50:23] Johnson's uh wake last

[50:26] evening

[50:27] and I had observed her service for

[50:33] decades um but there was a lot I did not

[50:36] know uh and so attending the Wake was uh

[50:40] very eye

[50:41] openening um and I first had the

[50:44] opportunity to work with her in

[50:46] 2015 uh we worked together to put a

[50:49] symposium together and um so I got to

[50:53] know her well then and I appreciate all

[50:56] that she has done uh the inspiration

[51:00] that she has been for me and others and

[51:03] so uh commissioner Brooks and I thought

[51:05] it would be fitting um for us to present

[51:09] a

[51:10] resolution uh in honor of her work and

[51:14] her life um so there you go thank you

[51:20] commissioner if I may read the

[51:23] resolution into the record

[51:27] Memorial

[51:28] resolution honoring The Life and

[51:32] Legacy of us

[51:35] congresswoman Eddie Bernice

[51:39] Johnson

[51:41] whereas Eddie Bernice Johnson a retired

[51:45] member of the United States House of

[51:49] Representatives was born December

[51:52] 3rd

[51:54] 1934 in wo

[51:57] Texas and whereas M Johnson during a

[52:02] time of segregation in the United States

[52:05] earned a nursing certificate at St

[52:08] Mary's College in

[52:12] 1955 and a Nursing degree at Texas

[52:16] Christian

[52:17] University in

[52:21] 1967 and whereas Miss Johnson began and

[52:25] her professional career in

[52:28] 1956 at the Dallas Veterans Affairs

[52:32] Medical Center in Dallas Texas and

[52:36] became the hospital's first

[52:39] africanamerican Chief psychiatric nurse

[52:43] and whereas Miss Johnson won a seat in

[52:48] the Texas House of Representatives in

[52:52] 1972 72 because becoming the first black

[52:56] woman in north Texas to be elected to

[53:00] public office and a seat in the Texas

[53:03] Senate in

[53:05] 1986 becoming the first AF

[53:08] africanamerican Texas Senator since

[53:13] reconstruction and whereas M Johnson was

[53:17] elected to the United States House of

[53:20] Representatives in

[53:23] 1992 becoming the first registered nurse

[53:27] to hold a seat in Congress and whereas

[53:31] during her esteemed tenure congresswoman

[53:35] Johnson became the first woman to chair

[53:39] the house committee on science space and

[53:44] technology and whereas congresswoman

[53:47] Johnson served on the house committee on

[53:51] transportation and

[53:52] infrastructure where she secured more

[53:55] than $1 billion doar in Appropriations

[54:00] for North

[54:01] Texas and whereas congresswoman Johnson

[54:05] represented Texas's 30th congressional

[54:09] district whose

[54:11] boundaries originally included parts of

[54:15] parent County for 30 years before

[54:19] retiring in January

[54:22] 2023 and whereas

[54:25] on December

[54:27] 31st

[54:30] 2023 congresswoman Johnson a Pioneer

[54:35] Trailblazer

[54:37] humanitarian and social justice Advocate

[54:42] died after her brief illness devastating

[54:46] her

[54:48] family constituents of her former

[54:51] district and peers and communities

[54:54] across acoss the United

[54:56] States now therefore be it

[55:00] resolved that we the Commissioners Court

[55:03] of Taran County do hereby honor The Life

[55:08] and Legacy of the gentle lady Eddie

[55:12] Bernice Johnson a strong and valued

[55:15] leader and call upon all citizens to

[55:20] celebrate her enduring achievements in

[55:23] public service

[55:25] in witness whereof we have here and to

[55:28] set our hands and caused the Seal of

[55:31] Taran County to be affixed this ninth

[55:35] day of January

[55:39] 2024 and just as an

[55:44] [Music]

[55:45] aside I have known Eddie Bernice Johnson

[55:49] since she was elected to the Texas

[55:53] legislature in 196

[55:58] 72 in her

[56:00] passing Texas has

[56:04] lost a valuable

[56:07] resource and through this

[56:11] resolution we extend our

[56:18] prayers to her family and to the very

[56:22] many people across District

[56:26] 30 and

[56:29] Texas

[56:30] for a a life well

[56:36] lived I move approval of acceptance of

[56:39] this resolution I'll second on the

[56:41] motion all right we have a motion in a

[56:43] second uh any discussion please cast

[56:47] your

[56:49] vote all right passes unanimously thank

[56:51] you for that our next resolution

[56:54] position is uh will be presented by

[56:57] commissioner Simmons thank

[57:00] you this is uh presented to the

[57:04] Arlington Martin Luther King Jr

[57:06] celebration committee

[57:08] Incorporated on its 35th

[57:12] Anniversary I do think we have folks

[57:15] here from that celebration committee

[57:18] let's see okay I see you Aaron and

[57:22] Pastor um Jo

[57:26] um so I'll read the resolution and I'll

[57:28] ask you to come up and uh we'll take

[57:30] some

[57:31] pictures whereas the Arlington Martin

[57:34] Luther King Jr celebration committee

[57:36] Incorporated was formed in

[57:39] 1989 when representatives from Arlington

[57:43] businesses faith-based group groups

[57:46] cultural and educational

[57:48] organizations joined to create a unique

[57:51] and special tribute to Dr King and to

[57:54] honor his dream and whereas the

[57:57] inaugural celebration was held in

[58:00] 1990 and featured three days of

[58:03] activities and attracted nearly 1,000

[58:07] participants and whereas 35 years later

[58:12] the celebration

[58:14] continues as a collaboration between the

[58:17] City of Arlington Arlington Independent

[58:19] School District University of Texas at

[58:22] Arlington tarant County College

[58:25] Southeast Campus and the Arlington

[58:28] Ministerial Association and has grown to

[58:31] serve more than 6,000 people and whereas

[58:37] since its Inception the MLK observances

[58:39] continue to evolve and now spans 4 days

[58:43] and includes the 2024

[58:47] MLK advancing the dream Gayla MLK step

[58:51] show and talent showcase MLK poetry

[58:55] meets Jazz MLK Hubert Moss acumenical

[59:00] service the zeev strong Jr MLK Day of

[59:03] Service ml MLK day of uh service

[59:07] Festival MLK youth

[59:10] Extravaganza and MLK historical timeline

[59:14] exhibit and whereas the celebration

[59:18] exemplifies Dr King's vision and purpose

[59:22] encouraging positive interactions and

[59:24] and character development while bringing

[59:27] all communities together to advance the

[59:30] American dream and there is no other

[59:34] event in the nation that honors Dr King

[59:37] the way Arlington the Arlington way and

[59:41] whereas the Arlington Dr Martin Luther

[59:43] King Jr celebration success is due to

[59:46] the committee's dedication to keeping Dr

[59:48] King's Vision alive and inspiring others

[59:51] to fulfill their dreams now therefore or

[59:54] be it resolved that we the

[59:56] Commissioner's Court of Taran County do

[59:58] hereby recognize and congratulate the

[1:00:01] Arlington Martin Luther King Jr

[1:00:03] celebration committee incorporated as

[1:00:06] they commemorate 35 years of preserving

[1:00:09] the legacy of Dr King and the

[1:00:11] significance of his inspiring work

[1:00:14] further we encourage all citizens to

[1:00:17] attend and enjoy the festivities of the

[1:00:21] 2024 Arlington advancing the dream

[1:00:24] celebration that begins this Friday

[1:00:27] January 12th

[1:00:29] 2024 in witness whereof we have here

[1:00:32] unto set our hands and cause the Seal of

[1:00:35] teren County to be affixed this 9th day

[1:00:39] of January

[1:00:41] 20124 all right uh I move approval of

[1:00:45] acceptance of this resolution all right

[1:00:48] we have a motion in a second to approve

[1:00:49] the resolution any discussion right

[1:00:52] please cast your

[1:00:53] vote all right passes unanimously okay

[1:00:56] picture

[1:00:57] time so we have let me see we

[1:01:02] have okay Dr Aon parales from Arlington

[1:01:06] Independent School District what's your

[1:01:07] title now Aon because you've been up up

[1:01:09] I'm the executive director of Engagement

[1:01:11] equity and access with Arlington I and I

[1:01:13] have the honor of serving as the chair

[1:01:15] of the celebration committee this year

[1:01:17] okay did you want to add anything just

[1:01:20] on behalf of the 4-day celebration

[1:01:21] committee I like to thank joj joare

[1:01:23] commissioner Simmons and and additional

[1:01:25] Commissioners for this resolution and

[1:01:27] recognition and do invite our tan County

[1:01:29] Community to come out and celebrate the

[1:01:31] life of Legacy with of Dr Mark Lu King

[1:01:33] with us this week okay thank you and we

[1:01:37] have Pastor Jones with us are you still

[1:01:39] president of the Arlington ministerial

[1:01:41] Alliance yes sir and president of the

[1:01:44] Arlington

[1:01:45] NAACP yes sir and uh you serve on this

[1:01:49] committee yes I do absolutely and are

[1:01:52] you over The ecumenical service on

[1:01:54] Sunday yes I am okay he's the speaker

[1:01:58] I'll be there and I'd like to invite all

[1:02:01] of you to come out for this occasion

[1:02:04] especially since it was uh been this is

[1:02:07] the 35th Anniversary and what we uh like

[1:02:10] to uh reflect on greatly in Arlington is

[1:02:14] that Dr King was a member of the clergy

[1:02:18] he started out as a Baptist preacher and

[1:02:21] so especially the uh am May the arm

[1:02:25] Ministry Association and engage all

[1:02:27] takes a special pride in this year's

[1:02:30] celebration and we' like to invite all

[1:02:32] of you out for The ecumenical services

[1:02:34] at Trinity United Methodist Church uh

[1:02:38] 5:30 on Sunday afternoon where all of

[1:02:41] you will be honored for being there

[1:02:43] thank you who's The Speaker uh the

[1:02:46] speaker is the uh Bishop of the north uh

[1:02:50] Texas and Central Conference of the

[1:02:52] United Methodist uh Church Dr Reuben

[1:02:55] signs

[1:02:56] okay all

[1:02:58] [Music]

[1:03:00] right we have

[1:03:14] [Music]

[1:03:22] two here the next

[1:03:27] [Music]

[1:03:28] I'm fixing after some of the stuff I

[1:03:31] can't read

[1:03:53] anymore

[1:04:00] all right thank you gentlemen for being

[1:04:02] here uh the next item on our agenda is a

[1:04:05] proclamation uh be presented by

[1:04:07] commissioner Ramirez yes thank you um

[1:04:09] with us to accept this Proclamation is

[1:04:11] Bishop Keith akan and father Rich stogin

[1:04:15] from the Anglican dases of forworth um

[1:04:18] this is a proclamation honoring the life

[1:04:20] and the legacy of Reverend Dr Martin

[1:04:21] Luther King Jr whereas the Life and

[1:04:24] Legacy of Reverend Dr Martin Luther King

[1:04:26] Jr has left an indelible mark on the

[1:04:29] fabric of our nation promoting Liberty

[1:04:31] Justice and unity and whereas Martin

[1:04:33] Luther King's iconic I Have a Dream

[1:04:35] speech continues to resonate inspiring

[1:04:38] generations to strive for a society

[1:04:40] built on Justice impartiality

[1:04:42] Brotherhood and instilled the wisdom

[1:04:44] that individuals shall be judged by the

[1:04:46] content of their character and whereas

[1:04:49] in recognition of his unparalleled

[1:04:50] contributions to civil rights and his

[1:04:53] tireless advocacy in

[1:04:55] 1983 President Ronald Reagan signed into

[1:04:57] law the designation of the third Monday

[1:04:59] in January as a Federal holiday in honor

[1:05:02] of Martin Luther King Jr's birthday and

[1:05:04] whereas in celebrating the birthday of

[1:05:07] Martin Luther King Jr we honor an

[1:05:08] American who recognized the great

[1:05:10] Injustice of segregation and

[1:05:12] discrimination and made his life's

[1:05:14] purpose to write these wrongs in favor

[1:05:17] of Freedom fairness and Reconciliation

[1:05:19] and whereas Dr King rejected violence

[1:05:22] relying instead on his eloquence and the

[1:05:24] moral force of his convictions changing

[1:05:26] not only laws but hearts and minds and

[1:05:29] whereas on January 15th

[1:05:32] 2024 the Anglican dases dasis of Fort

[1:05:35] Worth is hosting its inaugural mass for

[1:05:37] MLK at St Vincent's Anglican cathedral

[1:05:40] representing more than 10,000 members

[1:05:43] and whereas we encourage others to stand

[1:05:46] with the Anglican dicese of Fort Worth

[1:05:47] in remembering the words of Dr King the

[1:05:50] ultimate measure of a man is not where

[1:05:52] he stands in moments of comfort and

[1:05:53] convenience

[1:05:54] but where he stands at times of

[1:05:56] Challenge and controversy let us unite

[1:05:59] and be true to the American dream he

[1:06:00] loved and strived for and now therefore

[1:06:03] be it resolved that we the Commissioners

[1:06:05] Court of Taran County do here Bri

[1:06:08] Proclaim Monday January 15th 2024 is a

[1:06:11] day of reflection and Tribute to The

[1:06:14] Life and Legacy of Dr Reverend Reverend

[1:06:16] Dr Martin Luther King Jr in witness

[1:06:19] whereof we have here unto set our hands

[1:06:21] and caused the Seal of Taran County to

[1:06:22] be affixed this 9th day of January 2024

[1:06:25] i' move for

[1:06:27] approval all right we have a motion in a

[1:06:29] second any discussion here I please cast

[1:06:31] your

[1:06:33] vote passes unanimously father stogin um

[1:06:37] Bishop aeran if you would please come

[1:06:39] forward if you have anything to add to

[1:06:40] that I would love to hear some

[1:06:43] words first of all thank you judge

[1:06:45] O'Hare County Commissioners and

[1:06:46] particularly this morning commissioner

[1:06:47] raris uh the bishop has asked me to say

[1:06:50] a few words before he renders a a

[1:06:52] blessing and words of appreciation as a

[1:06:56] uh

[1:06:57] 22y old who had come who was born in

[1:07:00] Texas and had gone to University of

[1:07:02] Wisconsin River Falls matriculated to

[1:07:04] the gam Theological Seminary in all in

[1:07:07] um Atlanta Georgia I went to 334 Aubin

[1:07:11] Avenue and there I met the third

[1:07:13] President of thec the Southern Christian

[1:07:16] leadership conference who was a founder

[1:07:18] of that organization he invited me

[1:07:20] eventually to his office and I didn't

[1:07:22] realize in the beginning but then as I

[1:07:24] sat there I saw several books I saw

[1:07:28] several shelves but the chair was

[1:07:31] different and so were the some of the

[1:07:32] photos it was the office of Martin

[1:07:35] Luther King Jr and I worked for them as

[1:07:37] an undercover operative forc while in

[1:07:41] seminary and then moved to kesco

[1:07:43] Mississippi where I lived across the

[1:07:45] street my family and I at the time from

[1:07:48] the Grand Dragon of the cuas clan and I

[1:07:50] called upon SCC and Dr low and a team to

[1:07:54] help us with some of the issues that we

[1:07:55] were doing and as a Baptist educated

[1:07:58] Minister that he was and I never met Dr

[1:08:00] King but I met his father I met his

[1:08:02] widow I met his children I met his

[1:08:05] nieces and nephews and I met Julian bun

[1:08:08] I met those people and they were very

[1:08:10] interesting commissioner rarez as you

[1:08:12] read so eloquently about moral standards

[1:08:17] and about being about family and about

[1:08:19] Justice for All Americans and so this

[1:08:22] this morning on this very glorious day I

[1:08:24] wanted to share those quick stories with

[1:08:26] you to let you know that I had a

[1:08:28] personal interest and a personal

[1:08:30] involvement and they taught me about the

[1:08:32] necessity of having moral standards and

[1:08:35] not being uh people who were pickle but

[1:08:39] people who stood in moral situations

[1:08:42] that are not always easy as we witness

[1:08:45] sometimes in our County and so with that

[1:08:48] I want to thank you all for rendering us

[1:08:50] the opportunity to breathe This

[1:08:52] Magnificent um

[1:08:54] uh Proclamation and I want to thank the

[1:08:56] staff your staff particularly

[1:08:58] commissioner raris for being very uh

[1:09:00] very very engaged in this whole process

[1:09:03] and I want to thank the people for doing

[1:09:05] this because this is an honor and we

[1:09:08] give you uh our praise with that I would

[1:09:11] like to introduce Bishop Keith aaman our

[1:09:13] suffering Bishop of the Anglican dasis

[1:09:16] of Fort

[1:09:18] Worth thank you very much it's a great

[1:09:21] privilege to be with all of you and to

[1:09:24] new friendships and relationships and

[1:09:27] likewise to be able to make new ones on

[1:09:29] a very personal note I'm the priest who

[1:09:32] was called in over three decades ago to

[1:09:34] anoint the bodies of those uh attorneys

[1:09:37] who were shot and killed and I had the

[1:09:40] privilege of being able to minister to

[1:09:42] all the families there the survivors and

[1:09:45] the staff so this is a very special

[1:09:48] moment for me because that time I was

[1:09:50] able to see Taran County come together

[1:09:53] and to be able to take care of what was

[1:09:55] important in a very special way so thank

[1:10:00] you I also uh am very honored because as

[1:10:05] president of the Arlington Ministerial

[1:10:07] Association 20 years ago uh we started

[1:10:11] what you heard about earlier and I am

[1:10:13] thrilled that this has continued to be

[1:10:15] the case thank you that says a great

[1:10:17] deal about all of you who are present

[1:10:19] here and I can never thank you enough so

[1:10:22] it is with great joy that I'm able to on

[1:10:25] behalf of the dicese of Fort Worth

[1:10:28] accept this

[1:10:29] remarkable um these remarkable words

[1:10:32] have been articulated but also with the

[1:10:35] promise to let you know that for us it's

[1:10:37] not merely a matter of receiving uh the

[1:10:40] recognition of doing this but rather

[1:10:42] that is purely symbolic of the ministry

[1:10:45] and our resolve to make sure that those

[1:10:48] things which have divided people in the

[1:10:50] past will not divide people anymore and

[1:10:53] as we worship uh the one true God let us

[1:10:56] pray Mighty and everlasting God we thank

[1:10:59] you for loving us so much that you allow

[1:11:02] us to live in places where we can serve

[1:11:06] you where your name can be

[1:11:10] uttered where we can join

[1:11:13] together where we can be brought

[1:11:15] together by those things which unite

[1:11:18] us and we thank you Lord for putting

[1:11:21] people in leadership who are aware

[1:11:25] of the fact that the gifts have been

[1:11:27] given by you and for them always to

[1:11:30] acknowledge those talents as they do and

[1:11:33] to depend upon your

[1:11:36] grace Empower them strengthen and

[1:11:39] console them in all times especially

[1:11:42] those who are working to make us one in

[1:11:45] the name of Jesus Christ we

[1:11:48] pray thank you Bishop stick around down

[1:11:50] there for a photo right

[1:11:52] okay

[1:11:59] your way

[1:12:04] [Music]

[1:12:22] sorry

[1:12:32] [Music]

[1:12:35] all right thank you both for being

[1:12:44] here now we move to our consent agenda

[1:12:47] the consent agenda is amended a12 E3 F3

[1:12:51] and G2 removed do we have any comment

[1:12:53] comments discussion or motion on the

[1:12:55] consent as amended move approval of the

[1:12:58] consent amend we have a motion and a

[1:13:01] second to approve the consent agenda as

[1:13:03] amended any

[1:13:05] discussion please cast your

[1:13:09] vote all right it passes

[1:13:11] unanimously which takes us

[1:13:16] to item

[1:13:19] A1 Mr Merritt yes sir uh again good

[1:13:24] morning Court members this is a request

[1:13:25] for the approval of amendment to the

[1:13:26] agreement between Taran County Hospital

[1:13:29] District dbaa is JPS Health Network and

[1:13:31] HJ wrestling company for the JPS

[1:13:33] temporary parking project East Campus

[1:13:35] the only additional comment I'll make on

[1:13:36] this is this does represent the final

[1:13:38] guaranteed maximum price for this

[1:13:40] project and it is within budget uh as

[1:13:42] set by the hospital District board move

[1:13:45] approval second all right we have a

[1:13:48] motion and a second to approve this

[1:13:50] amendment to the agreement between JPS

[1:13:53] and HJ Russell and Company for the

[1:13:55] temporary parking project any

[1:13:58] discussion right seeing none please cast

[1:14:00] your

[1:14:02] vote passes unanimously item

[1:14:05] A2 uh again Court members approval of a

[1:14:08] work package authorization number two

[1:14:10] between Taran County Hospital District

[1:14:12] DBA JPS Health Network and Beck uh puter

[1:14:15] joint venture for design build Services

[1:14:17] related to the new parking garage

[1:14:18] located at St Louis and Magnolia Avenue

[1:14:20] this is only work package number two of

[1:14:23] this designed build but is still

[1:14:24] anticipated that this project will be in

[1:14:26] budget as well move

[1:14:28] approval we have a motion of a second

[1:14:30] any discussion on this

[1:14:32] item all right seeing none please

[1:14:36] vote this too passes unanimously thank

[1:14:39] you next up is item A3 which is approval

[1:14:42] of out of state travel

[1:14:44] requests move approv second we have a

[1:14:47] motion a second to approve these out of

[1:14:48] state travel requests any discussion on

[1:14:50] these

[1:14:51] items I seeing none please cast your

[1:14:56] vote passes

[1:14:58] unanimously from consent we now have

[1:15:01] item

[1:15:02] a12 uh we do have speakers on this also

[1:15:06] so item

[1:15:08] [Applause]

[1:15:09] A2 good

[1:15:12] morning I'm seeking approval of an

[1:15:15] interlocal agreement between Taran

[1:15:17] County and the University of North Texas

[1:15:20] Health Science Center concerning Taran

[1:15:21] County's burial program now do any

[1:15:24] Commissioners have any questions

[1:15:27] comments on this

[1:15:28] item um so I just want to be

[1:15:31] clear

[1:15:33] these the

[1:15:37] deceased do we have permission from

[1:15:41] their families to donate the bodies yes

[1:15:44] we do and I also have Claudia yellow the

[1:15:47] will body director um represented from

[1:15:50] un and Dr Rustin Reeves director of

[1:15:54] Center for anatomical Sciences if you

[1:15:57] have any

[1:15:59] questions all right any other questions

[1:16:02] from the

[1:16:03] court all right we have two people

[1:16:06] signed up to speak to this item first is

[1:16:07] lon

[1:16:20] Burnham good morning everybody and hope

[1:16:23] you have a great new year um I'm L bham

[1:16:26] I live here in Fort Worth and I've

[1:16:27] spoken to you on a number of occasions

[1:16:29] I'm particularly concerned about this

[1:16:31] the morality of the current policy and I

[1:16:35] want to speak to it this way uh my late

[1:16:38] father-in-law was a medical doctor I

[1:16:40] have every intention to put my deceased

[1:16:43] body to good use uh for academic study

[1:16:48] but that's my choice my concern here is

[1:16:52] that you're not giving the choice to

[1:16:56] these deceased poppers in fact you may

[1:17:00] be denying their basic religious rights

[1:17:03] it is a cultural tradition in this

[1:17:05] country that we bury our cremate people

[1:17:10] that's not what I want from my body my

[1:17:12] parents had difficulty making that

[1:17:14] transition from bury to Cremation

[1:17:17] because of traditional religious values

[1:17:20] we are not in a position to know what

[1:17:23] these deceased people have as their

[1:17:25] religious values we should not violate

[1:17:28] those religious values we should find a

[1:17:30] better way I'm not the articulate person

[1:17:33] on this issue the good ethics Professor

[1:17:36] who signed up to speak after me is much

[1:17:38] more articulate but I want to raise this

[1:17:40] as a moral and ethical issue we should

[1:17:43] be willing to spend the money that's

[1:17:45] necessary to spend to respect a person's

[1:17:48] religious values which they may or may

[1:17:50] not have and we're not in a position to

[1:17:52] know thank you thank you next is Eli

[1:17:57] [Music]

[1:18:03] shup hi

[1:18:05] there so I am a professor and a medical

[1:18:08] ethicist here in tant county and I'm

[1:18:10] here speaking in opposition to the

[1:18:11] renewal of this agreement in its current

[1:18:13] form and my issue with it is basically

[1:18:16] this so contrary to what you just

[1:18:19] heard the family the next kin of the

[1:18:22] deceased they do have to consent to this

[1:18:25] use of their relatives body if they can

[1:18:29] be located in cases when the deceased

[1:18:32] has no NEX of kin or the NEX of kin

[1:18:35] cannot be located currently under the

[1:18:37] interlocal agreement those bodies are

[1:18:40] just given to the medical school to be

[1:18:42] used for medical teaching and research

[1:18:44] which amounts to

[1:18:45] dissection okay so and in the past the

[1:18:49] court you know hasn't been insensitive

[1:18:51] to this issue and that's the reason why

[1:18:54] the current agreement stipulates that a

[1:18:57] person who was known to belong to a

[1:18:58] particular religious faith that

[1:19:00] precludes this kind of use their body

[1:19:02] shouldn't be used okay but like my

[1:19:05] friend L Burnham said we don't always

[1:19:07] know the faith of the deceased sometimes

[1:19:09] we have very little information and

[1:19:12] religion is far from the only reason not

[1:19:14] to want to be naked on a slab after you

[1:19:17] die cut apart by

[1:19:18] strangers okay my own view is that

[1:19:21] nobody's body should be dissected

[1:19:23] without either their prior consent or

[1:19:25] permission from their next ofkin if

[1:19:28] there are no next ofkin or if next ofkin

[1:19:30] cannot be located then I believe that

[1:19:33] that person's body should not be used

[1:19:35] for medical teaching or research period

[1:19:39] it will cost the county more to do what

[1:19:41] is right by these

[1:19:43] people but that's money that needs to be

[1:19:46] spent so medicine in north Texas has a

[1:19:49] dark historical Legacy of grave robbing

[1:19:53] particularly in poor and vulnerable

[1:19:55] communities and what the county has been

[1:19:57] enabling with this ongoing interlocal

[1:20:00] agreement with un Health Science Center

[1:20:03] is tantamount to grave robbing without a

[1:20:05] middleman these people just don't go in

[1:20:07] the ground first nobody's asked their

[1:20:10] permission to use their bodies in this

[1:20:12] way after they die and nobody's nobody's

[1:20:16] been asked at

[1:20:17] all so these cadavers they are

[1:20:20] essentially these medical students first

[1:20:23] patients that is an important right of

[1:20:25] passage and I think it's important that

[1:20:28] these first patients have been donated

[1:20:31] not merely taken and used so I myself am

[1:20:35] a wed body donor with un Health Science

[1:20:38] Center I will go there after I

[1:20:41] die I don't want my next door neighbor

[1:20:44] in the anatomy lab to be somebody who

[1:20:47] died in poverty in this County and had

[1:20:50] no next of kin or loved ones to see to

[1:20:53] their

[1:20:54] Arrangements thank you thank

[1:20:57] you all right any questions from the

[1:20:59] court

[1:21:02] members any comments I would just like

[1:21:05] to

[1:21:06] comment that

[1:21:09] uh there is an OP opt

[1:21:14] out for those with religious objections

[1:21:18] and other kinds of rection objections

[1:21:23] to

[1:21:25] the use of of these bodies for uh

[1:21:30] medical

[1:21:35] training when persons

[1:21:38] die

[1:21:41] without loved ones that we know about or

[1:21:46] anyone to step forward and take

[1:21:51] responsibility this program has worked

[1:21:55] well uh in terms of

[1:22:01] providing an opportunity for medical

[1:22:05] research that benefits the entire

[1:22:09] community at

[1:22:12] large

[1:22:16] uh so I move

[1:22:19] approval of this

[1:22:21] program second all right we have a

[1:22:23] motion to approve in a second um further

[1:22:26] comments or discussion what does it cost

[1:22:29] the county to vary

[1:22:34] Lisa about

[1:22:35] $1,200 I think we did this a couple

[1:22:38] years ago

[1:22:39] [Music]

[1:22:42] okay are you about to answer that

[1:22:44] question yes okay

[1:22:46] yes so um for unidentified uh varials uh

[1:22:52] we spend

[1:22:53] approximately um

[1:22:56] $2,100 to bury

[1:22:58] unidentified how many total people are

[1:23:01] we talking about during the course of a

[1:23:02] year oh so for 2023 fiscal year

[1:23:07] 2023 um there was 146 cremations uh at

[1:23:12] un reimbursed to un and then there was

[1:23:15] three

[1:23:17] unidentified so what now there

[1:23:21] were

[1:23:23] 146 cremations reimbursed to un Health

[1:23:27] Science Center and by saying that are

[1:23:28] you saying there's 146 that were bodies

[1:23:31] used for medical science that were then

[1:23:33] ultimately cremated no they were they

[1:23:35] were cremated those were not the numbers

[1:23:38] of how many were a will body let me call

[1:23:42] 146 unidentified no no no three

[1:23:48] unidentified I believe it's what you

[1:23:50] Dr come up

[1:23:54] he has the numbers uh the statistics for

[1:23:57] all that were donated and then the ones

[1:23:59] that were

[1:24:01] [Music]

[1:24:10] cremated last year we received around in

[1:24:13] fact we received around 200 a year from

[1:24:15] the county and of those that we received

[1:24:18] we we use about onethird of those uh for

[1:24:22] either medical research uh teaching or

[1:24:25] or uh in our education programs some of

[1:24:29] those are not disected in fact about

[1:24:31] half of those are not dissected you

[1:24:33] receive 200

[1:24:36] what donors from these would be

[1:24:38] unclaimed bodies unimed bodies thank

[1:24:41] very

[1:24:43] much we received 178 in 2020 195 in

[1:24:48] 2021 203 in 2022 and 205 last year so it

[1:24:53] average is about 200 a year of those 200

[1:24:57] bodies you said approximately a third

[1:25:00] end up being used for medical science

[1:25:02] okay of the ones that aren't used for

[1:25:04] medical science you then cremate them

[1:25:07] yes sir okay of the ones that are used

[1:25:09] for medical science what whatever is

[1:25:11] done with them is done with them and

[1:25:13] then are they cremated yes sir okay of

[1:25:16] those that are used in medical science

[1:25:20] how many of them do you get permission

[1:25:23] from someone to do this

[1:25:27] to yeah I I don't have that

[1:25:32] number who has that number we can get to

[1:25:35] you that number yes sir okay well I'm

[1:25:37] sure we can get it does anybody have it

[1:25:39] who who would who is the one seeking the

[1:25:41] permission un or Taran County for the

[1:25:45] well it's staff that's requesting the

[1:25:46] court to approve the agreement so it's

[1:25:48] inter local between un and yeah what I'm

[1:25:51] asking is

[1:25:52] when someone contacts the family and

[1:25:55] says do we have permission to do this

[1:25:57] who is doing the contacting un or tarant

[1:26:00] County both there are instances where

[1:26:04] the county is contacting the family

[1:26:05] there saying can we use the body for

[1:26:07] medical science for the family to step

[1:26:10] forward and make arrangements or donate

[1:26:12] yes sir but of the ones that that I

[1:26:15] don't I'm not sure how to say it but on

[1:26:17] the ones that are used for medical

[1:26:20] science you nobody here can tell me

[1:26:22] today how many of them are given

[1:26:24] permission by Family correct okay I'll

[1:26:28] that

[1:26:32] okay last year we used 73 total

[1:26:37] okay uh other questions comments3

[1:26:42] unclaimed bodies got

[1:26:45] it okay all right other questions or

[1:26:48] comments from the court we do have a

[1:26:49] motion in a second is there an urg

[1:26:53] for us to pass

[1:26:55] this or I would have to ask Dr crowns

[1:26:58] because the typically the the bodies are

[1:27:01] kept at the medical examiner's office

[1:27:02] till they're transported over so we

[1:27:03] would just have to ask from a capacity

[1:27:05] standpoint if if he could continue to

[1:27:06] hold it and Dr crowns is

[1:27:12] [Music]

[1:27:21] here

[1:27:24] did you ask

[1:27:34] about so yes if Dr Crown says we do have

[1:27:36] space available at the work so if we

[1:27:39] need to hold two weeks to to work

[1:27:40] through this we certainly

[1:27:42] can okay thank you um can we go back to

[1:27:46] the cost of

[1:27:48] burial does that include what does that

[1:27:51] include us finding the the plot or is

[1:27:54] there or so um the body is at the

[1:27:57] medical examiner's office uh the

[1:28:00] investigator does his due diligent to

[1:28:02] locate family members if it's

[1:28:04] unidentified uh the medical examiner has

[1:28:08] a uh Funeral Home rotation and usually

[1:28:11] typically the major um picks up the body

[1:28:15] so it starts with the uh actual

[1:28:18] Transportation picking up the body

[1:28:20] transportation to the facility and then

[1:28:22] preparation and uh burial um and like I

[1:28:26] said major funeral home is the one that

[1:28:29] has responded to the

[1:28:31] unidentified and they use uh Sky

[1:28:35] View for the

[1:28:38] interment and by law unidentified bodies

[1:28:41] cannot be

[1:28:44] cremated and then it looks like we're

[1:28:48] charged we have to pay a fee for those

[1:28:52] deceased to can't be used that is

[1:28:57] correct through un they um invoice us

[1:29:00] and that's $300 part dece

[1:29:04] there so we give them a an unclaimed

[1:29:08] body if it can't be used we have to pay

[1:29:12] yes to have given them the unclaimed

[1:29:14] body

[1:29:16] $300 per

[1:29:18] deceased

[1:29:20] okay um

[1:29:25] all

[1:29:26] right all right any other questions or

[1:29:29] comments from the court

[1:29:31] members all right seeing none we do have

[1:29:34] a motion in a second please cast your

[1:29:39] vote all right it passes 4 to one thank

[1:29:43] you thank you next item on the agenda is

[1:29:49] [Music]

[1:29:50] E3

[1:29:53] and E3

[1:29:56] is a request for the court to receive

[1:29:58] and file a fully executed copy of the

[1:30:00] contract for Legal Services between

[1:30:03] tarant County the district's attorney's

[1:30:05] office and the tarant County Hospital

[1:30:07] District we have two people signed up to

[1:30:10] speak to this item judge oare members of

[1:30:13] the Court good morning uh the criminal

[1:30:14] District Attorney's office is asking the

[1:30:16] court to receive and file a fully

[1:30:19] executed copy of the agreement between

[1:30:21] the CDA

[1:30:22] and uh JPS the hospital district for

[1:30:24] Legal Services back in September of 2023

[1:30:27] this court approved the agreement with

[1:30:29] JPS for Legal Services at the time the

[1:30:32] court considered that agreement the

[1:30:34] hospital Board of managers had also

[1:30:36] approved it however there was no

[1:30:39] signature page that had been transmitted

[1:30:41] to Taran County from the hospital

[1:30:43] District at that time uh this now what

[1:30:46] the court is being asked to do is simply

[1:30:47] a belt suspenders measure to make sure

[1:30:49] that there is a fully executed copy of

[1:30:51] the agree on file uh in the

[1:30:53] Commissioner's Court records and our

[1:30:56] criminal district attorney approves of

[1:30:58] this contract yes judge he does and he

[1:31:00] has signed it all right any questions

[1:31:02] for Mr kaville any comments from the

[1:31:05] court all right our first speaker is L

[1:31:08] [Music]

[1:31:20] Burnham

[1:31:22] [Music]

[1:31:35] I really have more questions than

[1:31:36] anything else I'm concerned about the

[1:31:39] continuing way that we're doing this

[1:31:42] process and U maybe I need to address

[1:31:44] that to the DA's office in a private

[1:31:47] conversation thank you all right next we

[1:31:49] have Nan Terry

[1:31:58] good morning thank you for the

[1:31:59] opportunity to speak I'm not opposed to

[1:32:01] this payment but we all all have bills

[1:32:04] to pay but are these costs included in

[1:32:06] the cost to the jail and I understand

[1:32:09] we're building the hospital District but

[1:32:11] sometimes those Hospital District might

[1:32:12] not be the right person to build for

[1:32:14] example I believe JPS should not be the

[1:32:17] responsible for the cost of treatment

[1:32:19] for the injuries due to Cory Rodriguez

[1:32:22] he was injured by the result of a

[1:32:25] beating by Taran County jailers in the

[1:32:27] Taran County Jail should the hospital

[1:32:29] District really be on the hook for the

[1:32:31] surgeries the treatment and the

[1:32:33] hospitalizations and could we somehow

[1:32:36] ask the auditor and the DA's office to

[1:32:39] look at these costs instead of just

[1:32:41] blanketly asking the hospital to pay for

[1:32:43] these costs and attribute some of these

[1:32:46] costs to the jail if they are actually

[1:32:48] costs that should be incurred by the

[1:32:50] jail

[1:32:52] okay thank

[1:32:54] you okay so I will make a motion to

[1:32:57] receive and file a fully executed copy

[1:32:59] of the contract for Legal Services

[1:33:00] between tarant County the cda's office

[1:33:02] and tarant County Hospital District

[1:33:04] second we have a second we have any

[1:33:07] discussion all right please cast your

[1:33:12] vote all right passes

[1:33:16] unanimously next

[1:33:17] [Music]

[1:33:20] up

[1:33:22] is

[1:33:24] F3 and

[1:33:26] F3 is something with Michael

[1:33:29] Amador good morning my members of the

[1:33:32] good morning what is F3 it's approval of

[1:33:35] change order number two there it is K

[1:33:38] industry LLC contract for the Scott more

[1:33:41] Juvenile Justice Center juvenile project

[1:33:44] in the amount of $

[1:33:47] 34,7 is this a generator rental is this

[1:33:51] a a rental or a permit it's a permanent

[1:33:55] but we're waiting for the arrival of the

[1:33:57] new generators Comm commissioner so

[1:33:59] we're renting the temporary until they

[1:34:01] arrive they're scheduled to arrive next

[1:34:03] week so this is you want us to approve

[1:34:09] the temporary that's correct the the

[1:34:12] rental price for that temporary for the

[1:34:14] months of November October and

[1:34:17] November okay I I've seen these

[1:34:21] generator rentals on several Court

[1:34:24] communic Cas it it seems um and I'm glad

[1:34:29] to see

[1:34:31] that you know we're this is in support

[1:34:33] of a permanent solution at the Juvenile

[1:34:38] Justice Center um so I appreciate the

[1:34:41] effort

[1:34:43] um make me understand the rentals

[1:34:48] um do I understand correctly that many

[1:34:51] of our Taran County

[1:34:54] buildings were built without backup

[1:34:57] generators uh we have some buildings

[1:34:59] that do not have generator backup

[1:35:02] systems that is

[1:35:03] correct and do I understand that we are

[1:35:07] on year two of renting generators how

[1:35:10] long have we been for juvenile for

[1:35:14] throughout the county it vares your

[1:35:16] honor it vares commissioner I apologize

[1:35:19] uh at the Mansville Sub Courthouse this

[1:35:20] is the second second year we'll be

[1:35:22] Renning uh generators for the winter

[1:35:24] months at the election center we uh

[1:35:27] bring in a backup generator during the

[1:35:30] election season the two SE the two

[1:35:32] elections for approximately three weeks

[1:35:34] each time at the preed maintenance

[1:35:36] center 2 precin maintenance center four

[1:35:39] we'll bring in backup generators during

[1:35:41] the winter months as well that protects

[1:35:43] the fuel Islands so that fuel is

[1:35:45] available for the crews that have to

[1:35:48] work during the winter months Etc

[1:35:52] so given the number of rentals and the

[1:35:55] fact that the cost is recurring annually

[1:35:59] until we get permanent

[1:36:01] installation is it time for the county

[1:36:04] to put together a

[1:36:06] comprehensive prioritized permanent

[1:36:09] generator installation program uh we've

[1:36:12] done that uh commissioner we've actually

[1:36:15] evaluate all the generator emergency

[1:36:17] Power Systems in all of our buildings

[1:36:20] and as uh we be including backup

[1:36:22] generators as part of our um capital

[1:36:25] budget submissions each year for various

[1:36:28] buildings Etc okay it just doesn't seem

[1:36:31] economical to keep renting these things

[1:36:34] how are we paying for the rentals uh we

[1:36:37] pay for out of operating funds or

[1:36:38] maintenance funds it's not ARA or

[1:36:41] anything like that they're just

[1:36:43] operating funds okay I've heard that

[1:36:46] there are possible um Federal earmark

[1:36:50] funds for building additions like

[1:36:53] generators which um can be said to

[1:36:56] accommodate some form of of an Emergency

[1:37:00] Operations Center have we explored that

[1:37:03] at all like can a building be designated

[1:37:06] an

[1:37:06] EOC I help with that we the

[1:37:09] administrator's office is actually aware

[1:37:10] of some of those grants and we are

[1:37:11] looking to pursue some dollars so there

[1:37:13] to to Mike's Point we've been working on

[1:37:15] a longer term Capital Improvement flame

[1:37:17] for the entire County inclusive in that

[1:37:18] is the more permanent installation of

[1:37:20] generators of facil that don't currently

[1:37:22] have them okay yeah it just doesn't make

[1:37:24] sense to to keep renting okay thank you

[1:37:27] thank you Mike this I am

[1:37:30] a matter of priority for me because

[1:37:35] during my first

[1:37:38] election for

[1:37:42] commissioner the power went out in the

[1:37:45] early voting

[1:37:47] Center at the Miller Avenue sub

[1:37:53] Courthouse five

[1:37:55] times during the election

[1:37:59] cycle and that's a very heavily used

[1:38:04] site it made no damn sense

[1:38:12] to to cut the voting period

[1:38:16] short because there was a backup

[1:38:20] generator

[1:38:22] so I guess I'm I'm

[1:38:26] responsible for

[1:38:29] um the demand for backup

[1:38:32] generators for County build buildings

[1:38:35] and

[1:38:38] I proudly bear that

[1:38:44] weight um I I want all buildings to have

[1:38:47] a backup generator I I want us to stop

[1:38:50] renting them is is my point um and the

[1:38:55] Mansville subcourthouse I've been here a

[1:38:58] year uh and so we've had numerous

[1:39:02] problems in the winter and summer months

[1:39:04] so I would like a permanent solution um

[1:39:08] instead of us renting these things but

[1:39:11] so that's my point I I want every

[1:39:14] facility to have a backup

[1:39:15] gener thank you Mike yes all right do we

[1:39:19] have a motion on item F3 for approval

[1:39:22] second we have a motion in a second to

[1:39:23] approve F3 which is approving a change

[1:39:26] order change order number two to the K

[1:39:28] industrial contract for the Scott deore

[1:39:30] Juvenile Justice Center generator

[1:39:31] project any further

[1:39:34] discussion all right please cast your

[1:39:37] vote passes unanimously thank you next

[1:39:41] up is item G2 no no is G1 receive and

[1:39:44] file the Personnel

[1:39:46] agenda Mo to receive and file the

[1:39:49] Personnel agenda second we have a motion

[1:39:52] in a second to receive and file the

[1:39:53] Personnel agenda any discussion there

[1:39:56] all right please cast your

[1:39:58] vote passes unanimously then from

[1:40:01] consent we have item

[1:40:04] G2 we do uh good morning Happy New Year

[1:40:08] uh thank you so with item two we're

[1:40:11] asking the court to approve uh changes

[1:40:15] to the table of

[1:40:16] organization for the uh County

[1:40:18] administrator's office as well as the

[1:40:20] county Judge's office this is a two-part

[1:40:24] uh request the first part uh is that the

[1:40:26] request is for the

[1:40:28] HIV uh Consortium from the county

[1:40:31] administrator's office to move over to

[1:40:34] the county judges uh office the court

[1:40:37] may recall in September of last year the

[1:40:41] HIV planning Council coordinator

[1:40:43] position moved from uh the county

[1:40:47] administrator's office to the county

[1:40:48] judge's office and so this this uh most

[1:40:51] recent request then would uh actually uh

[1:40:54] Place both those um or or place the

[1:40:58] Consortium um along with the planning um

[1:41:02] Council coordinator position in the

[1:41:05] county judges to the second part of the

[1:41:07] request is to retitle uh the community

[1:41:11] in court leaza that's Natalie roses uh

[1:41:14] vacancy Natalie retired and so the judge

[1:41:17] is requesting that her position be

[1:41:19] retitled or and position be retitled to

[1:41:23] operations uh

[1:41:25] assistant uh and then of course that uh

[1:41:28] position would reports to uh Andy W in

[1:41:31] the county Judge's office um if I didn't

[1:41:34] give you an effective date the request

[1:41:36] is that both uh things uh be made

[1:41:39] effective January 16th there is no

[1:41:42] fiscal

[1:41:45] impact okay so I um I just wanted to

[1:41:49] comment on this this

[1:41:51] item because I admit that I have some

[1:41:55] concern and I'm hoping that by making

[1:41:59] this reorganization move um you know we

[1:42:03] realize that we are out of federal

[1:42:07] compliance uh with Ryan White procedures

[1:42:11] in some

[1:42:12] cases and the PIV pival importance of

[1:42:17] this funding um I I've done some

[1:42:21] research I've had my staff do some

[1:42:24] research on the federal requirements of

[1:42:26] the Ryan White

[1:42:28] funding

[1:42:30] and you know I've learned some things on

[1:42:33] some of the central elements where we

[1:42:35] currently don't seem to be in

[1:42:37] compliance um so hopefully this new

[1:42:40] judge will be you'll handle this since

[1:42:45] it's going under but first let's talk

[1:42:47] about the legislatively required

[1:42:50] planning Council and per the legislation

[1:42:52] the planning council is intended to be

[1:42:54] an organization that is reflective of

[1:42:57] the communities in our County most

[1:42:59] impacted by HIV in fact it is a

[1:43:02] legislative requirement that

[1:43:05] 33% of the planning Council be

[1:43:07] unaffiliated clients of Ryan white

[1:43:10] meaning people with HIV and receiving

[1:43:12] services from what I am aware you can

[1:43:16] correct me or your new staff can um it

[1:43:21] does not appear that we are in

[1:43:22] compliance with this 33% requirement in

[1:43:25] any way shape or

[1:43:28] form also the federal guidance also

[1:43:31] repeatedly emphasizes that the planning

[1:43:33] Council quote look like the epidemic of

[1:43:37] HIV and AIDS in the eligible area in

[1:43:40] Taran County per the AIDS view.org map

[1:43:45] 76 12% of HIV positive individuals are

[1:43:49] men and yet that based on my reading of

[1:43:53] one of the agendas that I was actually

[1:43:56] able to find um the planning Council or

[1:44:00] seven of nine planning council members

[1:44:03] were women um so that doesn't sound like

[1:44:06] it's reflective of the of the population

[1:44:09] that is federally

[1:44:12] mandated um

[1:44:15] but it also makes sense because I

[1:44:18] believe that was also the meeting where

[1:44:21] the planning Council bylaws were changed

[1:44:23] I think that was in

[1:44:25] October October 20 October

[1:44:29] 26 and the planning Council bylaws were

[1:44:32] changed in the previous bylaws it stated

[1:44:35] that quote particular consideration

[1:44:38] shall be given to disproportionately

[1:44:41] affected and historically underserved

[1:44:44] groups however in the updated bylaws

[1:44:46] that language was removed entirely even

[1:44:50] though it came directly from the federal

[1:44:52] program guidance um and finally I'm I'm

[1:44:55] concerned about transparency the Ryan

[1:44:58] White part a manual clearly states that

[1:45:01] detailed minutes of each meeting of the

[1:45:02] council shall be kept meetings must be

[1:45:06] public and announced and should be

[1:45:08] available to the public within 6 weeks

[1:45:10] after the meeting date and yet I went on

[1:45:14] to the north Texas North Central Texas

[1:45:17] HIV planning Council website where all

[1:45:20] of our meeting minutes were previously

[1:45:24] displayed and found nothing there since

[1:45:26] March of

[1:45:28] 2023 um I can still see the

[1:45:32] agendas um because they were filed by

[1:45:35] her tan County Clerk but there seems to

[1:45:37] be no minutes um at from these meetings

[1:45:41] showing what was discussed so judge I I

[1:45:45] think this is a good move

[1:45:47] um I'm confident you'll

[1:45:51] oversight and um get these

[1:45:54] non-compliance issues rectified and I'm

[1:45:56] here to help in any way and would be

[1:45:58] happy to assist in reaching out to um

[1:46:02] qualified individuals to help populate

[1:46:05] that planning Council if if you need

[1:46:07] help um that's we talked about this last

[1:46:10] time and closed and so I decided to go

[1:46:14] take a look at it and and became

[1:46:18] concerned so I'm I think this this might

[1:46:22] [Music]

[1:46:23] be that's all I had the without

[1:46:26] addressing Point by point there are now

[1:46:28] 12 members okay

[1:46:31] um when I took this office on January

[1:46:34] the

[1:46:35] 1st uh as we've discussed the uh Federal

[1:46:40] audit of the planning Council called

[1:46:43] this without quoting the exact words the

[1:46:46] biggest disaster they've ever seen of

[1:46:48] any planning Council okay and so we

[1:46:53] reconstituted the planning Council uh

[1:46:56] and are still in the process of doing

[1:46:57] that and and probably interview someone

[1:47:00] for that

[1:47:01] board certainly on a monthly basis maybe

[1:47:05] even a bi-weekly

[1:47:06] basis uh as far as the 33% requirement

[1:47:10] you referenced I think we are one short

[1:47:12] at this point uh we have sent text

[1:47:15] messages to every single

[1:47:17] recipient in tarant County that has a

[1:47:21] cell phone number uh didn't get a lot of

[1:47:23] response we have reached out to nurses

[1:47:26] hospitals uh JPS nonprofits

[1:47:30] churches um and uh but we are we're one

[1:47:33] short of that one particular requirement

[1:47:35] but it's been a work in progress trying

[1:47:37] to clean it up once uh the planning

[1:47:40] Council came under our supervision and I

[1:47:43] believe that took effect the end of

[1:47:46] September or the beginning of October so

[1:47:48] uh someone on the planning Council staff

[1:47:51] had

[1:47:51] resigned uh left uh I would tell you

[1:47:55] that was the person that should be

[1:47:56] posting the minutes um they're they've

[1:47:59] now been replaced by someone that I have

[1:48:02] confidence in and this whole way this

[1:48:05] was set up where the County Judge is the

[1:48:07] CEO of the program but all the employees

[1:48:09] report to the County Administrator is

[1:48:12] just nonsensical so our first step in

[1:48:15] the process was to move the planning

[1:48:17] Council director to my office we have

[1:48:19] done our next step in the process which

[1:48:22] GK was in support of and so is chanler

[1:48:25] obviously because it's here was to move

[1:48:27] it all under our office and we will make

[1:48:29] sure we comply with all rules and laws

[1:48:31] and make sure things are done correctly

[1:48:32] once they're all under my office thank

[1:48:34] you

[1:48:35] yes okay any other questions or

[1:48:40] comments all right do we have a motion

[1:48:42] to approve

[1:48:44] G2 so move all right we have a motion do

[1:48:47] we have a second second all right any

[1:48:49] further disc discussion on item

[1:48:51] G2 all right seeing none please cast

[1:48:53] your

[1:48:55] vote all right passes unanimously judge

[1:48:58] if I can take just uh a moment please to

[1:49:01] remind our employees um those who may

[1:49:05] have uh

[1:49:07] concerns uh after the explosion uh

[1:49:11] yesterday um we have uh gotten some uh

[1:49:14] we've received some

[1:49:17] um uh reach Outreach from employees uh

[1:49:21] who were a bit shaken up by what

[1:49:23] happened yesterday and so I just want to

[1:49:26] remind employees that the county does uh

[1:49:28] offer an employee assistance uh

[1:49:32] program that's available at no cost to

[1:49:34] employees so if employees um feel like

[1:49:38] they need someone to talk to um please

[1:49:41] uh reach out to our payroll and Benefit

[1:49:43] Service Center we're here on the third

[1:49:45] floor of this building you can reach

[1:49:47] them directly at extension 2861

[1:49:51] and we'll be happy to um provide you

[1:49:54] information on our employee assistance

[1:49:57] uh program and there is um a feature of

[1:50:01] our plan that allows if a department is

[1:50:04] so interested we can certainly have

[1:50:06] someone come on site and talk to groups

[1:50:08] of employees at the same time if any

[1:50:11] Department believes that that's

[1:50:12] necessary so anyway just wanted to

[1:50:15] remind employees that that benefit is

[1:50:17] available at no cost hey thank thank you

[1:50:21] next up we have item J1 uh purchasing

[1:50:26] section I would ask the Commissioners to

[1:50:28] take a look at items J One 2 3 4 and

[1:50:34] five does anyone have any individual

[1:50:36] specific questions on J 1 two 3 four or

[1:50:42] [Music]

[1:50:46] five no all right I will make a motion

[1:50:50] to approve the requests in J 1 through 5

[1:50:54] Second we have a motion we have a second

[1:50:56] any discussion on any of these

[1:50:59] items all right seeing none please cast

[1:51:01] your

[1:51:04] vote all right passes unanimously next

[1:51:07] up is item j6 yes this is an approval of

[1:51:10] of an exemption from the competitive

[1:51:12] bidding requirements for the purchase of

[1:51:14] use Ford police interceptor vehicles for

[1:51:18] from Auto Nation Ford for

[1:51:21] wor vote for approval second have a

[1:51:24] motion a second to approve item j6 any

[1:51:27] discussion there all right please cast

[1:51:30] your

[1:51:31] vote passes unanimously next up j7 and

[1:51:35] the last item is permission to take bids

[1:51:38] U for the purchase of a mill opener and

[1:51:40] opener system and annual contract for Co

[1:51:43] Milling

[1:51:45] Services move

[1:51:47] approval all right second we have a

[1:51:49] motion and a second second to Grant

[1:51:52] permission to take bids on these two

[1:51:53] items any discussion

[1:51:55] there right please cast your

[1:51:58] vote passes unanimously thank you thank

[1:52:01] you next up M1 is an interlocal

[1:52:04] agreement Precinct one commissioner

[1:52:07] Brooks yes sir

[1:52:12] [Music]

[1:52:15] um it's an interlocal agreement with the

[1:52:19] town of Edge Cliff Village for the

[1:52:22] overlay

[1:52:24] of couple of

[1:52:27] streets uh it of approval on item M1 A

[1:52:32] and B second we have a motion at second

[1:52:35] to approve item M1 A and B any

[1:52:37] discussion there all right please cast

[1:52:39] your

[1:52:41] vote all right passes unanimously do we

[1:52:44] have any appointments to any boards

[1:52:46] committees or Tiff districts today than

[1:52:50] yes your

[1:52:51] honor uh I've got

[1:52:54] to to Fort Worth Tiff number

[1:52:58] eight uh I need to reappoint

[1:53:02] myself and to Grand Prairie Tiff number

[1:53:07] one I'd like to reappoint Janette

[1:53:11] Martinez okay I'll second that so we

[1:53:14] have a motion in a second to reappoint

[1:53:16] commissioner Brooks to one board and

[1:53:19] Miss Martin is to another board any

[1:53:21] discussion

[1:53:22] there please cast your

[1:53:25] vote right passes unanimously any other

[1:53:29] yes um I need to reappoint uh Joanna

[1:53:33] Cardoza to Arlington tur number

[1:53:37] seven and that's a motion that's a

[1:53:39] motion we have a motion in a second any

[1:53:42] discussion on that

[1:53:43] item all right seeing none please

[1:53:47] vote all right that passes unanimously

[1:53:50] with no more board or commission

[1:53:52] appointments we move to bonds or

[1:53:53] certificates of social insurance there

[1:53:54] are none uh now we go to various claims

[1:53:56] and addendum move approval of the claims

[1:53:59] including the addendum second we have a

[1:54:01] motion of a second to approve the claims

[1:54:03] and the addendum any discussion on that

[1:54:05] item all right seeing none please

[1:54:08] vote all right that passes unanimously

[1:54:11] which now brings us to a criminal

[1:54:14] justice update and I believe Mr

[1:54:16] Schaffner is going to start this

[1:54:18] presentation

[1:54:21] we do have a speaker on this

[1:54:25] item good morning judges and juding

[1:54:27] Commissioners so today we have a

[1:54:29] criminal justice update from you the I

[1:54:32] will be leading uh the first half of the

[1:54:35] presentation and then uh judges uh

[1:54:38] hegerman and nikol will come up and

[1:54:40] present a a couple slides and then Mr

[1:54:43] Sher will present a slide and then I'll

[1:54:45] be back to uh close us up finish us up

[1:54:49] and uh ask for any

[1:54:51] questions

[1:54:52] so we would like to there's been an

[1:54:55] increased um interest in the criminal

[1:54:57] justice system from Court members from

[1:54:59] uh various County departments and staff

[1:55:01] as well as uh from the community and so

[1:55:03] we wanted to address um several issues

[1:55:05] that have come up and kind of give a an

[1:55:07] overview and set a baseline of uh

[1:55:09] conversation regarding the tan County

[1:55:11] criminal justice system so first off and

[1:55:13] this is something that we talk a lot

[1:55:15] about in the criminal justice

[1:55:16] coordinating Council but the the goal of

[1:55:18] what we're trying to do is balance

[1:55:20] Public Safety Community safety with jail

[1:55:22] population and how do we strike that

[1:55:24] balance um and then also wanted to

[1:55:26] discuss a couple of item so Taran County

[1:55:29] um has been undergoing a um Criminal

[1:55:33] Justice Reform if you will as well as

[1:55:35] pretty much everybody uh in the rest of

[1:55:37] the state since 2017 up to 2019 is when

[1:55:41] it all kind of kicked off there were a

[1:55:43] number of different litigation uh pieces

[1:55:45] of litigation throughout the state from

[1:55:48] um Harris County's O'Donald

[1:55:50] case in the Galveston County case as

[1:55:52] well as litigation in Dallas County all

[1:55:54] about um ranging from misdemeanor bonds

[1:55:57] to the ability to pay um actually a

[1:56:00] separate Dallas County case was resolved

[1:56:02] yesterday with the US Supreme Court so

[1:56:04] there a number of different pieces of

[1:56:06] litigation around bonds and the criminal

[1:56:09] justice system that began the county of

[1:56:12] process with work with Commissioner's

[1:56:14] Court and the judicial system the judges

[1:56:17] the CDA and the sheriff on what we need

[1:56:19] to do to be prepared to handle various

[1:56:22] issues so one shift that we made was

[1:56:24] centralizing magistration to where

[1:56:27] instead of there being um various

[1:56:29] Municipal judges setting bonds it was

[1:56:32] more or less Consolidated within um tan

[1:56:35] County underneath our um judges trying

[1:56:38] criminal cases second pre-trial shifted

[1:56:41] and was split pre-trial used to be under

[1:56:43] the county administrator's office it was

[1:56:45] then split part cscd to supervision and

[1:56:49] the judge judges do um the portion

[1:56:52] related to

[1:56:54] um Services related to um ability to pay

[1:56:58] and and those types of things the part

[1:56:59] leading up to to bond setting and then

[1:57:02] also in my slide is in correct it's

[1:57:03] supposed to be S sp6 from the 87 session

[1:57:05] the state legislature uh went in and did

[1:57:08] a number of of um Bond and criminal

[1:57:13] justice changes to the system including

[1:57:15] restricting what PR bonds could be used

[1:57:17] for uh which has greatly impacted

[1:57:20] so maybe just set a baseline regarding

[1:57:23] the approved fy4 budget um so this is by

[1:57:26] function area so the first page of the

[1:57:29] approved roll up of the budget which is

[1:57:31] the thick book that you get from the

[1:57:32] budget office that Helen produces the

[1:57:34] first page of that is the budget

[1:57:36] approved budget by functional area and

[1:57:38] you'll notice on this that judicial

[1:57:40] constitutes approximately 20% and Public

[1:57:42] Safety uh constitutes approximately

[1:57:45] 27% so 47% and these are high figur

[1:57:49] years it's by functional area so it's

[1:57:50] it's broad categories 47% of the

[1:57:53] approved tan County budget goes for to

[1:57:55] the criminal justice system the judicial

[1:57:58] that's only the criminal side it it it

[1:58:00] also includes several so civil so we're

[1:58:02] looking at again broad Strokes so just

[1:58:05] to make sure I'm clear that

[1:58:08] $11.4 Million number includes civil Does

[1:58:11] it include probate yes Does it include

[1:58:13] family yes so 47% doeses not go to

[1:58:18] criminal justice

[1:58:20] it would be underneath that number yes

[1:58:21] right

[1:58:23] okay so if you look at historical trends

[1:58:26] of approved budgets from fy19 to 24

[1:58:29] again looking at the public safety

[1:58:30] functional area the judicial functional

[1:58:32] area with um taking in consideration

[1:58:34] your comments judge um you get the

[1:58:38] general percent of on the far right hand

[1:58:40] coln percent of the total approved

[1:58:41] budget so in 2019 we're at

[1:58:45] 51% were those two functional areas in

[1:58:47] 2024 that approved budget was was

[1:58:50] 47% um part of the reason that you see

[1:58:53] the numbers declining in 21 and 22 is

[1:58:56] based on the co relief funds that we

[1:58:58] received U because that added in and and

[1:59:01] made some of the percentages smaller and

[1:59:03] changed some of those

[1:59:05] percentages so let's talk a little bit

[1:59:07] about the constitution of what of the

[1:59:09] individuals that are within the jail

[1:59:10] What charges we have so there are 18 um

[1:59:16] classifications of folks in the Taran

[1:59:18] County Jail

[1:59:19] um you'll see this and this was just

[1:59:21] took a date December the 5th of 2019 uh

[1:59:24] to start with so if you go from 2019 the

[1:59:26] gel population was 4100 you'll notice

[1:59:28] that the unsentenced felons which

[1:59:30] constitutes the largest portion of

[1:59:32] 57% uh and also you can kind of go

[1:59:34] through unsent misdemeanor at 7% I'll

[1:59:36] show you some Contracting but this gives

[1:59:38] you the broad Strokes of what the

[1:59:40] composition of the jail was on that date

[1:59:43] if you look to the next day Jael total

[1:59:45] population of

[1:59:46] 4256 and this is on December the 5th of

[1:59:49] 2023 you'll notice that unsentenced

[1:59:51] felons have increased substantially to

[1:59:53] 63% unsentenced misdemeanors has

[1:59:56] decreased substantially by to 3% and

[1:59:59] again those other compositions and I've

[2:00:00] got a side by side to make it easier

[2:00:02] because it's difficult when you're

[2:00:04] looking at the pie

[2:00:05] charts

[2:00:07] so we have um the classification and

[2:00:10] then on December the 5th of 2019

[2:00:13] December the 5th of 2023 again just a

[2:00:15] snapshot in time and then the percent

[2:00:17] changes so unsent spell we went up a

[2:00:19] little bit if you go back to and compare

[2:00:22] December 3rd

[2:00:24] 2019 to December 3rd of 2029 or 2023 um

[2:00:28] it's flat it literally Depends for uncs

[2:00:31] on what day tcj comes and picks up

[2:00:34] prisoners on what that number can look

[2:00:36] at so these numbers can swing 70 80 80

[2:00:39] people um a particular day but I want to

[2:00:41] call your attention to a couple of them

[2:00:43] that are important Court exam uh is up

[2:00:46] two 2% and this is important the state

[2:00:49] has really struggled hhsc has struggled

[2:00:52] with with the weight list to State uh to

[2:00:55] state hospitals ours our catchman area

[2:00:59] goes up to witto Falls and it has

[2:01:01] struggled to um more or less stay

[2:01:04] current with it and we've have over um

[2:01:07] 150 people on that weight list at any

[2:01:09] given time just for ours the state

[2:01:11] during Co actually had to shut down a

[2:01:13] couple facilities uh due to lack of

[2:01:15] Staffing and at one point only had like

[2:01:17] 2third of the beds available on uh

[2:01:20] actually online for that so that's why

[2:01:22] those that number is elevated

[2:01:23] unsentenced felons um again has

[2:01:26] increased by

[2:01:27] 6% uh unsentenced misdemeanors has

[2:01:30] decreased by 4% and I think that's

[2:01:32] directly related to some of the um

[2:01:35] reforms that we've seen since 2019 U

[2:01:38] going forward and but the gel

[2:01:40] populational notice has increased by

[2:01:41] 3.8% again this is a snapshot in time if

[2:01:45] you run the numbers back to to um

[2:01:48] December the 3rd it's 2% up so again

[2:01:50] just looks but broad strokes and ter

[2:01:52] County population has increased by 8.1%

[2:01:54] so I think a lot of combination needs to

[2:01:57] happen to the sheriff and the da and the

[2:02:00] judges for being able to even though our

[2:02:03] population is going up 8.1% over this

[2:02:05] time period jail population has only

[2:02:07] increased by 3.8% so that's something we

[2:02:09] should continue to look at so we're

[2:02:11] going to cover these uh six areas today

[2:02:15] um so first off the criminal justice

[2:02:16] coordinating Council so this has been

[2:02:19] reconstituted after Mr Merritt I came

[2:02:22] aboard as County Administrator we have

[2:02:24] monthly meetings it's a Roundtable style

[2:02:26] uh you can see the membership that we

[2:02:27] have there and we are working through a

[2:02:29] number of different issues that are

[2:02:31] brought by the group um as to discuss

[2:02:34] and work through various items sometimes

[2:02:36] they're handled during the meeting other

[2:02:38] times they hand take a meeting or two to

[2:02:40] resolve but we are actively working

[2:02:42] through and trying to do system

[2:02:44] improvements uh to the criminal justice

[2:02:46] system so

[2:02:47] dashboards

[2:02:49] so we've been working the T County

[2:02:52] administrator's office as well as it I

[2:02:54] know that Criminal Courts administrator

[2:02:56] Administration separately has been

[2:02:57] working on a different project trying to

[2:02:58] get dashboards updated and these are

[2:03:00] public fent dashboards we have internal

[2:03:02] dashboards but we need better public

[2:03:05] facing information so the Jael dashboard

[2:03:07] and the bond dashboard which you see

[2:03:09] snapshots of there the public facing

[2:03:11] version of those dashboards we plan on

[2:03:13] um having online available to the public

[2:03:15] by the end of the month um which will be

[2:03:18] a real um great opportunity as part of

[2:03:21] that uh information we will have

[2:03:23] explanatory notes uh that'll be there

[2:03:26] that you can click and see all sorts of

[2:03:27] different information and explain what

[2:03:29] you're actually seeing on these

[2:03:30] documents because it is complicated the

[2:03:33] court CDA and mental health Dash boards

[2:03:34] are all still in development um and we

[2:03:37] will continue to update you as those uh

[2:03:39] are

[2:03:40] developed middle Health jail diversion

[2:03:43] Center so of the items within the

[2:03:45] criminal justice system that

[2:03:46] Commissioners court and all of our

[2:03:48] stakeholders have to work work through

[2:03:49] during 2024 the middle Health Diversion

[2:03:51] Center is one of the top priorities of

[2:03:53] what we've got to work through first off

[2:03:55] the contract that we have with

[2:03:58] MHMR is up on December 31st of this year

[2:04:02] uh and that's for the operation of this

[2:04:03] it's a $17 million contract uh We've

[2:04:06] expended approximately 59% of those

[2:04:08] funds um as of the last uh invoice that

[2:04:11] we received for November of last year so

[2:04:14] we need to work through um how we

[2:04:17] continue to increase usage of this

[2:04:20] facility so mhm more estimates that the

[2:04:22] monthly that our monthly bed capacity is

[2:04:24] about 400 we'd like to have a Target

[2:04:27] capacity of 330 if we were to set a goal

[2:04:29] what does that monthly look like um and

[2:04:31] we are not hitting it we have not hit it

[2:04:34] uh since the beginning of this project

[2:04:36] uh we have you'll see started very low

[2:04:41] uh but you'll an significant uptick

[2:04:43] starting in May June and July of last

[2:04:46] year those were based on changes that

[2:04:48] were made um to eligibility

[2:04:52] criteria to allow people to go to the

[2:04:54] center and we have seen that uptake also

[2:04:57] the sheriff's department and the CDA has

[2:05:00] been working um laboriously to screen

[2:05:04] individuals as they come into the jail

[2:05:07] so someone from Arlington is um picked

[2:05:11] up and taken into the Arlington's

[2:05:13] Municipal Jail that could have been a

[2:05:15] good fit for the mental health gel

[2:05:16] Diversion Center but they the again just

[2:05:18] is an example they went ahead and took

[2:05:20] them to the Municipal Jail that

[2:05:22] individual as they work through the

[2:05:23] system the sheriff's department will

[2:05:25] come pick them up you know within 24 or

[2:05:26] so hours uh and they get in our jail go

[2:05:29] through booking they are

[2:05:31] identified um and a tremendous amount of

[2:05:34] work goes from once you're identified as

[2:05:36] part of that process and then getting

[2:05:38] them to the mental health gel Diversion

[2:05:39] Center so there's and that's why we are

[2:05:42] seeing that uptake in no the November 23

[2:05:45] data 36 of those 102 individuals were

[2:05:48] deferred directly from the jail um which

[2:05:51] is really the center data is going to

[2:05:52] show even more so this is for so the

[2:05:56] mental health Diversion Center has two

[2:05:57] components of the contract we have the

[2:05:59] actual operations of the contract and

[2:06:00] then secondarily we have a transitions

[2:06:02] program that MHMR works during the

[2:06:04] transition program is for those folks so

[2:06:07] you go to the Diversion Center you stay

[2:06:08] your 48 hours you're stabilized and then

[2:06:11] it's what next so when you're enrolled

[2:06:13] in the transition program they help you

[2:06:15] um find uh the necessary community

[2:06:18] resources to help get you stabilized

[2:06:20] more long term so that's a component you

[2:06:22] can see our monthly enrollment it's

[2:06:24] increased decreased a little bit but um

[2:06:26] it has kind of kept aligned itself with

[2:06:30] um the general uh enroll involvement of

[2:06:34] the criminal justice Coordinating

[2:06:35] Committee so with this slide judge

[2:06:37] Hagerman is going to come and discuss uh

[2:06:40] Bond setting with the court and then

[2:06:41] judge Nik is going to talk about a

[2:06:43] mental health PR Bond program and and uh

[2:06:45] Mr shuger will give us an update related

[2:06:48] to remote video

[2:06:58] magistr good morning Court

[2:07:01] um Judge David hegerman of the 297

[2:07:04] District Court talk about magistration

[2:07:07] and setting of bonds this morning I have

[2:07:10] uh I have some of my cohorts here some

[2:07:13] additional judges as well as staff

[2:07:15] counsel so I I hope you'll allow me some

[2:07:18] leeway if I get something wrong during

[2:07:20] this

[2:07:21] presentation one thing that I am

[2:07:23] absolutely certain of that I am not

[2:07:26] wrong about is the fact that the changes

[2:07:28] that we have made to mag to the

[2:07:31] magistration process since 2015 and

[2:07:36] 2016 have saved this County from a major

[2:07:40] lawsuit uh Russell talked a little bit

[2:07:42] about the litigation uh that has gone on

[2:07:45] in Houston and Dallas and I believe Bear

[2:07:49] County as

[2:07:50] well

[2:07:52] um we knew that we were being

[2:07:55] targeted by uh the person or persons who

[2:08:00] filed those lawsuits Taran County itself

[2:08:03] was being targeted for a

[2:08:05] lawsuit and uh the changes that we made

[2:08:09] to the magistration process to

[2:08:12] centralize it and um do the things that

[2:08:17] had come out of that lawsuit

[2:08:19] saved us from from being sued we know

[2:08:21] that because they told us

[2:08:24] that prior to 2015 and

[2:08:28] 2016 Taran County had not followed the

[2:08:30] law in regards to

[2:08:32] magistration probably for about 50 years

[2:08:35] 1517 of the Texas code of criminal

[2:08:37] procedure mandates how a person is to be

[2:08:42] magistr

[2:08:44] and basically everything was

[2:08:46] decentralized prior to to that um

[2:08:51] probably that was done to ease jail

[2:08:53] overcrowding back in the early 70s and

[2:08:57] 80s but it was illegal and when it was

[2:09:02] discovered we realized there were some

[2:09:04] changes that we had to make hence we

[2:09:07] began the process of central

[2:09:10] magistration magistration is a very very

[2:09:13] important process uh it's the initial

[2:09:17] portion of the criminal justice system

[2:09:19] and many times it's a person's first

[2:09:22] contact with the criminal justice

[2:09:25] system basically after a person is

[2:09:28] arrested uh there are several things

[2:09:31] that have to be complied

[2:09:33] with uh not just with the code of

[2:09:36] criminal procedure but also certain

[2:09:38] reporting

[2:09:39] requirements that uh your state

[2:09:42] government in Austin requires of every

[2:09:45] magistrate that touches a bond prior to

[2:09:48] meeting the defendants the magistrate

[2:09:51] reviews a lot of information this takes

[2:09:54] several minutes not just the PC

[2:09:57] affidavit which they need to review they

[2:09:59] have to

[2:10:00] review uh but the PSA risk assessment

[2:10:04] which is a requirement Now by uh the

[2:10:07] office of Court Administration in Austin

[2:10:10] there's a financial interview as to what

[2:10:12] to determine whether or not that person

[2:10:14] is entitled to an appointed counsel in a

[2:10:18] family uh violence case there is a

[2:10:20] danger assessment and the state mandated

[2:10:24] also uh Public Safety reporting system

[2:10:27] has to be complied with I'll talk about

[2:10:28] that in a moment the magistrate reviews

[2:10:31] all of those

[2:10:33] documents and all documents um are made

[2:10:38] available to in the tech share

[2:10:39] magistration portal at that time the

[2:10:42] magistrate punches a button says it's

[2:10:45] ready for magistration and determines

[2:10:47] what the Bond's going to be

[2:10:49] um that data has to be entered into the

[2:10:53] public safety Reporting

[2:10:56] System um which basically is a reporting

[2:11:00] system to OCA in Austin it's highly

[2:11:04] detailed if it is a shity bond that has

[2:11:07] to be entered if it is a personal bond

[2:11:11] that has to be entered if there are Bond

[2:11:13] conditions each and every Bond condition

[2:11:15] has to be entered every time a

[2:11:18] magistrate or a district judge or a

[2:11:21] County Judge touches a bond in any way

[2:11:25] shape or formed that p uh Public Safety

[2:11:29] reporting system has to be complied with

[2:11:32] and it has to be entered and it's fairly

[2:11:34] time

[2:11:35] consuming once the case is marked ready

[2:11:37] for magistration the next case is

[2:11:40] reviewed by the magistrate and so on and

[2:11:42] so on once the person is brought before

[2:11:45] the magistrate to be magistr there's a

[2:11:47] list ly that that most magistrates go

[2:11:50] through they introduce themselves they

[2:11:52] say I'm your Magistrate Judge uh we're

[2:11:55] going to talk to you about your rights

[2:11:57] and what we're going to be doing today

[2:11:59] obviously all the rights that a person

[2:12:01] has under 1517 the Texas code criminal

[2:12:04] procedure have to be read to them and

[2:12:07] they have to make and the magistrate has

[2:12:08] to make sure that person understands

[2:12:11] there's a question regarding citizenship

[2:12:14] under magistration and under the code if

[2:12:16] that happens and they are not body

[2:12:18] citizen there are certain additional

[2:12:20] warnings that have to be given to that

[2:12:23] person um a conscientious magistrate

[2:12:26] actually goes so far as to give them the

[2:12:29] warnings under the Vienna convention are

[2:12:32] you um are you a citizen if you're not a

[2:12:35] United States citizen here's what can

[2:12:38] happen do you want us to tell the

[2:12:39] government where where you are from that

[2:12:42] you are incarcerated and so on after

[2:12:46] that the person is asked about an

[2:12:47] attorney whether or not they want to

[2:12:49] hire their own lawyer whether or not

[2:12:50] they feel they are entitled to a lawyer

[2:12:53] once that gets done if the financial uh

[2:12:56] assessment has been completed a person

[2:12:58] can be appointed attorney at that

[2:13:01] time they tell what their the person

[2:13:04] accused is told what they are charged

[2:13:06] with and the bond conditions that the

[2:13:09] magistrate imposes are also uh told to

[2:13:14] the accused person at that time certain

[2:13:16] additional wrinkles if there's an

[2:13:18] emergency protective order that is also

[2:13:21] gone over with the accused person at

[2:13:23] that time and if the law allows and if

[2:13:25] the facts warranted a personal Bond can

[2:13:28] be issued also uh under the

[2:13:32] code we have delved into remote

[2:13:37] magistration that is uh allowed for by

[2:13:40] the code now and we've had some success

[2:13:43] with that uh remote magistration is a

[2:13:47] little bit more time time consuming just

[2:13:49] because it takes time to

[2:13:52] get the the the software up and running

[2:13:55] and to have all the documents in place

[2:13:57] at the right time but we are moving

[2:14:00] forward with uh as much remote video

[2:14:03] magistration as we can

[2:14:07] um we magistr I've got a couple of

[2:14:11] numbers

[2:14:16] here

[2:14:18] the um the the magistrates that we added

[2:14:22] as I as I

[2:14:24] [Music]

[2:14:26] stated were added and done not because

[2:14:30] we wanted to increase our

[2:14:32] footprint but because we believed it was

[2:14:34] constitutionally

[2:14:35] required and to avoid the the

[2:14:38] unnecessary litigation that has plagued

[2:14:41] some of these other counties um and we

[2:14:43] did avoid that total magistration

[2:14:46] between

[2:14:48] we

[2:14:51] average about 177 a day is that right

[2:14:55] 177 bonds are set day about 125

[2:14:58] defendants 125 defendants are magistrate

[2:15:01] every day 177 bonds per day are set why

[2:15:06] are there more bonds than defendants

[2:15:08] defendants have multiple charges

[2:15:10] sometimes

[2:15:13] um we magistrate 24 hours a day 7 days a

[2:15:18] week uh there is no on call magistrate

[2:15:21] because we have chosen to uh do that

[2:15:26] process all the time anybody have any

[2:15:30] questions okay thank you

[2:15:39] [Music]

[2:15:44] J good afternoon members of the Court

[2:15:46] bear with me I have a little bit of

[2:15:51] laryngitis when we are setting mental

[2:15:53] health bonds we have to go through that

[2:15:55] same procedure that judge hegerman just

[2:15:58] explained but there are a few added

[2:16:02] twists as Russell explained when we are

[2:16:05] dealing with mental health individuals

[2:16:09] there's a different process in that we

[2:16:11] have jail Navigators who work with

[2:16:15] MHMR that work with these individuals

[2:16:17] determine whether or not they fit the

[2:16:22] code definitions of someone who may be

[2:16:25] eligible for mental health

[2:16:27] treatment or diversion and once those

[2:16:31] jail Navigators have review those

[2:16:34] individuals they will verify their

[2:16:36] criminal

[2:16:37] history and they must determine whether

[2:16:40] or not the person is willing to

[2:16:42] participate in a mental health

[2:16:45] program as you saw our participation in

[2:16:49] sending individuals to the mental health

[2:16:51] Diversion the Justice Diversion Center

[2:16:54] is increasing monthly in December we

[2:16:57] actually beat all of our records by

[2:17:00] sending and maintaining 60 individuals

[2:17:04] in December now there are only 40 beds

[2:17:07] so clearly these are cycling through and

[2:17:10] not staying for the entire month for

[2:17:14] certain MHMR programs they have to show

[2:17:17] the need of housing available to them

[2:17:20] but some of the MHMR programs such as

[2:17:23] the mental health Diversion Center they

[2:17:25] do not have to have stable housing that

[2:17:28] is one of the things that they work with

[2:17:30] them to help provide stable housing drug

[2:17:34] treatment mental health treatment

[2:17:36] substance abuse treatment and other

[2:17:39] things that these individuals may

[2:17:41] need cscd reviews the conditions of

[2:17:45] their bond their treatment plan and

[2:17:47] other conditions that the individual may

[2:17:50] need prior to their being released and

[2:17:53] there is an individual who works with is

[2:17:56] a an employee of cocd who does this

[2:18:00] evaluation prior to a bond being set

[2:18:04] when the bond is set the individual is

[2:18:07] released to supervision through cscb and

[2:18:10] MHMR so there are essentially two

[2:18:13] different groups that we're discussing

[2:18:15] here we have individual and Navigators

[2:18:18] who are reviewing people to go to the m

[2:18:21] Health Diversion Center and we have

[2:18:24] recently started a program we reviewing

[2:18:26] individuals for their ability to be

[2:18:29] released under the code of criminal

[2:18:32] procedure

[2:18:33] 17032 bonds and those include

[2:18:37] misdemeanors and nonviolent

[2:18:40] felonies if they qualify to be released

[2:18:43] under

[2:18:44] 17032 those are the ones that have the

[2:18:47] dual supervision through CSC and mhr now

[2:18:51] please focus on the fact that these are

[2:18:54] nonviolent individuals and they are

[2:18:57] receiving dual treatment as of I think

[2:19:00] it was Friday of last week Commissioners

[2:19:02] we identified 23 individuals who may

[2:19:06] qualify for

[2:19:08] 17032 bonds who are currently in custody

[2:19:12] they were being reviewed by Cheryl

[2:19:14] Bennett Wright and shaqua burns in the

[2:19:18] mental health program to make sure that

[2:19:22] they qualify under the code to be

[2:19:24] released under that

[2:19:27] Bond so I'm very proud of the fact that

[2:19:30] we're really working very hard to get

[2:19:33] the mental health Diversion Center

[2:19:34] filled with appropriate individuals

[2:19:37] those individuals can only at this time

[2:19:40] be charged with certain misdemeanor

[2:19:42] offenses they cannot be charged with DWI

[2:19:46] they cannot be charged with any form of

[2:19:48] assaultive offenses or any type of

[2:19:50] violent offenses right now there are

[2:19:52] only six to seven offenses that qualify

[2:19:56] for diversion into that center now those

[2:20:01] people have to volunteer and they are

[2:20:04] not required to stay but if the DA has

[2:20:07] determined that they qualify for

[2:20:09] diversion to that program and they agree

[2:20:12] to go to the center their cases end up

[2:20:15] being dismissed it is a a little bit of

[2:20:17] a revolving system where we know

[2:20:20] individuals may not stay but the hope is

[2:20:23] that if we get them there often enough

[2:20:26] that they will engage in the services

[2:20:28] that are provide provided and stop

[2:20:31] coming through the jail which is a

[2:20:33] revolving door for many of these

[2:20:36] offenders the 17032 bonds are a little

[2:20:39] bit different in that they do have that

[2:20:42] dual supervision and as long as they're

[2:20:45] competent their cases will will either

[2:20:47] be pled or go to trial if they are not

[2:20:50] competent They will receive different

[2:20:52] types of services and

[2:20:55] dispositions now do remember too there

[2:20:58] are three different mental health

[2:21:01] programs in tant County we have the

[2:21:04] enhanced Mental Health Services Program

[2:21:06] who are mostly for people with low level

[2:21:09] offenses that are not competent and

[2:21:12] we're trying to help them regain

[2:21:14] competency we have the jail-based

[2:21:16] competency restoration and the

[2:21:18] outpatient-based competency restoration

[2:21:21] and we have the mental health diversion

[2:21:23] Court which does accept many different

[2:21:27] types of misdemeanors and felony

[2:21:30] offenses right now we're trying to plan

[2:21:32] to have two mental health diversion

[2:21:35] courts and perhaps expand the type of

[2:21:38] individuals that we serve but that is

[2:21:40] still in the works do you all have any

[2:21:45] questions all right thank you very much

[2:21:47] thank you judge thank

[2:21:50] [Music]

[2:21:58] you I'll be real quick um with

[2:22:02] partnership with County Administration

[2:22:04] Criminal Courts have been able to expand

[2:22:06] video magistration throughout the county

[2:22:09] uh what's important is that 70% of

[2:22:11] defendant that get magistr remotely book

[2:22:14] out uh book out remotely and never get

[2:22:16] book back in jail and the reason for

[2:22:18] this is as we evolve the program it ends

[2:22:20] up being the lowlevel risk defendants

[2:22:23] that end up being video magistr

[2:22:25] defendants that require any type of

[2:22:27] electronic monitoring or or have an have

[2:22:30] a mental health issue get Shi get bust

[2:22:33] and where the treatment is where C can

[2:22:37] supervise them or MHMR can do a more

[2:22:39] comprehensive review uh over this last

[2:22:42] year just counting book in and book out

[2:22:45] that 70% say uh was some soft Savings of

[2:22:49] $600,000 a year of not actually

[2:22:51] physically booking these people in and

[2:22:53] out of jail that figure each day we're

[2:22:56] actively Ma you all can read a

[2:22:57] PowerPoint but we're we're actively

[2:22:59] magistra in our larger cities where our

[2:23:01] regionals are we have some on demand

[2:23:03] cities and we're continuing to expand

[2:23:06] and right now we're actively working

[2:23:08] with great find White Settlement and

[2:23:10] Ulus White Settlement and Ulus are

[2:23:12] becoming Regional jails uh due due to

[2:23:15] Central magistration and how we're

[2:23:17] handling things uh local police law

[2:23:19] enforcement agencies are shutting down

[2:23:21] their holding facilities and and they're

[2:23:23] being centralized Ulus will handle heru

[2:23:25] with Bedford and White Settlement is

[2:23:27] handling that part of Taran

[2:23:29] County any

[2:23:32] questions thank

[2:23:37] [Music]

[2:23:42] you the legislature has made some

[2:23:45] changes last session and commissioner

[2:23:46] rire and speaker Garen and Senator King

[2:23:49] all played a huge role in getting HP

[2:23:52] 2620 across the goal line which allows

[2:23:54] for the state to reimburse us for

[2:23:56] prisoners held over 45 days so if it is

[2:23:59] a state prisoner that's held over 45

[2:24:01] days we're entitled to State

[2:24:03] reimbursement for that individual um as

[2:24:07] always just because the law is passed

[2:24:08] doesn't mean that the law is passed and

[2:24:10] it happens we have gone through the rle

[2:24:12] making process um and so hopefully

[2:24:14] within sometime within this fiscal year

[2:24:16] we'll see

[2:24:17] those opportunities but what that bill

[2:24:20] also did not just allowing us a

[2:24:22] mechanism for reimbursement but

[2:24:24] encouraged um T TDCJ to be very active

[2:24:27] in picking up prisoners and so across

[2:24:29] the state Statewide um the number of

[2:24:32] State Prisoners has decreased in county

[2:24:34] jails because no one wants to have to

[2:24:36] reimburse counties for that funding

[2:24:38] compy restoration beds as we mentioned

[2:24:40] previously in the presentation um State

[2:24:43] the state weight list to go to the State

[2:24:44] Mental Health hospital is long and and

[2:24:47] they it State continues to struggle so

[2:24:49] the session they authorized $ 150 beds

[2:24:52] at the cost of $92 million for the buy

[2:24:54] Anum of local compy restoration beds

[2:24:57] MHMR received 23 of these beds so and

[2:25:00] they're currently in the contract with

[2:25:02] or currently in the process of contract

[2:25:04] negotiations with hhsc to draw down

[2:25:06] those funds and then be able to in local

[2:25:09] facilities have folks that are meet

[2:25:12] certain criteria to come out of the jail

[2:25:13] and instead of going to W Falls or

[2:25:15] Vernon well it be only which to Falls

[2:25:17] they could go to a local uh facility for

[2:25:19] contract for competency restoration

[2:25:22] again reducing the load in our jail

[2:25:23] getting some of the most complicated

[2:25:25] individuals that we have in the in the

[2:25:26] in our gel facilities out and getting

[2:25:28] the help that they need and then finally

[2:25:30] we continue to work with hhsc on the

[2:25:32] State Mental Health Hospital study for

[2:25:34] Taran County um going back and forth and

[2:25:36] in various issues so that'll come to a

[2:25:38] head next legislative session so next

[2:25:41] steps for

[2:25:43] 2024 increase uh Municipal remote uh

[2:25:45] video magistration participation as well

[2:25:48] increasing usage in the mental health

[2:25:49] gel Diversion Center implementing the

[2:25:52] pre-booking system with law enforcement

[2:25:54] agencies and that's a system to where um

[2:25:58] law enforce leas before they um or more

[2:26:01] or less before they uh put someone on

[2:26:03] the bus to go to the county jail have to

[2:26:05] enter in more information so we get more

[2:26:06] information on the on the front end

[2:26:08] rather than on the back end Contin to

[2:26:11] develop the public criminal justice

[2:26:12] dashboards uh renovating the cold

[2:26:14] springs facility uh from a low security

[2:26:17] to medium security facility and then

[2:26:19] continue to develop those system

[2:26:21] enhancement through the criminal justice

[2:26:22] coordinating Council and with that we're

[2:26:24] happy to take any

[2:26:26] questions any questions for

[2:26:29] Russell I've got a comment that I would

[2:26:33] like the judges present to

[2:26:39] hear and that is that from the various

[2:26:44] dashboards that we get on a regular

[2:26:51] basis there appear to

[2:26:54] be a number of persons in our County

[2:26:59] Jail on a DA daily B

[2:27:02] basis with

[2:27:05] bonds

[2:27:07] under

[2:27:11] $5,000 charged with nonviolent

[2:27:15] misdemeanor cas

[2:27:18] es it appears to me that anybody who

[2:27:23] fits that

[2:27:29] description and is still in

[2:27:31] jail is there simply because they're too

[2:27:36] poor to write a check to get

[2:27:42] out that

[2:27:45] is an Abomination as far as I'm

[2:27:49] concerned judge

[2:27:51] negam shouldn't we do our little best to

[2:27:54] give

[2:27:57] sorry you and I both have squeaky voices

[2:28:00] this

[2:28:01] [Music]

[2:28:04] morning it's my by-ear bout of

[2:28:07] laryngitis um we do our level best to

[2:28:10] give as many personal bonds to

[2:28:12] misdemeanor defendants when they hit the

[2:28:15] jail they certain offenses that do not

[2:28:19] qualify um we are still under the orders

[2:28:23] that assaultive and demestic violence

[2:28:25] offenses do not apply uh for personal

[2:28:29] bonds I've seen personal Bonds on

[2:28:33] everything from DWI Misa repetitions on

[2:28:38] down so I would love to have any list of

[2:28:43] those offences brought to my attention

[2:28:45] and I will personally look at them and

[2:28:49] see what those bonds are set at because

[2:28:51] 5,000 is generally way too high for a

[2:28:54] misdemeanor nonviolent

[2:28:56] offense I'm happy to review them and I

[2:29:01] personally will reset the bonds or see

[2:29:03] if they're eligible for personal bonds

[2:29:06] I'll take that task

[2:29:08] on my point judge

[2:29:10] negam is

[2:29:13] [Music]

[2:29:15] that and anyone

[2:29:18] who

[2:29:22] qualifies for

[2:29:25] a personal

[2:29:29] Bond should be given a personal Bond I

[2:29:33] agree sir and should not just be laying

[2:29:35] up in the jail I agree sir um it is

[2:29:40] possible that some of those folks have

[2:29:42] pending felonies and that may be

[2:29:44] withholding them but if all they have is

[2:29:47] a nonviolent misdemeanor I agree with

[2:29:49] you sir they shouldn't be sitting in

[2:29:50] jail well I'd certainly be interested in

[2:29:54] sitting down with you and going through

[2:29:57] the list so that we can both

[2:30:02] understand what's at play here I'd be

[2:30:05] happy to do so

[2:30:07] sir just name a time and we'll do it

[2:30:11] thank you all any other questions or

[2:30:14] comments I have some

[2:30:17] um so

[2:30:19] um thank you Russell that was

[2:30:22] informative and the judges uh quite

[2:30:26] [Music]

[2:30:28] um I appreciate some of the data and

[2:30:31] statistics that you used as I have found

[2:30:35] that criminal justice data and

[2:30:38] statistics are very hard to come by at

[2:30:41] least for

[2:30:42] me in this County at the moment and I'll

[2:30:45] I'll touch on that in a second so you

[2:30:48] had your data comparing predominantly

[2:30:51] 2019 and 2023 with regard to our jail

[2:30:55] population and two aspects stood out to

[2:30:58] me

[2:31:00] there first a positive aspect our

[2:31:04] unsentenced felony jail numbers dropped

[2:31:08] from 3% of our jail population in

[2:31:12] 2019 to 1% of our jail population in 20

[2:31:17] three and that's

[2:31:19] fantastic um as you guys have heard me

[2:31:22] say many many times we do not need to

[2:31:25] have people who are accused of lowlevel

[2:31:28] misdemeanor sitting in our jail so I I

[2:31:32] commend the judges handling misdemeanors

[2:31:36] for doing things like improving

[2:31:38] clearance rates um as well as issuing

[2:31:41] more personal recognizance bonds that

[2:31:44] are likely res resulted um in that

[2:31:48] reduction so I see what you're doing and

[2:31:50] I I thank you guys

[2:31:53] um so that's that's the positive and

[2:31:56] then the not so positive our unsentenced

[2:31:59] felonies are actually they they've

[2:32:02] actually increased between 2019 and

[2:32:06] 2023 by

[2:32:08] 6% and that increase is representative

[2:32:11] now of a whopping

[2:32:13] 63% of our jail population

[2:32:16] so if you think about that for a minute

[2:32:19] 63% of our jail population is

[2:32:23] pre-trial accused of felonies but not

[2:32:26] yet convicted of

[2:32:29] anything um and you know some people

[2:32:31] will tell me that's just how it is

[2:32:35] there's no other way to do it and we as

[2:32:38] a county simply can't bear the risk no

[2:32:40] matter how small uh our risk assessment

[2:32:44] says it might be of some some

[2:32:47] people uh being released pre-trial to to

[2:32:51] Rampage around our County and I I say

[2:32:54] that's nonsense and it's completely

[2:32:56] irresponsible

[2:32:58] fiscally um you know I'll quote

[2:33:02] Harvard's Malcolm weiner Center for

[2:33:04] social policy that says despite

[2:33:07] significantly lower crime rates than

[2:33:11] what existed in the United States in

[2:33:13] 1970 current rates of pre-trial

[2:33:16] detention are five times higher than

[2:33:20] they were 50 years ago and that's the

[2:33:23] domestic historical

[2:33:25] context now if you look at the Modern

[2:33:29] Global context currently the United

[2:33:32] States pre-trial detention rate is the

[2:33:35] highest in the world it's 50% higher

[2:33:40] than in Russia which is the second worst

[2:33:44] um so I don't I don't know about you

[2:33:46] guys but um I don't consider Russia any

[2:33:50] great liberal Bastion of confinement

[2:33:53] policy and being dead behind them is is

[2:33:57] pretty sad so bottom line it sounds like

[2:34:00] we need to do better than 63% of our

[2:34:03] jail population being

[2:34:05] pre-trial felony confinement in this

[2:34:07] County that's bad by comparison with our

[2:34:10] own history and that's terrible in

[2:34:14] relation to the rest of the world now so

[2:34:17] that's what I'll continue to strive for

[2:34:20] here um and on that note I do have a

[2:34:22] couple of questions and these can be for

[2:34:24] whoever feels best place to answer them

[2:34:27] given that our trend lines seem to be

[2:34:29] going in different directions with

[2:34:31] regard to pre-trial confinement and

[2:34:33] misdemeanors and felonies what is

[2:34:36] attributable to the reduction in

[2:34:39] pre-trial misdemeanor

[2:34:44] confinement did they leave you

[2:35:01] commissioner Simmons simply put personal

[2:35:04] bonds yeah yeah that's what I thought do

[2:35:08] we

[2:35:10] um have better clearance

[2:35:13] rates with we do okay we do

[2:35:16] um you have several brand new judges who

[2:35:19] are working very hard the judges who

[2:35:21] have been here are working very hard um

[2:35:25] as a team our clearance rate has gone

[2:35:29] considerably higher than it was in the

[2:35:31] past few years Co hurt us but most of us

[2:35:36] have caught up or are very close to

[2:35:38] catching up to the numbers we have

[2:35:41] previously um just as an example my

[2:35:45] contest do ET which are triable cases

[2:35:48] that attorneys have asked for jury

[2:35:49] trials I have about 20 cases total of

[2:35:53] attorneys asking for trial and I have a

[2:35:56] pending number of

[2:35:57] 2200 oh okay so I there's a lot at play

[2:36:03] commissioner but I think the short

[2:36:05] answer is that

[2:36:07] okay um all right so I I have another

[2:36:12] question gets my earlier comment about

[2:36:15] data in this County I I think it was

[2:36:19] back in October maybe September I asked

[2:36:23] my staff to research the clearance rates

[2:36:26] for courts handling felonies versus

[2:36:28] misdemeanors they they couldn't get a a

[2:36:31] good fix on that because following the

[2:36:34] TCH share migration I'm told that we

[2:36:37] don't have that

[2:36:39] data um I'm also told that we had been

[2:36:42] unable since the texure migration to

[2:36:44] provide our statuto required OCA reports

[2:36:48] to the state I'd like to first ask

[2:36:50] County Administration if that is

[2:36:53] true if we have not reported to OCA

[2:36:55] since the uh go live court that is

[2:36:59] correct we have not reported I believe

[2:37:01] that uh with where we are on the cleanup

[2:37:03] of that data uh I think Tech Shar has

[2:37:05] actually made the recommendation to the

[2:37:07] clerks uh to report what we have uh I'll

[2:37:10] see if either of the clerks want to

[2:37:11] comment on that but my understanding is

[2:37:13] the the 40 categories with regards to OC

[2:37:15] reporting have been CED up they have I

[2:37:17] believe validated that data and uh to

[2:37:20] the best of their ability and I think

[2:37:22] the recommendation has been made to

[2:37:23] start transmitting that data okay so we

[2:37:25] went live was that end of April May one

[2:37:28] yes

[2:37:30] ma'am and okay we've

[2:37:34] not reported OCA to the state since then

[2:37:38] that's correct we went through a similar

[2:37:40] transition uh last time we did a

[2:37:41] transition from how we reported to OCA I

[2:37:44] think it was also 7 to9 months in that

[2:37:46] same transition so very similar in U in

[2:37:49] scope okay tell me again when we expect

[2:37:51] that to be resolved uh I would hope

[2:37:53] within the next 30 days or so that will

[2:37:55] be transmitting clerks again if y'all

[2:37:57] received any different information from

[2:37:58] me that's the last i' heard from our it

[2:38:01] department is it here or should the

[2:38:03] clerks answer that or or

[2:38:06] it let's see Russ do you have any

[2:38:10] [Music]

[2:38:11] comment come on up bruss Russ holds a

[2:38:14] weekly meeting uh on wday with regards

[2:38:16] to where we are on Tex share so but uh

[2:38:20] the latest that we have from the tech

[2:38:22] share development team is they are

[2:38:23] anticipating getting the final Kinks uh

[2:38:27] in the reporting worked out in the next

[2:38:28] 30 to 40

[2:38:31] days today is the 9th so February 9th

[2:38:36] February 20th they're meeting they're

[2:38:39] meeting almost daily uh with the uh

[2:38:41] Clerk's offices uh to work through the

[2:38:44] issues and clean up the data

[2:38:47] okay well I I for one just don't feel

[2:38:50] great about being out of compliance with

[2:38:53] the state Mandate of that kind or any

[2:38:55] kind especially when it relates to

[2:38:58] transparency we'll comment ma'am on that

[2:39:00] just so you know we've actually

[2:39:01] discussed directly with OCA on this

[2:39:03] issue and they have assured us they want

[2:39:06] us to make sure that the data is correct

[2:39:07] before we transmit and they said that

[2:39:09] the delay that we put in there they are

[2:39:11] they are certainly okay with uh The

[2:39:12] District Clerk's Office on a monthly

[2:39:14] basis sends an email to the fact that

[2:39:16] they are still working through it and

[2:39:17] OCA responds and lets us know that again

[2:39:20] please transmit when the data is correct

[2:39:22] oh okay thank you and my final question

[2:39:27] pertains to the mental health aspect of

[2:39:28] this brief and I think judge Nim

[2:39:31] probably hit on it I was processing some

[2:39:34] things I'm going to ask again um and

[2:39:38] maybe this is for Mr schugar or or judge

[2:39:41] n is there anything we can do pertaining

[2:39:43] to magistration that would dreamline the

[2:39:46] mental health

[2:39:49] process

[2:39:52] I'll

[2:39:55] okay

[2:39:57] well commissioner that specifically we

[2:40:00] do have some projects in the works uh um

[2:40:05] that could streamline the mental health

[2:40:06] process we I think it been sitting on

[2:40:09] the it steering committee since 22nd

[2:40:12] which is a tech share uh merging the uh

[2:40:15] mental health alert system and the Tex

[2:40:18] share magistration so that those are two

[2:40:20] disparate systems that if they were

[2:40:22] merged into just Tex share magistration

[2:40:24] we were able to um quickly route people

[2:40:27] in the system uh through texture

[2:40:29] Integrations to the the dockets that uh

[2:40:32] judge Nim talked

[2:40:35] about so what does a timeline look like

[2:40:40] for what you just suggested a texture

[2:40:42] merger of mental health alert system we

[2:40:45] went through the uh crimin the crimin

[2:40:47] courts went through the it steering

[2:40:48] committee process and it is uh I don't I

[2:40:52] will don't get I use the terms

[2:40:53] incorrectly but I think it's been

[2:40:55] removed off the backlog and it's

[2:40:56] currently being investigated I know that

[2:40:58] it we have an IT steering committee

[2:41:00] coming up at the the end later this

[2:41:03] month that it'll be addressed again but

[2:41:05] it's in cue to move forward but it

[2:41:08] hasn't moved

[2:41:12] forward all okay so new timeline I've

[2:41:17] been told about mental health parabond

[2:41:20] and I'd like to know what is needed to

[2:41:22] improve our

[2:41:23] efficiency refie eligibility for those

[2:41:27] well again that's where right now we

[2:41:28] have two dispair that's where the where

[2:41:30] if was all merged that the magistrate

[2:41:32] was aware of everything that is going on

[2:41:33] with the defendant at the time of

[2:41:35] magistration is that we uh there

[2:41:38] statutory requirements for the law

[2:41:39] enforcement agency or the jail as a law

[2:41:42] enforcement agency to notify the

[2:41:43] magistrate of the mental health uh right

[2:41:46] now we have two disparaged systems that

[2:41:47] don't talk to each other so the

[2:41:49] magistrate may not know about the mental

[2:41:51] health uh alerts that have been put in

[2:41:53] front of them when they are doing

[2:41:54] magistration they may learn about it

[2:41:56] later by looking at the mental health

[2:41:58] alert system so the idea of those two

[2:42:01] items being tied together will expedite

[2:42:03] to those defendants into the proper

[2:42:05] dockets and when you look at the

[2:42:07] Timeline I mean the longterm timeline to

[2:42:10] get us in line to get to the state

[2:42:11] hospital the sooner a defendant that

[2:42:13] needs to get to the state hospital if we

[2:42:15] can recognize them early get them to the

[2:42:17] right path and into our compy dockets we

[2:42:19] could either not go to the state

[2:42:21] hospital or we can start getting them

[2:42:23] treatment prior to that or get them on

[2:42:24] the list sooner so as as I don't as to

[2:42:29] as judge hegerman said the the critical

[2:42:31] point in the criminal justice system is

[2:42:34] first time you deal is at magistration

[2:42:36] where where they can be routed and the

[2:42:38] more information the magistrate has to

[2:42:41] make a better decision about that

[2:42:43] defendant the the the best chance chance

[2:42:45] of of success for that defendant system

[2:42:47] or also expedited into the criminal

[2:42:49] justice system as well if if they need

[2:42:51] to be prosecuted so all that happens at

[2:42:54] magistration and the more information is

[2:42:56] happening at magistration uh it's in the

[2:42:58] best interest of the entire system thank

[2:43:01] you sir we to my fellow Court members we

[2:43:05] we just cannot continue to um turn a

[2:43:09] blind eye toward the software and IT

[2:43:12] issues with

[2:43:13] regard to

[2:43:15] texier and criminal justice um

[2:43:19] management um we we've got to we've got

[2:43:22] to do something um but thank

[2:43:26] you all right any other questions a

[2:43:32] comment would seem to be focused

[2:43:36] on

[2:43:38] [Music]

[2:43:40] magistration when it comes to getting

[2:43:43] people to the mental health jail

[2:43:46] diversion

[2:43:50] Center

[2:43:53] ideally the system is set up and it

[2:43:56] works

[2:43:58] best

[2:44:01] nationally when the officer in the

[2:44:06] field makes the

[2:44:09] decision to take that

[2:44:13] person to treatment

[2:44:15] rather than to

[2:44:21] incarceration it the system when it

[2:44:25] works

[2:44:29] properly saves the county

[2:44:33] money it saves US money

[2:44:38] on book in book

[2:44:44] out

[2:44:47] daily care and feeding

[2:44:54] costs that's if

[2:44:58] the

[2:45:00] arreste never

[2:45:02] hits the sally port at our

[2:45:06] [Music]

[2:45:11] jail we can go at it as at

[2:45:17] work and make it

[2:45:21] work but by doing it that

[2:45:25] way we're occur we're

[2:45:29] occurring costs that do not need to be

[2:45:36] encouraged and we

[2:45:40] are not giving the

[2:45:44] arrestes the benefit of

[2:45:48] treatment there's not enough treatment

[2:45:50] in the county jail for the number of

[2:45:54] persons that are there and the

[2:45:59] state's

[2:46:01] emphasis seems to be

[2:46:06] on restoration of

[2:46:11] Competency rather than

[2:46:14] treating

[2:46:16] persons on an outpatient

[2:46:20] basis

[2:46:21] [Music]

[2:46:24] um whenever we encounter

[2:46:30] them if we're going to use all our

[2:46:35] state mental health

[2:46:39] bids to get someone restored to

[2:46:44] competency so that we can try them for

[2:46:47] their

[2:46:50] offenses that that's a model

[2:46:54] [Music]

[2:46:57] for

[2:46:59] continuing the county

[2:47:01] jail as the largest provider of Mental

[2:47:05] Health Services in the county which is

[2:47:09] where we don't want to

[2:47:13] be so let's take a look again at the

[2:47:17] mental health jail diversion

[2:47:21] Center and see if we can make it work

[2:47:23] the way it's supposed to

[2:47:25] work that will lower our jail

[2:47:32] census it

[2:47:35] will have more

[2:47:38] direct

[2:47:40] benefit

[2:47:42] quicker to

[2:47:45] the mental

[2:47:48] health

[2:47:51] patient save us

[2:47:55] money commissioner uh just to maybe

[2:47:59] clarify a couple things from from your

[2:48:01] comments um I'd be a Miss if I didn't

[2:48:04] mention the um

[2:48:06] incredibly the amount of effort that the

[2:48:08] criminal District Attorney's office has

[2:48:10] put into engaging and educating our law

[2:48:13] enforcement agencies across Ross the

[2:48:15] county and it's not that they have gone

[2:48:17] out for one meeting at each one it's a

[2:48:19] continual effort that they have going to

[2:48:22] meetings going to shift changes

[2:48:24] educating trying to make sure that the

[2:48:27] officers the police Chiefs um the

[2:48:30] sergeants all of the the folks within

[2:48:33] Command Staff are aware of this mental

[2:48:35] health gel Diversion Center um so I

[2:48:38] don't think it's a lack of awareness

[2:48:40] within the Lea's because the DA's office

[2:48:43] has done a tremendous job and I think

[2:48:45] what we're

[2:48:46] seeing with the jail with the Sheriff's

[2:48:51] Office being the the ones that are

[2:48:53] shifting the folks over to the Diversion

[2:48:54] Center that are diverting um two

[2:48:57] thoughts on that one the sheriff's

[2:48:59] office when someone comes into the jail

[2:49:01] the sheriff can't release them once

[2:49:04] someone comes into the jail it's either

[2:49:05] the judges or the DA's office are the

[2:49:07] only ones that can get them um somebody

[2:49:10] to to be released that's not the

[2:49:11] sheriff's decision so the sheriff Works

[2:49:14] tirelessly and his and Chief eer and

[2:49:16] others to get those folks identified and

[2:49:19] through the system and even back up as

[2:49:22] part of stuff that's already been done

[2:49:24] um to get them shifted over so yes the

[2:49:27] way that it's currently working is very

[2:49:31] laborious but with the center being

[2:49:34] there and the impetus to make it work

[2:49:37] everybody's doing double time to get

[2:49:39] this thing to get the center um as full

[2:49:42] as we can get it and and we have some

[2:49:43] real challenges as we move for well I

[2:49:45] recognize that the criminal District

[2:49:48] Attorney's office

[2:49:53] has performed a

[2:49:56] Herculean uh task of trying to

[2:49:59] get police agencies up to

[2:50:05] speed but it's going to be a longterm

[2:50:10] process uh as you indicated it can't be

[2:50:14] just a one or two time

[2:50:18] hit the more comfortable we

[2:50:22] can get the local command

[2:50:26] staffs to be with the jail

[2:50:30] diversion

[2:50:32] concept the more

[2:50:34] successful the program is going to be

[2:50:37] and we just have to keep at

[2:50:43] it all right any other questions or

[2:50:45] comments from the court we do have a

[2:50:47] speaker on this I just want to applaud

[2:50:50] you Russell uh and the rest of our staff

[2:50:53] for doing what you've done thus far I

[2:50:56] know that you're working hard on

[2:50:57] publicly facing dashboards that we asked

[2:50:59] for you're working hard on a lot of the

[2:51:01] things a lot of the information that the

[2:51:03] court has asked for and in context in

[2:51:06] the grand scheme tan county is doing a

[2:51:09] great job when you look at the

[2:51:11] population increasing by 8.1% but the

[2:51:13] jail population only increasing by 3.8

[2:51:16] that's great when you look at the fact

[2:51:18] that Harris County's jail population is

[2:51:20] about 23% or 2% of their

[2:51:25] population bear counties

[2:51:28] 22% Dallas counties 23% Taran counties

[2:51:32] .19 we're lower than all the other major

[2:51:36] counties in Texas in our jail population

[2:51:38] relative to our population uh and that's

[2:51:41] something that should be celebrated I

[2:51:43] agree we should always try try to get

[2:51:44] better um but at the end of the day it's

[2:51:47] personal responsibility that matters and

[2:51:50] folks that are committing crimes that

[2:51:52] are dangerous to our society we can't

[2:51:54] just let them out because we want to so

[2:51:56] I I applaud what y'all are doing I

[2:51:58] applaud the delicate balance that our

[2:51:59] judges have to have to exercise whenever

[2:52:03] they're setting bonds because ultimately

[2:52:05] Public Safety must come first uh so

[2:52:08] those are my comments I think that we're

[2:52:10] doing a good job and it should be

[2:52:11] celebrated thanks for the

[2:52:13] report all right thank thank you Russell

[2:52:15] thank you

[2:52:16] all all right speaker for this is jyn

[2:52:19] Jackie

[2:52:23] Cox judge if you could wait to start my

[2:52:28] until distributed would help me because

[2:52:31] I'm going to be speaking in reference to

[2:52:43] these okay the first page of the handout

[2:52:47] that I made for you can you hear me now

[2:52:49] thank you much fa thank you the first

[2:52:52] page of the handout that I made for you

[2:52:55] came to me from the DA's office in

[2:52:57] response to a public information act

[2:53:00] request I think it is the update of the

[2:53:03] dashboard for the chil which was

[2:53:06] referred to in one of the

[2:53:08] presentations and what you can see is

[2:53:10] that it's for a date certain it's for

[2:53:12] Wednesday November 22nd

[2:53:15] 23 and it shows an inmate count in the

[2:53:19] jail of

[2:53:22] 3,751 if you flip down to the next chart

[2:53:26] which was the one that was presented to

[2:53:28] you uh or was prepared by Mr

[2:53:32] Shatner he shows an inmate population on

[2:53:36] December 5th of

[2:53:39] 4,256 and that's 500

[2:53:42] off and that's a big deal because 500

[2:53:46] off is the price of the Garza contract

[2:53:49] which is almost $100,000 for two year

[2:53:52] I'm sorry almost $100 million for two

[2:53:55] years it's $10 million a month or $12

[2:53:59] million a month it just kind of ranges

[2:54:01] but it's a lot of

[2:54:03] money so we need to figure out what

[2:54:07] happened to the 425 inmates and it looks

[2:54:11] like if you flip down to the back that

[2:54:13] really if you added 465 inmates from

[2:54:17] Garza to the numbers that bring the

[2:54:20] state to a total of

[2:54:24] 3,751 you come out with something a lot

[2:54:27] closer so I think it is the Garza

[2:54:29] population that just got not put into

[2:54:32] the the the population statistics that

[2:54:36] we get on the dashboard what I can't

[2:54:39] tell is how those population statistics

[2:54:43] translate into into the cost per day

[2:54:46] figures one of my requests here is for

[2:54:51] more specific information about sources

[2:54:55] of data and sources of

[2:54:58] cost uh I I think I know what some of

[2:55:01] this stuff means but I spent a lot of

[2:55:03] time looking at it and wondering well am

[2:55:06] I right or wrong you know is for example

[2:55:09] category number 16 court exam 316

[2:55:13] inmates

[2:55:14] actually the people who are waiting for

[2:55:17] diagnosis on mental health issues or is

[2:55:20] it something else if 307 inmates is also

[2:55:24] a very high price tag at $85 a day times

[2:55:28] 30 days a month you see how that one

[2:55:31] rolls up into big numbers and so what

[2:55:35] I'm hopeful for is that someone who

[2:55:38] prepares your dashboard will be able to

[2:55:41] provide me with a list of what the very

[2:55:44] variables really mean because when I

[2:55:46] asked for it I got it we don't keep that

[2:55:49] response thank you thank you all right

[2:55:52] do we have any announcements or comments

[2:55:53] from the Commissioner's

[2:55:56] Court all right seeing none we move to

[2:55:58] public comments I have four people

[2:56:01] signed up to speak first is Katherine

[2:56:10] [Music]

[2:56:13] Godby

[2:56:15] [Music]

[2:56:17] thank you good morning or afternoon uh

[2:56:20] today I simply wanted to remind us of

[2:56:22] this story January 15th

[2:56:25] 2020 a young woman 21 years old four

[2:56:28] months pregnant is having a mental

[2:56:30] health crisis it's bad enough that her

[2:56:33] mother becomes concerned for her

[2:56:34] grandchild growing in her daughter's

[2:56:36] body following the protocol she's been

[2:56:39] given the mother calls 911 requesting an

[2:56:43] involuntary commitment of her daughter

[2:56:44] to JPS she needs mental health treatment

[2:56:48] and this is exactly what you were

[2:56:50] talking about commissioner Brooks when

[2:56:51] the officers arrived the mother's

[2:56:53] concerned that what she's requested will

[2:56:55] be ignored and she was correct instead

[2:56:58] of help this 21-year-old woman is

[2:57:00] arrested and taken to tan County

[2:57:03] Jail during her five months there she

[2:57:06] does not have a single court date

[2:57:09] apparently the mental health treatment

[2:57:10] that she receives is if any is in compl

[2:57:14] completely ineffective because she

[2:57:16] decompensates and her condition

[2:57:18] deteriorates so severely that by the

[2:57:21] time she gives birth she is actually

[2:57:25] nonverbal my understanding is that jail

[2:57:27] staff was told they knew that when the

[2:57:30] time came she would not be able to

[2:57:32] communicate or perhaps even herself know

[2:57:35] that she was going into labor May 17th

[2:57:38] 2020 alone in her jail Cale she goes

[2:57:41] into labor She Bangs on the window to

[2:57:43] get a assistance but no one comes the

[2:57:46] baby girl is born on the floor of this

[2:57:49] jail Cale her brain is severely damaged

[2:57:52] from lack of oxygen May 27th 2020 the

[2:57:56] baby is declared brain dead and at just

[2:57:59] 10 years 10 days old this newborn baby

[2:58:03] dies the young woman's family requests

[2:58:06] that she be allowed compassionate RS to

[2:58:08] attend the funeral of her baby the

[2:58:11] request is

[2:58:12] denied Kent County reasonably enough is

[2:58:15] being sued for what happened the young

[2:58:18] woman is Chassidy conas her baby was

[2:58:21] zenora it's possible that not every

[2:58:24] aspect of this story is completely

[2:58:26] accurate I took the details from various

[2:58:28] news reports but as a whole I think it

[2:58:30] is completely it is accurate so what

[2:58:33] will the ending of this story be you our

[2:58:36] elected officials have the power to do

[2:58:38] the right thing for chassid and her

[2:58:40] family to settle this case so that her

[2:58:42] family can provide her with the medical

[2:58:44] and mental health care that she needs

[2:58:47] she's not a criminal from what I can

[2:58:49] glean she did nothing wrong but because

[2:58:52] of the actions and inactions at an

[2:58:54] institutions that you're responsible for

[2:58:56] a baby is

[2:58:59] dead my understanding is that U you're

[2:59:02] refusing or yeah refusing to settle this

[2:59:06] case I urge you to do the right

[2:59:10] thing I don't know the amount of the

[2:59:12] lawsuit that what the lawsuit's asking

[2:59:15] for but whatever it is in my view it's

[2:59:18] not enough thank you thank you it it's

[2:59:20] case

[2:59:21] settled nothing is final at this point

[2:59:23] judge but okay there will be something

[2:59:25] for the court to approve when if when

[2:59:27] there is a settlement yeah all right Nan

[2:59:29] Terry is

[2:59:42] next

[2:59:57] Russell I want to Echo the commissioner

[3:00:00] Court the Commissioners who've spoken

[3:00:01] about the wonderful job you've done on

[3:00:03] the presentation for the costs in the

[3:00:05] jail it's difficult to go through that

[3:00:07] data and I appreciate you presenting it

[3:00:09] in a format to this court thank you

[3:00:12] um

[3:00:15] as you can see from the chart that um I

[3:00:18] just handed Russell the numbers are

[3:00:19] close I took three statistics classes in

[3:00:22] a college two an undergrad one in uh

[3:00:26] graduate school and my favorite uh

[3:00:29] Professor had a a book that he loved how

[3:00:32] to lie with Statistics

[3:00:34] and but it but it does show you that you

[3:00:39] know numbers are numbers but I I don't

[3:00:40] think these are statistically

[3:00:42] significantly different there are some

[3:00:45] differences uh one I'd call you I think

[3:00:47] we're using different databases the

[3:00:50] unsentenced felons um your numbers are

[3:00:53] 2681 but it's a 272 difference between

[3:00:57] the open records act request in October

[3:00:59] or in November 13 days and 272 seems

[3:01:03] like a lot of people to have unsentenced

[3:01:05] felons in that short time I think we're

[3:01:07] maybe pulling data from a different

[3:01:09] place um but the thing

[3:01:11] I come about with this is references and

[3:01:16] consistency and omissions um the

[3:01:20] references I really applaud you Russell

[3:01:22] on having a your dashboard have a place

[3:01:25] where you can click and get more

[3:01:26] information um I'd

[3:01:28] also offer up when I in my prior career

[3:01:32] before we would go deploy a system to

[3:01:35] the public we would try to quote break

[3:01:36] that system with people who didn't know

[3:01:38] anything about it or volunteers and I

[3:01:41] don't know that you'd ever accept it but

[3:01:42] I would offer my uh re if you want you

[3:01:45] know how to find me I'll volunteer to

[3:01:47] help break the system before you go live

[3:01:49] if that would be beneficial um the other

[3:01:51] thing I'd like to note

[3:01:54] is the uh references which I did and the

[3:01:57] omissions um we don't know the image

[3:01:59] alar costs we don't know the cost of the

[3:02:02] settlement costs we don't know the cost

[3:02:05] of legal cost that I spoke to in my

[3:02:07] earlier presentation today so there are

[3:02:09] a lot of costs that I don't think are

[3:02:11] covered by these costs for the jail and

[3:02:13] until we can get a real number on what

[3:02:15] the costs are we really don't want to

[3:02:17] know what that number is this and I

[3:02:20] really appreciate you putting up the

[3:02:21] dashboards for the other dashboards that

[3:02:24] are out there I I actually pulled these

[3:02:26] two pages in uh that I just handed out

[3:02:30] this is from the public safety report

[3:02:32] system at the very bottom is a citation

[3:02:34] if you can pull it up for yourself uh

[3:02:36] you can I just chose Taran County and I

[3:02:39] chose two month one month and then the

[3:02:41] last year what I'd really like you to to

[3:02:43] see is this bottom number Class C

[3:02:46] misdemeanor thank you why are we

[3:02:47] spending 136 for Class C misdemeanors

[3:02:51] which have a $500 time time is up we're

[3:02:53] confing thank

[3:02:55] you uh we'll have we'll just start

[3:02:57] turning off the microphones we have to

[3:02:59] please respect the time um Daniel

[3:03:02] Bennett is

[3:03:10] next Daniel Bennett White Settlement uh

[3:03:14] judge uh

[3:03:16] Court let's review the Tad election

[3:03:19] shall we we had seven candidates one

[3:03:21] candidate argued values for homeowners

[3:03:24] with as far as I could discern uh

[3:03:28] through open records request he didn't

[3:03:29] file agent uh of record form and receive

[3:03:33] donations for his efforts potentially uh

[3:03:35] sending it to a nonprofit another

[3:03:38] candidate elected as an elected official

[3:03:41] potentially used his office to earn

[3:03:44] their position on the Tad board which is

[3:03:46] against the government code then we had

[3:03:49] a gentleman school

[3:03:51] system uh Arlington ISD who cast their

[3:03:55] ballot on their third open meeting which

[3:03:58] is a violation of property tax code and

[3:04:00] their 453 votes shouldn't count but I

[3:04:03] understand through Janice Joplin the

[3:04:05] mayor of kennel showing me her letter

[3:04:07] yesterday all of Arlington's ISD votes

[3:04:10] counted how nice and then we had a

[3:04:14] sitting director at that meeting on that

[3:04:17] third meeting asking for those illegal

[3:04:19] votes which which is shocking because

[3:04:23] they're they pledge of fidelity to the

[3:04:25] property tax system they're sitting on

[3:04:26] the dis we go to these meetings with the

[3:04:30] understanding they're protecting our

[3:04:31] rights because you guys elect them all

[3:04:35] right not Stellar for the incoming

[3:04:37] directors we're trying to restore

[3:04:39] transparency and accountability here

[3:04:42] this is not a very good start gentlemen

[3:04:44] but let's move forward because we need

[3:04:46] to restore confidence in our appraisal

[3:04:48] district that's why I'm here today not

[3:04:51] to bore out all the inconsistency and

[3:04:54] lack of fidelity that I've witnessed

[3:04:55] over the last seven years we're going to

[3:04:57] start with the DA's

[3:04:59] office back in February 23 of 2018 I

[3:05:03] asked for

[3:05:04] four interviews four

[3:05:07] whistleblowers it was in the summer of

[3:05:09] 2018 I asked for this uh in 2016 they

[3:05:12] gave interviews in 2018 I asked for the

[3:05:15] interviews they shot a letter to the

[3:05:17] Attorney General's office that

[3:05:21] 78846 was the Attorney General number

[3:05:23] given to the request it was to

[3:05:27] suppress the documentation from me so I

[3:05:30] could not make it public they sought

[3:05:32] relief under

[3:05:43] tigation that did not result in a

[3:05:45] conviction or defer adjudication they

[3:05:47] didn't investigate it they never opened

[3:05:49] an investigation so they falsely sought

[3:05:51] relief from the Attorney General's

[3:05:53] office on a false premise so my

[3:05:57] my my beest of you

[3:06:00] today have the District Attorney's

[3:06:02] Office release all four 16 hours so we

[3:06:06] can say a snapshot in time what was

[3:06:08] going on at the appraisal district and

[3:06:10] we can start to become transparent and

[3:06:12] accountable to the people that pay our

[3:06:14] taxes and hold property values thank

[3:06:16] thank you uh next and last signed up is

[3:06:19] lon

[3:06:22] [Music]

[3:06:27] Burnham good afternoon I want to back up

[3:06:30] to 10:00 this morning it's the Court's

[3:06:33] custom to congratulate people on their

[3:06:35] anniversary date and I don't think

[3:06:37] anybody's congratulated the three of you

[3:06:39] on your first anniversary date so I want

[3:06:41] to thank you for your service

[3:06:43] um I particularly want to thank uh the

[3:06:46] Applause is

[3:06:49] deafening you took seconds away from me

[3:06:52] judge so let's get on with it look I

[3:06:55] hope your first year has been as

[3:06:56] interesting to you as it's been to me I

[3:06:59] started to come to the court last fall

[3:07:01] before you be began your service here

[3:07:03] talking about my concerns about the way

[3:07:05] the sheriff's department has run talking

[3:07:07] about my concerns about the excessive

[3:07:09] death rate concerns about excessive

[3:07:12] incarceration over excessive period of

[3:07:14] times uh we all know it's used is the

[3:07:16] largest Mental Health institution here

[3:07:19] which is really

[3:07:20] unfortunate I really appreciate

[3:07:22] Russell's work I think this represents

[3:07:25] progress for all of us I really

[3:07:27] appreciate commissioner Simmons uh

[3:07:29] public town hall meeting I hope my

[3:07:31] commissioner will do the same thing um

[3:07:33] because I think we need some broad

[3:07:36] public discussion about the problems in

[3:07:38] our jail not cutting off citizen

[3:07:41] participation after 3 minutes I want to

[3:07:45] make it real

[3:07:46] clear I'm pissed about the waste of my

[3:07:50] time on October 30th when I went to the

[3:07:53] central Jury Room with over 200 other

[3:07:56] people when I was informed that oh your

[3:07:59] services are not needed you're dismissed

[3:08:02] because there are 30 judges that are not

[3:08:03] holding court today that speaks to the

[3:08:07] very real issue that a lot of people

[3:08:09] know the judges are not working a

[3:08:11] 40-hour work week and they're getting

[3:08:13] paid way too much for the the time that

[3:08:16] they don't spend on the bench getting

[3:08:19] the job done I also want to make another

[3:08:21] point that self-evident to most of us

[3:08:24] that if tried to deal with a loved one

[3:08:28] or a friend who has a drinking problem

[3:08:31] you cannot get an alcoholic to recognize

[3:08:35] your problem and do something about it

[3:08:37] until they're willing to admit there is

[3:08:40] a huge problem here I want you all to

[3:08:44] recognize that you are not doing an

[3:08:46] adequate job admitting that we have a

[3:08:49] huge problem here and we are not going

[3:08:52] to fix it until you guys get more

[3:08:53] serious about it because the citizens

[3:08:55] can come up here and talk for three

[3:08:56] minutes and be rudely interrupted at

[3:08:58] about three minute

[3:09:00] point from now to Kingdom come but we're

[3:09:03] not going to fix the problem till the

[3:09:04] sheriff's department and Leadership

[3:09:06] recognizes it we're not going to fix the

[3:09:08] problem until the judges recognize

[3:09:09] they're not doing their job and we're

[3:09:11] not going to fix it until the

[3:09:12] commissioners Court recognizes the same

[3:09:14] problem I'm going to give you 15 14 13

[3:09:16] seconds

[3:09:18] back all right that's all that we have

[3:09:20] signed up to speak is there anyone else

[3:09:21] in the audience who would like to

[3:09:24] [Music]

[3:09:39] speak good afternoon my name is Billy

[3:09:42] Wilson from Arlington

[3:09:44] Texas humans be

[3:09:46] human a fact of life while we are

[3:09:49] capable of great Humanity we are all

[3:09:51] equally capable of great inh Humanity to

[3:09:53] govern with these two capabilities we

[3:09:55] create rules laws and institutions our

[3:09:57] democracy rest on the government by the

[3:09:59] people and for the people you are the by

[3:10:02] the people we are the for the people you

[3:10:05] are uh there should not be enity between

[3:10:07] the two groups we come recognizing it is

[3:10:09] our duty to engage with you to inform a

[3:10:11] more perfect union in that Spirit we

[3:10:13] have come and will continue to come and

[3:10:15] we will not not just as critic but as

[3:10:18] partners we wish to engage you in the

[3:10:20] dialogue of problem solving problems

[3:10:22] like chasty kanes she was implematic of

[3:10:25] the property of our County Jail

[3:10:26] Administration who on April 17th was

[3:10:28] granted the right to proceed with a

[3:10:30] civil rights lawsuit against Taran

[3:10:31] County Jail it began with the person

[3:10:33] diagnosed with mental disorders was

[3:10:35] instead of being transported to JPS was

[3:10:37] jailed in several months without

[3:10:39] adequate care or mental treatment a

[3:10:41] child named z CH in court document died

[3:10:45] after birth in the jail cell the mother

[3:10:47] was then denied the request to attend a

[3:10:49] child's

[3:10:51] funeral humans be

[3:10:53] human we feel that this is not just the

[3:10:55] failure of our protocols but Community

[3:10:57] oversight of our institutions I'm very

[3:10:59] happy to see the work that you're doing

[3:11:01] and we hope to work with you to try to

[3:11:03] work through all this data to come up

[3:11:04] with Solutions so we've come to do our

[3:11:07] part raise concerns and offer Solutions

[3:11:10] we ask for a shift from investment to

[3:11:11] prisons into an investment in programs

[3:11:14] my research shows that 30% of the

[3:11:16] offenses in our are fall into two

[3:11:18] categories DWI and Family Violence We

[3:11:22] Believe to focus on addressing the

[3:11:23] mental health issues fully implementing

[3:11:25] the diversion program efficient

[3:11:27] magistration and proper attorney to

[3:11:29] discretion uh district attorney to

[3:11:31] discretion will go far in eleviating our

[3:11:33] jail overcrowding and we have we can cut

[3:11:37] off the flow but we need less buckets we

[3:11:41] can do better we Dem man to do better

[3:11:43] and we will do better thank you thank

[3:11:46] you is there anyone else who wishes to

[3:11:48] speak all right seeing

[3:11:49] [Music]

[3:11:51] none uh we will please remain silent

[3:11:54] while I read the following statement the

[3:11:57] Commissioner's Court will now recess the

[3:11:58] Open Session and proceed to close

[3:11:59] session to discuss items exempt under

[3:12:02] 55171 072 074 076 087 and 0725 of the

[3:12:09] Texas government code we are in

[3:12:11] recess

[3:48:08] e

[4:00:03] all right good afternoon we are back

[4:00:04] from executive session there are no

[4:00:06] items that need to be addressed now that

[4:00:08] we've reconvened so I'll entertain a

[4:00:10] motion to adjourn so move have a motion

[4:00:12] a second please cast your

[4:00:15] votes all right we have our three at

[4:00:17] least so passes three to Zero from those

[4:00:20] present we are now adjourned happy New

[4:00:22] Year thank you for

[4:00:26] watching all

[4:00:37] right

Commissioners Court 1/9/2024

Transcript