Commissioners Court - Regular Meeting

If you will please all rise.

Let's bow. Heavenly Father, thank you for another beautiful day that you've made. We love and adore you for what you do for us and how you lead us in every way. We pray today for our neighbors who in Houston may be dealing with flooding. We pray for our neighbors, Lord, that are unhoused and looking for shelter. We pray for our neighbors, Lord God, who are needing strength and security dealing with mental health crises. We pray, Lord, that in every area of our community, whether hunger or housing, in every area, that you would help us to meet the needs. We see, Lord God, all things that are necessary, and we come today to communicate to wrestle with the options. And today, we need your guidance. Teach us today. Show us today. Help us today that we make right decisions that you would give to glory and honor. In the name of Jesus, I pray.

Amen. Thank you, sir. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America.

and indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Honor the Texas flag.

I pledge allegiance to thee, Texas, one state, under God, one and indivisible.

All right. Will you please call the vote?

Commissioner Inglesby? Here. Commissioner Cohen? Here.

Commissioner Hammer? Here. Commissioner Smith? Here. Judge Becerra?

Here. All right. We have a few individuals signed up to speak, and if you will call their names, they'll each get three minutes. Start a timer for them, and when the timer goes off, please conclude your sentence.

Jessica Kane?

Thank you, Judge Becerra and commissioners. My name is Jessica Kane, and I serve as the director of neighborhood engagement at Southside Community Center. We're excited to be present today for the Homeless Awareness and Hunger Action Proclamations. It is vital that our county leadership recognize the challenges that our neighbors face every day in food and housing insecurity. From now until October 10th, you have a variety of opportunities to learn more about food and housing insecurity, homelessness, and the challenges in addressing them, and the work in making a difference. I invite you to consider attending the learning opportunities throughout the month. Perhaps Hays County leadership could help stack the map with a food drive, or provide meals, undergarments, or hygiene kits at Southside through the week of October 5th. You've already been invited to attend our burger cook-off, and I hope to see you all there. All of these opportunities give our community the chance to engage with the real experiences of at least 20% of our Hays County residents. This daily struggle of finding access to essential needs. We have all felt the burden of rising food, gas, and housing costs. For those for whom there was already no wiggle room in the budget, these rising costs present an impossible calculation. Do I eat today? Do I pay my rent? Put gas in the car? Every day, social services work to fill these gaps, but every day, more people find themselves making such choices. Hays County Social Services funding has not increased in years, and we are woefully behind the need. Meanwhile, federal supports are disappearing, and prices continue to rise. This court has the opportunity this month to improve the quality of life of tens of thousands of residents. No amount of proclamations can create a solution for poverty, food insecurity and homelessness. But you have the power to invest in social service agencies like Southside, where we are asking for 250,000 less than 1.1% of the total county budget to help 200 families maintain or enter stable housing in 2027. Let's put taxpayer money where it belongs, in creating safer, healthier, and more stable community for all people. A proclamation is nice to have, but without actual investment by the court is worth less than the paper on which it is printed. Thank you for your time.

Amy Camp.

Good morning, Judge Becerra, county commissioners. My name is Amy Camp, and I'm a resident of San Marcos. I'm here today, again, to ask this court to reconsider expanding your axon contract. I understand that we heard a lot of different opinions about Axon at the last meeting, but I would like to reiterate again that in my opinion, Axon is worse than Flock. I don't have time, y'all don't have time for me to list every reason, but I think first of all, Axon's growing monopoly over law enforcement surveillance means that we're increasingly dependent on a single, unaccountable, for-profit company to do the work of law enforcement. And any monopoly over these types of surveillance services would be dangerous. But in Axon, we're dealing with a company that has numerous ethical problems, that has partnered with companies whose tech is used to carry out the genocide in Palestine, and that receives millions of dollars to contract with ICE and VHS, and whose ethics were famously resigned. And it's true, Axon does not currently have a national lookup feature like Flock, which is what has made it so easy for people to access Flock's data all over the country. But the important thing to remember is that when an unaccountable surveillance tech company owns our data, that can change at any time. Because what's valuable to Axon, make no mistake, is our data. Everything that they sell, the AI services, the cameras, any of that, those are just entry points. The point is the data, because the data is what is valuable to these companies. That is their business model. They cannot survive without ownership and control over it. And I know that when it comes to this particular budget, that what's listed doesn't sound so bad. And again, I totally agree that we need translation services. I don't think this is the right venue for that. I really think we need to keep in mind every dollar that we spend on surveillance tech is money that could be going to our urgent community needs, such as Jessica mentioned. I really want to thank Pastor Todd for his beautiful invocation. We are wrestling with our options. And we do need to look within. We do need to look to whatever God we might pray to and really consider what we're doing here. I really appreciate Jessica saying we need actual investment by the court. And so what I don't think we need to be doing is to be rubber stamping you know, another contract expansion would be excellent. I really think we need to think very carefully about expanding their monopoly over our law enforcement services and instead focus on what is important, our community and their needs and invest in that instead. Thank you.

Daphne Tenorio.

Good morning. For the record, Daphne Tenorio, your Hays County Treasurer. Judge Becerra, Commissioners, I wanted to take a few minutes this morning to update the court on the IRS matters our offices have been working through. As you know, I have previously discussed some of these IRS compliance issues and our abatement issues and efforts with the court. Today, I want to provide an update on where those efforts currently stand. When I first took office in January of 2023, there were several outstanding IRS issues from the previous administration that we began to identify and address. I want to emphasize that these are all not one issue, even though they have become a part of a larger IRS process. The most significant matter we're currently working on resolving involves two penalties assessed in 2025. These penalties arose when my office attempted to electronically process the 2022 W-2s with the IRS filing system. We were unable to do so because we did not have the IRS passwords and usernames. Now, normally you would think that'd be an easy process, but in order to get a password and username with the IRS, it can take over 30 days. We attempted to retrieve them from the previous treasurer, but we were unable to do so. Luckily, I had the forethought to ask for an exemption on electronic filing and received an IRS letter stating that we could provide the filings by paper, which we did. Generally, a county of our size is required to file electronically. In May of 2025, we received a letter from the IRS to meet with an assigned revenue officer. In that meeting, the revenue officer requested the 2022 information along with a formal abatement request. Members of my staff personally delivered the supporting documentation and electronic records to the assigned revenue officer. And we have documentation confirming the delivery. Our office has been actively working with the IRS to have these penalties abated, reduced, and or eliminating all of the penalties. Since then, the process has taken several turns, including last fall's federal shutdown and furlough, a period when the original revenue officer was unavailable, and an eventual reassignment to a new revenue officer. During that transition, the materials we provided the IRS had been misplaced, and we duplicated the information to the IRS once again. Our staff has continued following up throughout the process. During a discussion with the first revenue officer, we were told she had approved the application for abatement. We never received a formal letter. The government shut down and during this time frame. In January, this revenue officer noted our abatement had been denied. However, she couldn't find a letter from the denial department as we questioned why we had not received one. In June, after extensive discussions with the new revenue officer, he narrowed down what was needed from the county to three months of additional information. When electronic transmission wasn't possible because of technical and security limitations, a member of our staff first physically delivered that information to the IRS office in Austin. The revenue officer also stated that our abatement had been denied and the IRS had sent us to a letter. We noted we had not received a letter. The revenue officer contacted the department that had denied the abatement for this letter, and they were unable to provide one. A denial must be received in writing, or it has not been denied. On July 27th, representatives from the treasurer's office, auditor's office, payroll office, and general counsel met with the revenue officer to review the history of the matter. At the conclusion of that meeting, he did not request any additional information from the county.

Stephanie, you've got to wrap it up.

Okay, almost there. So as of today, we've provided everything. The revenue officer is continuing his review, and we have a next follow-up meeting on September the 15th, and we are actively working towards it. The conclusion. Thank you.

Thank you. Judge, one moment. I would just say this is a presentation that needs to be done.

We're going to have it on the next agenda.

Okay. If not, I'll place it on the next agenda. It's already on there.

It's already on there. I just wanted an update for you.

She just provided an update and it took a little longer than expected. Sorry, folks. And thank you, Daphne. Next person.

Diane Hervel.

My name is Diane Hervol and I'm a Hays County resident. However, today I come to speak before you as the President of Emergency Services District Number 9. I want to address some important misconception regarding the ongoing litigation involving ESD 9 and the San Marcos Hays EMS. The district has consistently attempted to resolve this matter through mediation since the temporary restraining order was filed at the end of June. In July, the nonprofit agreed to participate in informal mediation, but then canceled. Sorry, my phone switched. The non-profit agreed to participate in formal mediation but then canceled. The non-profit later agreed to mediation scheduled for August 26th but again indicated that it would not participate. Because the district continued to seek a resolution, a motion was filed asking the court to order mediation. After that motion was filed, the city of San Marcos intervened in the case. Even then, the non-profit still would not agree to mediate. We now understand the city of San Marcos communicated to the nonprofit that mediation should occur. And mediation is currently scheduled for September 3rd, this Thursday. The facts matter here. The district is not the party preventing mediation or resolution. There are numerous documented communications showing the district's attorney repeatedly asking the nonprofit to mediate and asking it to provide dates that would work. Those requests often receive no response. The nonprofit position was that it would only mediate if the city agreed. The city ultimately agreed. So as you consider this matter today in executive session, I ask that you look carefully at the actual timeline and documented efforts made by the district to resolve this dispute. The district has been attempting to get everyone to the table since the beginning. It is important that the public and the court understand the distinction and not place responsibility for delays or the lack of earlier mediation on the district. Thank you.

Thank you, ma'am. That concludes our public comments. Next we will move on to presentations. And I just wanted to make a quick announcement in case some of you are watching or sticking around for agenda items. I have been asked to table, which means not open, I-4 K-9, K-10, and K-11. Those will not be opened today. If anyone is here for or online for those items, we will not be opening them. Please open F-1.

F-1, Presentation of August 2026 Service Awards.

Good morning, Commissioners and Judge. My name is Mariah Pacheco. I'm the Employment and Compensation Coordinator with the Hays County Human Resources Office. This morning, we are honored to recognize and celebrate the employees who have reached significant milestones in their years of service with Hays County. We will begin with one year of service.

And if you hold your applause until the end, and as they call your name, please come up here for a group pick of all the one year of service folks. Thank you.

With the County Administrator's Office, we have Geneve Kitts, Jason Faulkner with County Clerk, Holly Prestige with County Clerk, Jasmine Navarro with the District Attorney, Anza Unwali with the District Attorney, Isabel Hart with the Health Department. Isabel Vigil with the Health Department. Holly Campbell with the Sheriff's Office. Julia Correll with the Sheriff's Office. Eric Hastings with the Sheriff's Office. Jacob De La Garza with the Sheriff's Office. Fatima Placina with the Sheriff's Office. Soledad Reyes Hernandez with the Sheriff's Office, and Rachel Lewis with Transportation. And that is all for one year of service.

Look at all these ladies.

I love it. I love it. Look at right here. One, two, three.

One, two, three.

Now with five years of service, we have Carmen Glover with the Auditor's Office, Lynette Hensworth with Development Services, Troy Orman with Development Services, Cyrus Morgan with the District Attorney's Office, Cassidy Kirkpatrick with District Attorney's Office, Yolanda Gonzalez with District Courts, Kimberly Hilsenbeck with Emergency Management, Johnny Prado with Juvenile Detention Center, Gloria Salas with Juvenile Detention Center, Gabriela Salazar with Judicial Services, Aracely Bustelos with the Sheriff's Office, Victor Guajardo with the Sheriff's Office, and Brittany Tobias with the Tax Office. And that is all for five years of service.

Right over here.

One, two, three. One, two, three.

Thank you, guys. Thank you very much.

Thanks so much.

With 10 years of service, we have Frank Schultz with Emergency Management, Crystal Morris with Information Technology, Dennis Creighton with the Sheriff's Office, and Abraham Palermo with the Sheriff's Office. And that is all for 10 years of service. With 15 years of service, we have Rebecca Mullen with the Elections Office and Steve Avalos with the Sheriff's Office. And that is all for 15 years of service. With 20 years of service, we have Ronnie Torres with the Sheriff's Office and Adam Prendergast with the Transportation Department. With 30 years of service, we have Marshall Reif with the Sheriff's Office.

30 years. Good year since the 90s. Love it. Over here. One, two, three.

One, two, three. With 35 years of service, we have Julissa Villalpando with the Sheriff's Office. And our August retirees, we have Ivy Saunders with 26 years of service in the Transportation Office. We have Amelia Flores with 18 years in the Health Department. And Martin Gonzalez Jr. with 20 years of service in the Sheriff's Office.

All right. Please open F2.

F2. Adopt a proclamation honoring Lieutenant Colonel Retired Carl Trim on the occasion of his 100th birthday and recognizing his 22nd years of distinguished military service to the United States of America. So moved.

Second.

Thank you. And you have a proclamation there. You will please read it.

proclamation observing September 2nd, 2026 as a Lieutenant Colonel Carl trim day of service. Whereas Lieutenant Colonel retired Carl trim is distinguished American veteran who will celebrate his hundredth birthday on September 2nd, 2026 and whose remarkable life of service service span spans world war two, the Korean war and cold war. And whereas as he reaches this extraordinary milestone of a hundred years, Lieutenant Connell, Trim stands as a living example of patriotism, sacrifice, perseverance, and devotion to our country. And whereas Lieutenant Colonel Trim represents a generation of Americans who understands the call to serve during some of the most consequential conflicts and periods of our nation's history, dedicating 22 years of life to the defense of freedom through honorable service in both United States Navy and the United States Army. Now, therefore, be it resolved that the Hays County Commissioner's Court does hereby recognize and honor Lieutenant Colonel Retired Carl Trim on this occasion of his 100th birthday, September 2nd, 2026, for his extraordinary and distinguished service to the United States of America and for a lifetime defined by courage, leadership, sacrifice, and dedication to his fellow citizens. Be it further resolved that the citizens of Hays County are called upon to join in celebrating this remarkable milestone in recognizing Lieutenant Colonel Trim's service during World War II, the Korean War, and the Cold War, and to express their deepest appreciation for his lasting legacy of 22 years of honorable military service. and witness whereof the Hays County Commissioner's Court hereby honors Lieutenant Colonel Retired Carl Trim as he celebrates his 100th birthday on September 2nd, 2026, in recognition of a century of life and an extraordinary legacy of service to his family, his community, and the United States of America, adopted on this first day of September, 2026.

Beautifully done. Please call the roll.

Commissioner Hammer? Yes. Commissioner Inglesby? Yes. Commissioner Smith?

Yes.

Commissioner Cohen?

Yes.

Judge Becerra?

Yes. Congratulations. The mic is yours.

You do not know how honored I am to be here. My Bible tells me, as the young pastor said, my Bible tells me and my God tells me to honor your government at all levels, especially at this level. What an honor it is to be here. What an honor it is to hear you read a proclamation with my name in it. I've served so many people, and I saw so many people, and I saw so many people that didn't come home. Those are the ones that I honor each and every day, and I thank you for having me here to represent them, if I just may represent them. I don't want to talk too long. I just want to tell you that it is a supreme honor for me and my family to be here and hear you read that proclamation. Thank you very much for reading it, ma'am. It was so good. And I know that I'm standing here with my hat on, and you're not allowed in the military to wear your hat indoors. But they said, you want to take pictures, so. And my last thing I'd like to say is, for years, I used to say, get those geezers and those old people out of the way and let me get in there. And now I are one. Thank you again. I would like to take just a minute, Judge, if you don't mind. I would like to present you, each one of you, a coin of my life from age 17 to age 40. And every bit of this is my complete military operations throughout the world. I was all over the world, and this represents the world as well as Korea, and my military uniform in the Second World War in the Navy. So if I may ask someone or may I come up forward?

Absolutely. And come on up because we want to take a group picture. Please. Thank you so much.

Thank you. Thank you. And now we stand under God. Right here. Let me sign this.

He's a very humble man and he doesn't boast about his military career but he joined the Navy as a sub chaser as a young man 17 towards the end of World War II and then in Korea he saw a lot of action. He was in the Chosin Reservoir and then later in the landings and then Chong. He then served a life in the precursor to the Special Forces there in South America, where he medically retired. Two quick stories about Carl. In 2018, we organized a Hays County Honor Flight. And him, myself, and our former state rep, Jason Isaac, we walked around the entire National Mall to the point where Jason Isaac and I were tired. And then every Veterans Day, there was a hanger dance at the San Marcos Airport. And you'll see Carl there dancing the night away in his uniform. A World War II veteran in 2026 is a very, very rare thing. A veteran like Carl and the heart and the man that Carl is is even a more rare thing. And it's just so, what an amazing day we get to honor you here today. And we have some cake downstairs. Well said. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

One, two, three. One, two, three.

Beautiful. Thank you so much. And we have two copies here, okay?

One, two, originals. Thank you. What an honor. Thank you for your service. Thank you so much. Most grateful. Thank you so much.

Thank you very much. Yes, sir.

I'm so, so, so glad that we were able to just meet.

I'm so glad that you, I'm good to see you.

Thank you. Oh, yeah, don't bring him to court with me. Oh, thank you. Sorry, I didn't catch you.

Please open F3.

F3. Adopt a proclamation recognizing September 10 through October 10, 2026 as Homeless Awareness Month. So moved.

Second.

Proclamation recognizing September 10 through October 10, 2026 as Homeless Awareness Month. Whereas September 10 through October 10 marks the observance of Homeless Awareness Month, a month dedicated to raise awareness, a deeper understanding that homelessness is a situation and not an identity. And whereas the homeless correlation of Hays County recognizes both visible and less visible form of homelessness, including circumstances not fully captured by the annual one night count known as the point in time count. and whereas individuals and families throughout Hays County may experience homelessness in many forms, including living without shelter, staying in temporary accommodations, residing in vehicles, or sharing housing because safe and affordable housing is unavailable, and whereas the County of Hays recognizes an inherent right of all individuals to safe, stable, and affordable housing, and whereas the County of Hays is committed to working with their community partners to address the needs of those experiencing homelessness and to explore and implement effective strategies to prevent and end homelessness in their community, such as coordinating a collaborative plan of action with the support of Homelessness Coalition of Hayes County, developing affordable housing, and advocating for policies that support a path to stable housing for all. And now, therefore, be it resolved that the Hayes County Commissioner's Court do hereby proclaim September 10th through October 10th as Homeless Awareness Month. in Hays County and encourages all residents to learn more about the challenges of homelessness, consider ways to support local organizations to end homelessness and advocate for policies and programs that promote stable housing and dignity for all members of the community. Adopted this the first day of September, 2026.

Well done, please call the roll.

Commissioner Hammer? Yes. Commissioner Inglesby? Yes. Commissioner Smith? Yes. Commissioner Cohen? Yes. Judge Becerra?

Yes. And we have someone here to speak on this proclamation. If you'll state your name and title for the viewing public.

Hi, I'm Lisa Young, and I am the co-chair of the Hayes County Homeless Coalition. And with me is Doug.

I'm Doug Mudd. I'm the executive director of Community Action, but I'm also co-chair of the Homeless Coalition as well.

And we'd like to thank you for highlighting this issue. I know we come up here a lot. We always get a warm welcome, and we're grateful for that. But this is obviously so crucial. It's a small portion of our population, but absolutely the most vulnerable. And we're going to have Erica come up here to tell you about some of the great... They have a committee that the coalition has put together to do activities for the month, to... to learn together, to help lead together. And I really hope that you as our county leaders will participate in some of those to deepen your understanding to what work needs to be done in this county. But before she comes up, I'd also like to thank you for the work that you've assisted us in so far, particularly Mike Jones and his office that have been meeting with us to make some strides in our emergency response system for our homeless population.

Also, I'd like to say a few things. For one, I just also want to reiterate what Lisa is saying here is that we appreciate the support and absolutely for spreading the awareness of homelessness in our area. We absolutely want to eradicate homelessness. We don't want one person to be homeless in our community in Hays County. So that's what we're fighting for is zero people homeless. And I just want to say a little bit about our coalition. We have a variety of people because homelessness is very complex, as you all know. And it requires multiple solutions and a variety of ways to end it. And so our coalition is comprised of a variety of services. We have nonprofit organizations, housing and other social services, municipalities, veteran services, school districts. We have, of course, private residents. Hayes County Health Department is doing an exceptional job. churches, drug and alcohol recovery services, mental health, and many others I haven't mentioned. So absolutely. And I'd like to invite the commissioners to come to our coalition meetings. I know that you're aware of them. You're on our list. And I'd also like to extend the invitation to become a board member. We'd love to have you on our board. We absolutely would. So thank you for that. pass it over to Erica to talk about the events. Thank you.

Good morning commissioners.

My name is Erica Rosa and I am here as a member of the Homeless Coalition, the Hays County Homeless Coalition. So I'm sure it's not lost on any of you that there's a certain irony in needing a homelessness awareness month. The people experiencing homelessness and housing instability in Hays County are already here and the organizations serving them encounter these realities throughout the year. The challenge before us is not simply to become aware that homelessness exists, but to build sustained relationships, coordination, and shared responsibility needed to respond effectively. Throughout Homelessness Awareness Month, the Homeless Coalition of Hays County is inviting our community to move from awareness to understanding, participation, and action. These events are not only opportunities to raise awareness, they also support the coalition's ongoing work to strengthen coordination across Hays County to better understand how people experience our service systems and to develop clear pathways to housing and other forms of support. Awareness is important, but our larger goal is to translate that awareness into a more connected and effective community response. I have three events that I would love to see all of you at. On Wednesday, September 9th, we will hold an in-person coalition meeting featuring a session on sequential intercept model mapping, which you guys are, I'm sure, familiar with. The event will take place from 3 to 4.30 p.m. at the First Presbyterian Church in San Marcos. We invite each commissioner, as Doug said, or a designated representative to begin participating in our monthly coalition meetings. Consistent county representation would strengthen communication and help connect this awareness effort to practical county-wide coordination. On Monday, September 4th, we invite you to attend a Lunch and Learn featuring a panel of community members with lived experience of homelessness. This event will be held from noon to 1.30 at the San Marcos Public Library. Finally, on October 8th, we will be hosting a poverty simulation. If you're not familiar with what a poverty simulation is, it's where you basically get to experience what it's like to live in poverty. You get an assigned situation and then you have to then go through the process of what that individual would experience. This will take place from 8.30 a.m. to noon at the Wimberley Community Center. And in case you don't remember everything I just said, you may use the QR codes on the event flyer that you have been provided to register, volunteer, purchase tickets, or find additional information. We hope everyone will choose at least one way to learn, participate, or support our neighbors during homelessness awareness month.

Thank you. Wonderful. Thank you very much. Commissioner Inglesby?

Oh, thank you. I just want to thank the Homeless Coalition and the other local organizations that work really hard to bring awareness to help prevent and stop homelessness. You know, I really appreciate the love, the dedication, and attention you all put to this very important matter. So thank you all for the work.

I just want to thank the coalition too for all the hard work that y'all do on a daily basis. It's definitely a passion, you know, that you are concerned about or you wouldn't do it and I definitely understand. I participated in that simulation last year and it was very eye opening to navigate or not being able to navigate resources, right? And so hopefully I can participate in that again. But I do want to thank all the work that all the organizations do around homelessness. Commissioner Hammer.

A lot of what y'all do, you don't get compensated for, and a lot of it's volunteer work, and a lot of it's just strictly from the heart. And I appreciate all the things that y'all do for, again, one of the most vulnerable populations that we have in our area. Stack the Mac is probably the cutest thing I've ever heard for a volunteer drive or a food drive But I really do appreciate you guys and what you do every single day, and it doesn't go unnoticed Commissioner Smith

I think that our community probably doesn't understand the just breadth of the folks who work with y'all's organization and how many organizations here in our community participate in it throughout the year. We always try to promote the point-in-time census, and y'all have done a phenomenal job with that. It breaks my heart when people think that's the one thing y'all do each year, because we know so much better. And it's not a problem that is just around once a year. We don't do this proclamation once a year just to recognize that it's a problem now. I mean, it truly is a growing issue in our community. And the more population we get, the larger that issue is going to get. And really addressing it at this point is going to serve us much, much better. It will be more well for our community if we can address it now as opposed to waiting until we have a larger issue. So I appreciate everything y'all do.

Thank you, Commissioner. As the county judge for eight years, I've learned that homelessness is I love how it was worded in the moment here. It's a situation, not an identity. I love that. That is exactly on point. And I think. I've learned so much as county judge, seeing the whole 350,000 people. I don't need the simulation. I know what it's like to live broke. I know what it's like to struggle, so skip that one for me. But I did not know all the ways the judicial system can be modernized through our public defender's office and through all the other things that we've done as a county to support homelessness, because by the time someone's homeless, they've passed through three to five other barriers where we could have caught them. And so I've learned that, and I'm grateful. I will forever be grateful for all the lessons that I've learned sitting in this chair of the court position and learning so much thanks to all of your training, all of your presentations, and everything I've sat through. I am eternally grateful, but I really do lean on most I was actually communicating with Judge Jimmy Allen Hall yesterday because Louisiana passed a law that was, I can give you the details later, but in summary about a homelessness court, if you will. I'm paraphrasing the heck out of it. But the idea is to incorporate what we are already doing in the mental health court and in other spaces to help nurture the relationship so we can diminish the recidivism. We don't need people revolving door into jail, revolving door into jail, because that's the most expensive way for us to care for anyone. It's like the ER for care. That is the most expensive way to care for someone, again. And if we take someone into custody because they're a nuisance on the street, well, we're burning at least $60,000 a year on them, at least. And so I get the jail report from the sheriff every week, and I'm so grateful that we have this ongoing since Sheriff Cutler. And every week, this is one of the lowest. We're at $67,547 of just outsourcing, not the cost of holding people in our jail. And so this investment in modernizing our judicial system that we have done as a court for so many years, I will say, the time I've been here, has been one of the cogs of the wheel to address what you're working on and fighting for. And so I thank you for what you're doing, and we all have to do our part and, last but not least, hold elected officials accountable. Get the receipts. It's customary. Come on up for a picture.

That's a good question.

Hi, good to see you. Hi. How are you? Hi. Just give me a spot under God. Can we just like have people look at the right things? Click it right here. One, two, three. One, two, three.

Well done, and thank you for all you do, and keep up the good work. We're going to take it. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Please open F4.

F4, adopt a proclamation recognizing September as National Hunger Action Month in Hays County. So moved. Second.

If you'll please read it.

Proclamation recognizing September as National Hunger Action Month. Whereas Hays County Food Bank represents a countywide effort to provide nutritious food for individuals and families facing food insecurities made possible through the generous support of individuals civic organizations, local government, and businesses, and whereas households with children are disproportionately affected by food insecurities and many do not qualify for federal nutrition assistance programs such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, SNAP, relying instead on food banks and community-based food programs for supplemental support, and whereas Hayes County Food Bank served 27,315 unique individuals in 2025, over 97% of which were residents of Hays County, and whereas keeping pets current on rabies vaccinations help prevent the spread of a fatal but preventable disease and protects animals throughout Hays County, and whereas Hays County Food Bank distributed over 1.8 million pounds of food through the Client Choice Market, three different off-site distributions and 18 last mile sites and provided 1,500 holiday meal kits to the community members. And whereas the need for food assistance continues to grow and the Hays County Food Bank is distributing over double the monthly weight of food since the previous year, making community donations more critical than ever. And whereas National Hunger Action Month observed Each September is a national campaign led by Feeding America to raise awareness of hunger in the United States and to encourage all Americans to take action in the fight against hunger. Now, therefore, be it resolved that the Hayes County Commissioner's Court hereby proclaims the month of September 2026 as National Hunger Action Month. Adopted this the first day of September 2026. Well done.

Please call the roll.

Commissioner Smith?

Yes.

Commissioner Cohen?

Yes.

Commissioner Hammer? Yes. Commissioner Inglesby? Yes. Judge Becerra?

Yes. And who is here to speak on this item? You again.

It's me again.

With my macaroni macarena little thing I have here. So I'm Lisa Young. I'm the executive director of the Hayes County Food Bank. And this is Tori Capes. He's our program director. And he is dragged up here. And he does not know this, but I'm about to embarrass him because he does not like to get a lot of praise. But he just went, ooh, next to me. But we just celebrated our one year anniversary in our new building. And everyone who was following us knows how many years. It took us 42 years to move one mile. But we did it. When we started that, we were basing our numbers of how many people we had to serve on how many people were coming through our drive-throughs. We thought we had a great plan. We were prepared for what, about 450 people? Tori, you want to give us a few numbers for the market this year? This is only the San Marcos market.

So we just finished the year in review for the market, some loose numbers specifically for the market. We served over a million pounds of food through the market alone. You know, over about 16,000 households used our services specifically in the market. It's a great milestone. It's sort of surreal to be on this end of it where it's gone from a plan to seeing it all the way through. I want to keep on improving it, but really excited to celebrate that milestone.

And it wouldn't be possible without your support, without the community's support. One thing that people who've heard me give these numbers before recognize the fact that I give a little pause because I'm so reluctant because it is a hurtful thing. But every July, the federal government redoes our poverty guidelines, reassesses our area. And for the first time, the hunger rate here, it's about where it usually is, under 20%. But unfortunately, for the first time, we have 20% of our children in Hayes County living in food insecurity. We definitely see that ourselves every day. Our staff, led by Tori here, is amazing at getting thousands of families food that they need. When you donate to the food bank, that means that there is a kid that had dinner tonight that wouldn't have had it without you. They depend on the food bank, and we depend on you. From the dais, from everywhere. A couple of years ago, when we ran Stack the Mac, we asked the community, to make stacks of macaroni and bring it to us. And we raised more than a literal ton. It was 2,800 pounds. It was 13,000 servings of it. So now we're here to say Stack the Mac is back. We want to spend, even though our numbers are high, and it's a hard trip. When the goal is high, it's a very steep road to get there. But we have met it with your help, and we will continue to do that. For September, we're in bright orange. We're collecting bright orange food because we really want to bring that spotlight to everyone who helps, to everyone who could use some help, to everyone who puts a hand in this and makes it better. When we were collecting the macaroni last time, one thing we hadn't expected were people's stories that were donating it. People were coming. There were some people who specifically wanted to donate big, like, whole truckloads full of the one that you can make in the microwave because they remember coming home after school alone to an empty house and making it themselves. We have people that wanted to do the family-sized boxes. And they wanted to tell us these stories. And it was a wonderful outpouring from the community. So we're hoping now that Stack the Mac is back, we'll get that kind of support again so that we can let our whole community know that Hayes County takes care of Hayes County. because we do. But before we come up for our picture or listen to your comments, I must tell each one of you that I already have commitments from multiple mayors to donate a stack their height, which Jane Houston already did.

That's only three feet. Well, that's my point.

I have Mayor Lee tonight. And I expect more from you, Judge, because I know you're taller than Jane and Lee. So I challenge you all to make your stacks. I gave you each a starter macaroni on your desk for our picture. so that you can help spread the word. I also have flyers about it. And I hope that you'll help us stack the Mac because it's back and to continue to fight hunger.

I love how you're saying that because it reminds me when McDonald's used to do the, it's Mac tonight, right? The whole Mac and they would play on their words and then... The McRib is back. All those Macs, Macs, Macs reminded me of a 90s McDonald's commercial. So you're on the right path in my mind. Good job.

Well, my husband said when I sent him the picture of Jane with the stack, he goes, oh, she's Mayor Mac Cheese. And none of my staff got that because they're too young.

Exactly. Commissioner Inglesby?

Well, Lisa, I want to thank you for your amazing leadership and the work that you and all the volunteers do. I know that you couldn't do it without the volunteers, and so we really appreciate them. And just for ensuring that our families have the food and other necessities that they need, and the food bank is certainly a vital part of our community, and you all do such a wonderful job, and really appreciate you. Thank you.

Well, thank you, Lisa and the team, I know, and the board members. There are some of them that are here. We all wouldn't do this if we didn't care about this issue. I mean, food insecurity is a big one. And I encourage anyone to go volunteer at the food bank, go participate in the distribution, because if you really want to know what's going on in your community, go to those, and you will see. And you will hear the stories of the struggle. And it really pulls at your heartstrings. And so the work that you all do is just phenomenal. And I'm so proud to be a board member. for the food bank, but we will still continue to support y'all as best we can. Commissioner Haber?

Those 90s reference went right over my head, so I didn't get it either. I'm sorry. But yes, to echo what Commissioner Cohen said, it is so important that y'all build these relationships too with HEB, the local areas, so you can and they can help you get food to those that need it. But go show up, go volunteer. I don't know if you have a volunteer process. I just showed up and I realized maybe I had to go through a process. So maybe don't just show up, but definitely go volunteer because y'all need the volunteers and you guys do great work. So thank you so much.

Commissioner Smith.

Well, and I want to give you kudos for the relationships that you build with those other food pantries and those other entities that help distribute throughout the county. We have some pretty far-flung ones out there and y'all have always been there to help support them I I really do appreciate that especially on the far west side There is one thing that I'd be remiss if I didn't say this, you know, I sincerely appreciate COMMISSIONER COHEN SERVING ON THE BOARD AND REPRESENTING THE COUNTY, BUT THERE'S ONE ACTION OUR FORMER BOARD MEMBER WOULD TAKE EVERY YEAR THAT SHE HAS YET TO DO, AND I'M LOOKING FORWARD TO THANKSGIVING BECAUSE I CERTAINLY WANT TO SEE YOU IN A TURKEY OUTFIT. HE TOLD ME HE STILL HAS IT, SO I'M JUST SAYING WE CAN REMOVE THAT.

I CAN GIVE YOU A SCHEDULE OF WHEN HE'S WEARING IT.

And thank you for those numbers. 16,000 households. I mean, that's huge. 16,000 households served through your efforts. 20% of the youth of kids in our county with food insecurity. Those are all numbers that are huge numbers. Over 30,000 residents in Hays County don't have insurance. It's like people don't realize the struggles that the person standing right next to you could be going through. And so these are moments where we can remind one another that everyone is someone's loved one. So thank you so much for what you're doing and continue to do. Let's come on up for the picture.

I'll hold it in the picture.

right here.

One, two, three.

One, two, three. Beautiful. Thank you so much.

I'd like to give you my back. I want to start the contribution. Thank you. Okay. Please open F5.

F5. Adopt a proclamation recognizing the month of September 2026 as Suicide Awareness Month.

So moved. Second.

If you'll please read it.

Proclamation recognizing September 2026 as Suicide Awareness Month, whereas September 2026 With September being recognized as Suicide Awareness Month, the National Suicide Prevention and Action Month Proclamation was created to raise the visibility of mental health and proactive suicide prevention resources in our community. This observance also includes National Suicide Prevention Week and World Suicide Prevention Day on September 10th. A moment in time when we rally the public to raise awareness of this leading cause of death and inspire more people to learn how they can play a role in helping save lives within their communities. We want to start the conversation destigmatizing suicide and mental health challenges and help connect people with appropriate support services International Survivors of Suicide Loss Day, often called Survivor Day, in an annual event designated by the U.S. Congress for family members and friends affected by suicide loss to come together for healing and support. In 2026, it will be observed on Saturday, November 21st. And whereas, according to the CDC, NIMH, and NAMI, suicide is a second leading cause of death among people aged 10 through 14, and the second leading cause of death among people aged 15 through 24. In the U.S., 46% of people who died by suicide had a diagnosed mental health condition, but research shows that 90% may have experienced symptoms of mental health condition. And whereas, according to the CDC, NIMH and NAMI, serious thoughts of suicide affect individuals across all age groups, with youth and young adults experiencing a particularly significant impact In 2023, 20% of high school students, including 41% of LGBTQ plus high school students, seriously considered attempting suicide during the previous year. In 2024, approximately 14.3 million U.S. adults, or 5.5% of adults ages 18 and older, experienced serious thoughts of suicide. The prevalence of highest among young adults age 18 through 25 at 12.6%. And whereas Hayes County publicly places its full support behind the Core Four Partnership, City of San Marcos, Hayes County, San Marcos CISD, Texas State University, Health Hayes Correlation, and the SMTX Mental Health Correlation, overall behavioral health for Hayes County and its members who work in the field of mental health, education, and law enforcement. And whereas Hayes County is dedicated to enhancing the quality of accessibility and behavioral health services and resources for its residents and has established a behavioral health program to coordinate and align services countywide. And whereas community organizations like CINCOR Foundation, Greater San Marcos Youth Council, Hayes-Codwell Women's Center, and the Hayes-Codwell Suicide Prevention Correlation, HCSPC, NAMI Central Texas, Communities and Schools of Central Texas, Hill County MHDD Centers, along with other organizations, local mental health providers, serve on the front lines and see the impact of suicide and work to reduce the stigma, provided resources, support, and provided education to City of San Marcos, Hays County, and whereas we encourage all residents to take time to understand mental health through education by actively participating in mental health first aid training, ASIST suicide prevention training, youth awareness of mental health, YAM training, utilizing Behavioral Health 360, BH 360, Hays County free, confidential 24-7 online platform offering mental health education, self-assessments, wellness tools, and connections to local resources, and participating in other opportunities to increase education and awareness in Hays County. Recognize that we need to take care of our mental health while we take care of each other. Now, therefore, be it resolved that the Hays County Judge Ruben Becerra and the commissioners of Hays County do hereby proclaim September as National Suicide Prevention and Action Month, adopted this the first day of September, 2026.

Thank you very much. Please call the roll.

Commissioner Cohen?

Yes.

Commissioner Hammer? Yes. Commissioner Inglesby? Yes. Commissioner Smith? Yes. Judge Becerra?

Yes. Commissioner?

Thank you. I think Izzy's going to give some remarks.

Good morning, Judge Becerra, Commissioners. My name is Dr. Isa De La Vigil, and I serve as the Behavioral Health Coordinator for the Hays County Health Department. And it is an honor to recognize September as Suicide Prevention and Action Month in Hays County. The statistics in today's proclamation, they really remind us of how important this work is, particularly for our youth and young adults. But I want to remind y'all that behind every statistic is a person. It's someone's child, parent, sibling, friend, student, coworker, or neighbor. And this is why suicide prevention cannot belong to just one organization. It requires all of us working together. And I especially want to recognize the Core Four partnership, which is a collaboration between the City of San Marcos, Hays County, San Marcos CISD, and Texas State University. As it was formally established in 2020, the Core Four represents a shared commitment to supporting the children, youth, and families of our community. And by bringing together local government, education, and community partners, we can better identify needs, share resources, and connect young people with support. I also want to recognize the Hays-Caldwell Suicide Prevention Coalition and its continued work to prevent suicide, increase awareness, reduce stigma, strengthen education, and connect our communities with resources. Their work reminds us that suicide prevention happens long before a crisis. It also happens through education, training, conversations, and connection. And here at the Health Department, we're also working to make behavioral health resources more accessible through Behavioral Health 360, our free, confidential, 24-7 online platform offering mental health education, wellness tools, self-assessments, and local resources. Through Behavioral Health 360, Mental Health First Aid trainings, ASIST, which stands for Applied Suicide Intervention Skills trainings, and our community partnerships, we want residents to know that support is available before they ever reach a point of crisis. And we also invite everyone to join us for our annual Together for Tomorrow Hays County Suicide Awareness Walk and Resource Fair on September 26th at the San Marcos Plaza Park from 9 to 11 a.m. We will have a one-mile community walk in remembrance of those we have lost and in support of survivors, families, loved ones, and anyone impacted by suicide. There will also be a behavioral health resource fair, music, free ice cream from Baskin-Robbins, treats, and opportunities to connect with local resources. And this year especially, we're very excited to feature event t-shirts with artwork from a local artist, and the first 50 attendees to this event will receive a free t-shirt. And ultimately, I hope today's proclamation sends a clear message throughout Hays County, your life matters, you matter, and asking for help is never something to be ashamed of. Suicide prevention can begin with something as simple as a conversation. It's listening without judgment, recognizing the warning signs, and checking on the people around us. So thank you, Judge Becerra and Commissioners Court, Core Four partners, the Hayes-Caldwell Suicide Prevention Coalition, and everyone who continues to advocate for mental health and suicide prevention throughout our community. Together, we can continue building a Hayes County where people feel seen, supported, connected, and hopeful about tomorrow. Thank you.

Well done. Commissioner Cohen?

Well, thank you all for being here for this. I think this court has always put mental health on the forefront of our initiatives, and we've always been so happy to support everything that everyone does. I know we have a lot of young people that struggle with depression and the initiative that our health department has launched to help get in front and just provide basic resources, providing the resource guide that can help people point to that. I mean, the work has just been phenomenal, not just from our health department, but everyone else who is involved. And I look forward to participating the walk again I did participate last year and I thought it was a really wonderful thing to bring to highlight the Awareness so thank you so much.

Thank you. I'm really quick. I do have one more community member who would like to speak on this Proclamation if possible, okay, how concise can they be?

In that case come on up

Hi, everyone. Thank you, Judge Becerra and commissioners. My name is Cassandra Salinas. I'm the prevention outreach coordinator at Cinecor. But today, I'm talking on something a little bit more personal. Suicide Prevention Month is something that means a great deal to me personally because suicide is something that has affected my family firsthand. My sister lost her life to suicide. She experienced homelessness. She struggled with substance use and she was separated from her son and those are hardships that are significant and they affected her very deeply. But she also fought incredibly hard to change her circumstance. She got sober, she got a job, eventually found stability in trying to get her son back. She did that for about two years and I think eventually she just didn't see a way forward. But her story changes the way that I view suicide prevention because suicide is complex. There's not always one reason that somebody reaches this decision or a crisis, and there isn't one solution that will prevent every single suicide. Mental health care and crisis services are so essential, but prevention can also mean stable housing. and access to food, economic stability, recovery support, healthcare, family support, and giving young people healthy ways to cope with their emotions and difficult times. And sometimes someone can have many of those things and still be struggling in ways that we just don't see. That's why I believe suicide prevention truly takes a community. It is a community effort. And in a way, I think my sister's story eventually brought me to this work. After she died, I graduated college in Seguin, moved to Brenham near Houston, where I thought I was going to start a job and a career in human resources. Six months later, I came back to Marion, traveled all over. And while I was looking for work, Southside Community Center reached out to me through Indeed and invited me to apply as an administrative assistant, where I later became a case manager. I didn't know what Southside did. I'm not from San Marcos, so I did not know the incredible work that they did. But that unexpected opportunity led me to work with people who share similar experiences to what my sister might have gone through. Now today, I work in substance use prevention with our youth, helping them develop healthy coping skills before substances become their way of handling difficult situations. I look at my journey, and I truly believe that my sister brought me here today to this moment. And being a part of this community has shown me that suicide prevention happens through partnerships. As many of the partners have even come up, our core four, our Healthy Hays mental health work groups within the Healthy Hays Coalition, the Hays Caldwell Suicide Prevention Coalition, even our schools, health care providers, other nonprofits, all of the community partners that are addressing different pieces of what people need to feel supported and connected, seen, and heard. The Health Department's Behavioral Health 360 is just another example of how we're bringing resources and partners together to strengthen the behavioral health support that's available to our community. Not every organization doing this work will call it suicide prevention outright, but all of those connections still matter because we cannot always see what somebody is carrying. Someone can have a stable home, a good job, and people who love them and support them, but still be struggling and feeling alone. And someone experiencing homelessness or addiction, financial hardship, food insecurities, and family separation, they deserve compassion and support as well, not judgment. Suicide prevention has room for all of those realities. And I can't go back and change what happened to my sister, but I can carry her story forward. So during Suicide Awareness Month, I hope that we remember and recognize the people who we've lost, but I also hope we recognize the people we still have the opportunity to reach today. I hope we're continuing to strengthen the partnerships that make Hays County a more connected and supportive community. Because prevention can begin with a therapist or a crisis line, but sometimes it begins with housing, recovery, or food, and other times it begins in a classroom. And sometimes it begins with simply asking someone if they're okay and then being willing to stay and listen. Thank you.

You have done a magnificent job. Holy smokes, how brave. Thank you. Thank you for standing up. magnificent. Commissioner?

Thank you, Judge. Thank you so much for sharing your story. That was wonderful. I think we probably, many of us have been touched by suicide. I lost a very close cousin to suicide, and so I can understand the devastation, but I really appreciate all the work that is being done by so many to bring awareness and prevention to this horrible issue. It's staggering to me to read the proclamation and see that It's the second leading cause of death between the ages of 10 to 14. Oh, my goodness, that's incredible. And also between the ages of 15 to 24. And I do want to thank our health department also because they not only participate in these types of activities, but they also participate in many of the ones that we heard today, the Homeless Coalition and the Food Bank and others. And so I really appreciate, Matthew, your leadership and Izzy's and all... all our employees that work within the health department and other departments that do so much for our community. Thank you.

Commissioner Cohen. Commissioner Hammer.

Thank you so much for getting up and speaking. I don't know how y'all do this where you guys don't cry on the dais. I try really hard. But this one is pretty personal to me too. I know last year I shared a little bit I had from my mother attempting multiple times to a close friend that we were supposed to go to college together right before we got to college, taking her life. It's something that definitely hurts the people that they leave behind, but it's something also where if we continue to support and we foster a community where people feel like they can open up and they can talk about it and get the help that they need, that's important. But I also think it goes above that. It goes to RAISING OUR KIDS TO MAKE EVERYONE FEEL WELCOME. I JUST PRAY MY DAUGHTER IS THE ONE THAT MAKES ALL THE LITTLE GIRLS FEEL INCLUDED. SO THANK YOU. THANK YOU FOR THAT. AND THANK YOU FOR THE WORK THAT YOU ALL DO.

GOOD JOB. COMMISSIONER SMITH?

I'VE CARRIED THIS RESOLUTION THE LAST SEVERAL YEARS. Suicide's pretty personal. My family has suffered. And I say that in a way because, I say that because those who are left behind, they suffer. And I've watched my family go through those things. And it's always hard for me whenever we do this resolution because there's been many years when we've done it and I've sat here and I know six people in this room, seven people in this room who have suffered because of the loss from a suicide. And whenever COVID hit, one of the first things that I looked at, I had served on the Tripping Springs Education Foundation Board, and some of those stats that were referenced, it really made an impact on that board, and we made a commitment that we would step up as an Education Foundation Board and provide mental health services to our students. And When we did so, we were hoping that within the first semester, we would have at least 50 outreach opportunities with individual students. We had almost 500 within the first two months. And so when COVID hit and we were able to get CARES Act money and ARPA money, I reached out to each school district here. And what shocked me was I found out that Dripping Springs was the only school district that had a mental health program in it. I'm very proud that our court stepped up and funded each one of the individual school districts to get mental health professional at least one mental health professional in every school district and that I I can't I'll use Wimberley as an example their superintendent two years later called Called me out of the blue. I didn't know him. He's not my precinct and just to say thank you because they had no idea of the issues that they had in their school and how important that program is. And it's one of those things that whenever we leave this dais and whenever we leave this job, nobody's gonna know. But I feel like those little things are more impactful than building a roadway or... But I appreciate all y'all do for everyone who still is out there and those families and friends that suffer.

Thank you, commissioners. I'm not going to add to it. I can't. Would you like to come up for a picture? Let's do this.

Hi. One, two, three. One, two, three. Thank you.

As you know, you and I were on the first Core 4 partnership. We were the two representatives from the county. I'm glad we have professionals in there now.

Yeah, I'm good to deal with the pros every time. Please open F6.

F6, presentation from the budget officer regarding the fiscal year 2027 budget. Possible action may follow.

Scott Woodland, Budget Officer. This is going to be less of a presentation, just a quick update. And willing to take any questions, comments from the court. First of all, I just want to say good morning. And then the Budget Office is hard working on finalizing budget. We're working on getting all the POs that will be rolled over next year. We're working with the Purchasing Office on that. And then we're also looking at where we stand on our capital projects, mainly our parks and road projects, just to make sure that we are budgeting correctly in the next year. You kind of just have to keep up with the invoices as they come in because you don't really know how much each one's going to be. I would also like to outline some important upcoming dates. And I would like to thank the county administrator's office for the help getting the public notices out. They went to the paper Sunday, and they are posted on our website as well. And those public notices, one of them had to do with the public hearing on the tax rate. I want to let the court and the public know that that will be held September 8th at 11 a.m. And then there was another public notice on the public hearing on the FY27 budget. That will be at 11 a.m. on September 15th. And then also we put out a public notice for the elected official salaries. And we will be setting those salaries on September 15th, as well as, after all that, we will be adopting the final budget on September 15th.

Perfect. For the viewing public, I know you know this, that's when an Axon vote will take place. Scott. Or is there a window? The Exxon 10-year contract with the Sheriff's Office that people are speaking about regularly, I know that there are so many dates and workshops and everything, and I don't want people to do their very best to be here and still miss what they're really interested in influencing or sharing their thoughts of. And so the Exxon 10-year contract with the Sheriff's Department is what I want to answer from.

Yes, Judge. At any point with direction from the court, we can incorporate that or not incorporate it. If September 15th would be the best date for that, that is okay. We could also cover that item on September 8th if we would want to give direction before that to incorporate into the final budget.

Commissioner, it's for the viewing public so that they can have an understanding of when we're actually going to vote for it. Do you guys feel okay picking a date to vote on that particular item? Because people are watching that one.

I'm fine with voting on it today. We have a posted workshop, so.

So voting on it today. Are you guys okay with that? Okay. Sounds good. Very good. Perfect. Thank you.

Thank you, Gordon.

Can we talk about, can I hand out these?

You sure can. Absolutely. Now's the time. Yeah, because this is, thank you, this is written in a way where possible action may follow. We can have a little discussion and have a motion and have that take place. Absolutely.

And Judge, I know that you wanted to see something without a tax increase. So what I just handed you is a no tax increase.

It also is a little bit different on some things and some items.

I do have to continue to preface. I think we should really review the salary study in its entirety. Again, I appreciate the work that our HR department put into this. And I'm not discrediting that work. I just think that some of these positions, especially when you look at the operational budgets for some of these departments and coming out of their operational departments to try to make these numbers work, but then paying people that are making well over $150,000, a 20%, 23%, 25% increase. I can't go to my constituency and look at them in the face and say, we robbed Peter to pay Paul. We raised the tax rate so some of our employees could get a 20% plus increase. Although you don't have to sit here and say that this is the way that we should go with giving everyone a 3% increase, I do think that I would love for you all to just contemplate putting a cap, whether that's a percentage cap or that's a dollar cap on these increases. That would be just something, whether it's $10,000 or a 10% increase. And if you have looked at the salary study, I mean, there's a couple of things. First of all, from our health insurance cost burden that we're taking on because we have an 8% increase across the board on health insurance plans, the average employee I had, Eric, run the numbers from the average PPO plan and what the average person makes. I mean, they're saving around $284.96 a year on that. WHICH IS .5%, SO REALLY THIS 3% IS 3.5% IF YOU COUNT THE TAKING ON THE COST OF THE INSURANCE. BUT THEN ALSO YOU LOOK AT THE MOST CONCENTRATED OUT-OF-MARKET RANGE, BECAUSE IF YOU LOOK THROUGH ALL THE POSITIONS, YOU'VE GOT ONE-OFFS THAT ARE MAKING OVER $150,000 THAT HAVE A 20% PLUS INCREASE, BUT MY GOAL IS TO TAKE CARE OF THE PEOPLE THAT NEED A LIVABLE WAGE, THAT ARE STRUGGLING, THAT DO NEED THIS INCREASE, AND THEY NEED IT THE MOST, RIGHT? take out the most concentrated market range, that's 11% to 15% increase, pay increase. But the pay range for that group is $56,000 to $85,000.

That's a good target.

And yeah, I think that there's a lot of different ways to look at it. I mean, again, whatever budget you adopt, I'm going to do the best work within that budget. But there's just a heartache on some of these increases that I can't be able to talk to my constituency and say that that is something that I would ever support.

I'm so glad you said that, because I feel the same way. Everyone making north of $100,000, I know the argument, and God bless you for it, and I'm sorry that if you feel picked on by it, but the living wage thing you just said, that framing is exactly what aches at me in trying to claw back any of Eric's work. I want to make sure that the people that are genuinely under... paid, generally speaking, in whatever broad strokes you want to convey it in, that we do lean in and help them. But the others making, like you just, your example, $150,000 a year with a 20 plus percent increase, no, I have a hard time supporting that too. So, yeah. Commissioners?

Well, Judge, I'm certainly willing to look at something. I just don't know how, I mean, Eric, I don't know how long it's going to take you to you know, look at something like this. I mean, I, you know, we, I said at the last meeting that, you know, there are so many that we're looking at that aren't getting paid a livable wage and, you know, we needed to address that. And I did vote for the entire pay increase, but I just, It's not too late. It's just that this is late in coming also. I mean, we're so compressed. I'm not saying again that I'm not open to looking at it, but Eric needs time to review this and see what he can come up with that we may be willing to look at.

Well, we didn't get the market study data until like a little bit over two weeks ago.

And this is two more weeks until the 15th. So it's a similar window.

I mean, yeah, I was like, it took me a long time. I went through everything from the city positions. And that's another thing too, is it's hard to compare some of these because you look at the city and you compare some of those positions. If we're going to be compared to city council, then our pay would look different too, you know? So how do you pick and choose? Also elected officials, they have the autonomy to kind of run their department how they want to, right? So I don't know if job, descriptions and positions are 100% comparable. I mean, they're elected for a reason.

Yeah, I think we just did the best that we could with whatever Eric could find in the market to do that. But if we want to give him some time to kind of take a look at some of those salaries. Now, are you saying that, like there were $100,000, that we still give them something, but that we limit it? and look at the other.

Limit the range. And that's why I said a dollar amount, just because a dollar amount, you could still give someone making $80,000 15%, because it might not hit that dollar amount that you say, right? That's why I think a dollar amount would make more sense than a percentage, because if you limit a percentage, people that are making $40,000 won't ever be able to hit that, right? Absolutely. So that's just my, it's just I've had a heartache with looking at these numbers and

I mean, so have any calculations been done to kind of look at what groups of individuals and dollar amounts and percentages or whatever

Good morning, Eric Naheno, Human Resources Director. The issue with that, Commissioner, is when we start looking at minimizing or limiting the increase for some, we face some compression. So meaning because they're not getting as much, the people below them, the pay grades below them are now coming up right about to what they're making. And so we're devaluing the years of service that those employees who are not getting the full market adjustments would be getting if we were to limit that. And even if we did you know, anyone who makes up to $85,000, then you have your pay grades above $85,000 who are going to be too close to those pay grades. So it's a domino effect, right? You essentially have to almost treat the market adjustments the same for everyone to be able to have equity in their pay grades and in their years of service.

I think it's closed-minded to think that we can't take care of the people on the bottom and limit in some way, shape, or form the people on the top. I think that it's something that we can have. It's doable. I do I hear what you're saying from a compression standpoint That's why if you put a cap on it it might make more sense because people are still getting an increase They just caps at a certain point, but I mean we're affecting and I know department heads are not going to come up here and say No, my employees shouldn't be making more at the end of the day again if I was Bill Gates everyone gets raises across the board but that's where the people that are funding this are our constituency in our constituency and is having to eat the cost of that tax increase.

And Commissioner, what Eric just said about facing that compression that you referenced, Our whole population is facing a financial compression. And so it might not be ideal. I get you, Eric, because I really respect, value, and appreciate. I helped hire you. I was a vote for you. I think you're the best. You're doing a wonderful job. And I'm not trying to unravel your hard work. But there's a window where we might say, although it's perfect work, we may not be able to reach for the full breadth and scope of it. And some variation that you're recommending is sound. And I'd love to see us make some edit that represents your request.

I mean, and we're doing a phased-in approach. We've got to figure out where we're going to get an additional $2 million down the road for this approach. And are we going to raise taxes? Because we're still coming out of reserves. I'm going to keep stressing the importance. I do think it's important. I think financial sustainability is important. And I also think that I don't want to get into a spot like the ISDs have gotten into where they're having to cut people because they don't have the sustainability to be able to support them. Exactly.

And what's more is, sorry, Eric, you can stay there. You don't have to leave. What's more is we literally have the opportunity right now to take care of everyone in a meaningful way without overburdening the people paying $5.19 a gallon for diesel and everything else, over $4 for gas for everyone else. And it's not ideal, but there's not ideal in front of us.

We got a 6% increase to everyone last year. I mean, 6% would be I mean, from the private sector, that's not, the private sector, they get an average of 3.5% across the board.

Well, Commissioner, can you go down the list and maybe help us better understand what you're looking at? I mean, you have exchange addition, reduction addition, addition. Can you just kind of go down?

Yeah, the main, so a lot of the things we've already kind of gone over from the sheriff's office, reducing six of the correction officers in exchange for the things that they wanted, like their three SROs, a sheriff's office HR pay grade or regrade. So that's going to be for Sandra's position. JP21 clerk, and these are all starting on different dates, just so the numbers could work. But we have JP21 clerk starting on 4-1. That is due to the numbers that were provided by all of the JPs, and Judge Beth Smith definitely has one of the highest workloads. And then you got the Constable Precinct 2 deputy, That's from Constable Torres, and those numbers, in my opinion, make sense that he's going to need another deputy based on the amount that his area has grown. Same with Precinct 5. The Axon Low PMT goes into their removal of the six correction officers, and the auto theft detective would have to start on 401 to make the numbers work for the six correction officers instead of seven.

And so the JP clerk, so you're removing two of the clerks? Is that what you're advocating for?

This is just, yes, adding in one clerk for Judge Smith. And again, at the end of the day, this is how you make the numbers work for not a tax increase. Not saying it's the most ideal. Nothing's going to be most ideal because the most ideal thing would be us having an unlimited amount of money.

So it's also removing then all the other positions that we talked about, I guess, right?

Yes, this is no tax increase. This is how it is.

And you mentioned something earlier about going into reserves. And we have a magnificent track record as a county of having... good general accounting practices, reserves and operations of this county for a long time and running a higher tab, raising our taxes, dipping into reserves is gonna put us in a less than desirable place, including the risk potential of even diminishing our credit rating that right now is stellar.

And this still dips into the reserves the same amount. Like this is, I mean, this is bare bones, right? We don't have, and property values aren't going up. We might not have the ability to come up with another $2 million for these salary increases. So I get that you might not be able to support this completely, but I mean, having some type of wiggle room to try to come down so we are more sustainable next year, I think is extremely important to look at.

So commissioners at this moment in time, Since we did just receive this, but we do have time to see it and review it, and like we're doing now, talking about it, do you want to I know Commissioner Smith mentioned voting on that 10-year Axon contract. We could do any of the varieties, and I want to do what the court wants to do right now. We could wait and get some feedback for you, Commissioner Inglesby, on the presentation you just received from Commissioner Hammer. And we can vote on Axon or and vote on both or vote on none. Judge, why don't we do this?

There are a number of things in here that we've already voted to accept. The collective bargaining, we know we've reserved funding for that. The removal of the officers, the school resource officers, the sheriff's office HR regrade, JP21, Constable Precinct 2 and 4, we made an agreement that we would look at pulling those in. These all have an April start date, so they would fall after and could fall into the proposed review that we all voted for last week. Um, auto theft detective has already been approved. The only, the only real question as far as the act, well, that's what I started to say. The only real question within this amendment, um, that would be outstanding are the axon contract and the, the, uh, the change in how we would handle salaries. The fact is that we said that we would come back this week and have a vote specifically on the Axon contract and on elections equipment. If we did both of those today, that would address these two things. If you all have questions, we've already voted as far as what we wanted to do on salaries, but if you all want additional time to review that and reconsider that, we could do those next week or the following week after reviewing this proposal since we just got it.

We have two more courts before we're solidified on everything. We have two more weeks. With getting the salary, all the market salary, and some of these department heads haven't even gotten all the salary data. And I think that that's extremely important. They might have gotten it for their own department, but they haven't gotten the justification on how those numbers came to. So, I mean, I have department heads asking, I mean, they've got a operational budget that has been cut. and to make room for these types of things. I mean, I think we can't hurt a department operationally because we're trying to pay someone 20% over what they're making right now. It's just, I can't justify that.

So Commissioner Smith suggested, and so I'll run with that one until someone changes it. So can you make a motion one at a time, Commissioner, starting with the axon, and then we'll do the elections?

Well, we have both someone from the Sheriff's Department and someone from elections here. Yep. So if we want to do axon first, is there anything additionally that we want to discuss relative to the axon before we vote on it?

So there's an agenda item also on that. So yeah, I would say let's open it. It's okay with you, Judge. I mean, it was an item that we discussed in detail that we wanted to ensure that if we were to approve it, that this was in place. But if it's not.

But that agenda item didn't quite capture the spirit of the ask. Candace, would you like to just touch on that?

Judge, I will say after speaking with you on Friday, we've added an item for next court agenda where you expressed you wanted to be more encompassing, not just for Axiom, but all AI software. So that item will be on for discussion for the court on the 8th.

And so, Commissioner, I just wanted to tell you that although there is an agenda item for addressing AI, what I was hoping for was accidentally left out. And so on the 8th, we're going to bring something back. It's still before the 15th, and it's just a position statement. But you could... What's that?

I was just going to ask, given that we have an item in front of us, what specific was left out?

So what was left out was, yeah, we can always modify the agenda item with an edit because, Chase, you think we can? I see your eyes over there.

What's the number of the agenda item? I read it, but I don't see it real quick.

It's B18. B18. And so what we're thinking of, what Commissioner Smith is suggesting, because this item didn't capture at least in the verbiage, but it could be a wonderful little simple edit to open G18 and make a motion to capture the spirit of what the agenda item was about and then vote on it. That should be okay, right?

We would have to stick to the letter of the posted agenda for me. I'm sorry.

I'm not I'm not I'm sure I'm understanding Okay, can we hear the language judge? Maybe and then chase can give us an opinion on whether or not we can add that to the item Sure, why don't you for this conversation, please open G 18 G 18 acknowledgement of Hayes County Sheriff's Office

Commitment to not activate or implement Axon Draft 1, an AI-enabled report writing feature within the Axon AI-era platform, or implementing or putting into operational use any new AI-based features the Axon AI-era platform may make available under the related contract without returning to the Hayes County Commissioner's Court for approval. So moved.

second and thank you so my aim with this agenda item and i thank you can this for uh you did you guys did really good you really did you did a really good job but uh my aim with this agenda item it was missing ever so slightly and i'll explain what it was missing in my opinion was a broader statement not tied to axon because i never want anyone to think it's targeting flock or axon or any brand specifically but a philosophical approach of my Biggest heartburn of the Fourth Amendment mass surveillance is what people are protesting. And so I was hoping to make an edit to the idea that it wouldn't be a tied-to-axon agenda item, but more philosophically mass surveillance of our community is what I was hoping to edit with.

So what change would you suggest to it currently?

So my suggestion would be to not tie it to the name, although... This is referencing the 10-year requested contract with Axon. But my aim is, because Axon's name, my aim is to say that Axon or whoever it is in the future wouldn't keep the community at the edge of their seats every time there was a court wondering if there was a mass surveillance potential on the agenda. And so I wanted to weave in there something to simply say, we as a court vote for, whether we support it or not, call the vote, to allow for mass surveillance technology to enter, to be paid for by Hays County taxpayer dollars. And so I wanted to weave that in there. Chase, is that doable within the way it's written?

So the way that it's written here is it is specifically talking about the the sheriff's office commitment for axon tied to it. You could theoretically pull the item out of consent to discuss that in the terms of axon commitment, but as far as like some larger overarching policy, that would more than lie. To be safe, I would recommend to move it to a different discussion point for that. Tied specifically to Axon, you're good.

Thank you. And so that's the reason when I read this, when it came out, I'm regretful that I didn't have the chance to see it. We'll just call it my fault. I'm good with that. That's more like a resolution that you're proposing.

It's something that's not tied to Axion.

Right. Just my general perspective of the court of how we feel about mass surveillance and the community's Fourth Amendment issues. As Chase just pointed out, I don't really see us able to edit this item. But I still do like the idea of this item. It is still good because the court hears it more often than you may want to admit to it. I know for sure me too. People are not comfortable with the idea that AI is coming at a rate that no one can predict, and we are wide open door for a 10-year contract with this that's before us.

So I would say this letter from the sheriff's office I mean, if there's any action, literally, this is just our expectations within this individual contractor outlined in this letter. It's very specific. I do agree with you. A general consensus, I think we can reach that. But on this specific item, I think it's very clear exactly what they're doing. And so I would go ahead and say we should probably vote to accept this letter. whether we move forward with the contract or not. We need to do that, and then we can look at the budget item.

Agreed, and I appreciate that. And so the final piece of discussion I would say is, within the comments of this comments section, is that I do appreciate most completely Chief Bailey's willingness to work with and reach out and provide information on the regular. I am most grateful. I can never say enough gratitude for his efforts to elucidate the situation. However, there's no world where I will support a 10-year contract for anything, not for tax collection, not for AI, especially AI at the rate they're growing, or a health department vaccines permit application or whatever it may be from Department of State Health Services. Anything for 10 years is too long. So I just wanted to point that in as comments. If there's anything the commissioners would like to add before I call the roll. In summary, what this agenda item says is this contract, if anything is to be added to it, that the chief has committed the sheriff's department, along with the sheriff, to bring it back to this court for public discussion. Anything else to add, commissioners, on this side? Commissioners on this side, anything else to add?

Please call the roll. Just to be clear, this is... Axon only. Well, just to be clear, we're calling the roll on G18, which is the acceptance of the letter from the Sheriff's Department.

And acceptance of this message that is that he's going to bring it back right. Yes, the way the agenda is written. So please call the roll for G18.

Commissioner Cohen?

Yes.

Commissioner Hammer? Yes. Yes. Commissioner Inglesby? Yes. Commissioner Smith?

Yes.

Judge Becerra?

Yes. And we still, if I'm not mistaken, we still have the other item that can be acted upon open.

So what I would like to do is move for inclusion in the budget for the Axion low P&T or low payment option for the first year payment of a 10-year contract.

Are we, quick question, second, I'll second that, but are we doing the low PMT that they gave us, or are we doing the low PMT from what was presented last week, which was, I believe, over $100,000, I think it was like $170,000.

The number presented last week was essentially the remainder of what a penny would be when taking out the other positions, and it was roughly $150,000, I can give you that exact number, but it's my understanding in that Chief Bailey can probably correct me if I'm misstating this. But Axon would more or less be willing to work with whatever funding we can give them and then spread that out over the contract. As long as that low payment, I believe, was roughly 25% of the total. I believe that's as low as they were.

So as long as it's that $96,739?

I believe as long as it's above that, we should be able to work with that.

Understood. Thanks. And the rate that we passed, the max rate that we passed last week would more than accommodate that.

And, Scott, for the viewing public, this is a 10-year contract, and what's the total value of that contract as it stands today without additional improvements?

The 10-year contract would be roughly between, roughly, I believe, about $4.5 million. $4.5 million. Got it.

Okay, so commissioners.

I was just going to ask also, I mean, and we talked about this last time, and Chief, you may want to come up if you don't mind, Judge, if he comes up. You bet.

Absolutely. Yes, ma'am. Chief Bailey, do you mind approaching the podium, please, stating your name and title?

Thank you, Judge. And Commissioner Brett Bailey, Chief Deputy, Hays County Sheriff's Office.

And I guess my specific question on this particular contract, you know, we talked about and are talking about mass surveillance, and I just want to make certain that if you can remind us whether you believe that this is mass surveillance because, you know, this has become an issue, and so I just want to make it clear what your thoughts are on that.

I believe in order to answer that question accurately, I would need to know what each of your definition of mass surveillance is. I do want to comment one thing very respectfully of a statement that Ms. Camp made this morning. And I will say that Axon does not own our data. We own our data. This is dissimilar from the conversations we had with Flock. And I have been assured by Axon, who I have a representative from Axon here this morning, that we have to grant them access to our data. There is a safeguard between us and them. They're not able to do anything with our data unless we give them that permission. I was just in my position when I implemented, built and implemented a new program under Axon called Standards that we use for tracking pursuits and use of force and complaints and that sort of stuff. And every time I need to go in there and make an edit because we're growing and learning as we go, I have to give someone from support access to the system and then as soon as they're done with the edits that access is removed again, I have Matt Applebaum here from Axon, he can expand on that if you would like. But in my personal opinion, this is not mass surveillance. That's not what I'm asking for it for. And this data is used, and the court has said over and over, that you trust Hayes County. It's other agencies that you don't. And other departments and worldwide, nationwide, federal government that you don't trust. This is an in-house thing. In order for us to share any of this stuff that we're using from this AI package or any of our data, we have to do an individual agreement with another agency who's requesting, and we're not doing that. We're not asking for that. What we're doing is we're just evaluating and using these tools to make our requirements of the deputies and corrections officers more efficient.

So are you saying that you're only using this information within Hays County Sheriff's Department only? Correct. Okay. Not sharing it with anyone else? No.

I'd like to ask the Axon representative a couple of questions. Thanks for pointing them out. Absolutely. Do you mind approaching Axon representative? There you are. And if you'll state your name and title for the viewing public, sir. Of course. Good morning, Judge, Commissioners. My name is Matt Applebaum. I'm here on behalf of Axon. Okay, Matt. Thank you for being here. I wanted to ask you because Flock, which is the whipping boy of cameras right now, and I know that's not you, but it's raised awareness and concern. I know you've heard all the different angles where you could probably loose count in one day of how many times you hear it. But does Axon have a place currently that they are doing flock-like license plate reader technology?

Yeah, when you say flock-like license plate reader.

Like the mass surveillance framing that people are using that flock is so bull's-eyed on? Do you guys provide a similar service anywhere else?

That's a good question. So I think the services that you would be talking about are kind of split out into two separate entities, right? There's technologies that takes pictures on the street and reads license plates. And then there's the actual sharing and network that gets created from all of these different pieces of data being shared throughout the country that other companies have their own network from that, right? As far as Axon, we firmly believe if there's any sort of information that's being captured by devices, cameras, or whatever within Yalls County, you guys own it and you guys have full discretion over where that goes. So as far as just kind of open sharing, that is not a service that we provide because anything from digital evidence that's created, say, from the body cameras to anything that would be captured on any part of evidence.com has to be manually selected on a one-to-one agency level They have to agree that you can share stuff to an agency and that they can share it to you. And then you choose on an individual evidence selection as to what is actually shared between those two agencies, right? As far as a camera that can conduct license plate reading technology, yes, that is something that Axon has technology about. With that being said, there are a lot of different safeguards as to how that data is actually managed. Who owns that data is a major contention point around the country right now. And that will always be the people who own the camera. Because quite honestly, we don't want anything to do with any of that data. And we don't want to have to deal with if Axon gets subpoenaed or FOIA or anything like that. There's nothing that we can do because we don't have access to any of that type of technology.

That's a tiny mechanism and approach. What is the best way that you could help someone in my position summarize the reason for a 10-year contract at a rate where AI is growing at leaps and bounds that we can't even measure?

Yeah, that's a great question. That's part of the reason, the growth of AI, that the Sheriff's Office is looking at a contract like this, what we call an AI era. Part of what this contract opens up is I hear you guys talking about fiscal responsibility and planning for the long term. Over the past however many years that the county has worked with Axon, I'm sure they've come back and said, hey, we need to add this. We need to add that. There's always a new contract that kind of comes out. And we heard the feedback from that, right, that people would say, hey, there's only so much financially that we can do and we don't want to ask for new technology. And then a year or two later, new tech comes out and we have to go back and go from there. So part of what this 10-year contract is going to enable for the county is that as we come out with new AI and user-based software, the county would have the option of bringing that into their version of evidence.com or not. Now, part of the conversation that the sheriff's office is having with you guys is we do not default this technology on for anyone. They have to be made aware of this technology. which we keep them informed, whether it's newsletters, meetings, whatever, and they have to choose to actually leverage this technology on a day-to-day basis.

In the contract creation that will be taking place, you can weave in that any additions must be approved through Commissioner's Court, even if they are at no cost.

So that would be, at the end of the day, we don't want to decide policy on any of our customers, right?

But we can weave that into the contract, is what I'm saying. The constituents that keep coming in time after time after time, I want to give them a break. I want to let them go have a coffee and a bagel or whatever else they want to do, instead of having to play watchdog here every time we talk about these things. So I'm just looking for a universal solution so people can go do something else.

Yeah, if the term that you're looking for is the auto defaults off until we've been given discretion from the county, 100%. I like that. Commissioner Inglesby, anything for him?

Commissioner Cohen?

No, I have no questions.

No questions. Anything on this side?

No, thank you.

Good. Yes, Stephanie Hunt. Thank you, sir.

Stephanie Hunt, purchasing agent. So I do want the court to know that we currently do have a process in place with IT that like if there is any new software that a department is wanting to procure, it goes through IT, myself, and then we bring it to the court for approval. Now if they are wanting to add additional features under that software, we still require that to come back to court because the court did not approve that in the initial purchase. So If, like Axon, we approve a certain bundle with them and then there's a new feature that comes out and they want to add it, we would require them to come back to court and have the court approve the addition of that software to that bundle. It's not something that we just give them because y'all approved a contract with Axon for them to just add any features that they want that the court didn't approve.

That's good because the material that I received led me to believe, and it's just a simple clarification, here we are a court of record, It is a simple clarification that says, as new technology is available, I see it and I understand it and I believe in the framing because as a potential salesperson, I would frame it that way too. Not to be negative, but just simply to say, as technology becomes available, we will make it available to you. But I just wanted to make sure that there was an air gap to say, although it becomes available to us, it's not automatically rolled out. Correct. So thank you for clarifying that piece.

Correct, yeah. And I was just going to say whether that is going to cost us any additional funding or not, which this is not supposed to. And I think it's what you said, Chief, early last week and why the letter was written.

That's right. Whether it costs money or not, it'll still come to court.

Correct.

Thank you. Thank you. Okay. So if there's nothing else to add. Oh, yes, sir. Sorry. I'm sorry.

Very briefly. I just wanted the court to know that I have had conversations with our new IT director, Chris Unabate, and he said he did not express any concerns for me. I gave him the list of things that are included right now. He is somewhat familiar with this technology. and express no concerns. I just wanted to share that.

Thank you very much, Chief. And so the motion stands and seconded to allow this Axon 10-year contract worth approximately $4.5 million. We have a motion. We have a second.

Sorry, Jordan Powell, sole first assistant. Small clarification. You're not actually voting on a contract today. You're voting on the funding for the budget that would be related to that contract.

I just want to clarify, y'all do not have a contract in front of you today. I move for inclusion in the budget. Thank you for that clarification.

This motion and second is a clarification that it's not the actual contract being voted on, but it is the funding for the contract to be initiated.

Okay, so then that contract would then come to court for our review before approving.

Very good. Please call the roll.

Commissioner Hammer? Yes. Commissioner Inglesby? Yes. Commissioner Smith?

Yes.

Commissioner Cohen? Yes. Judge Becerra?

No. Now let's talk about elections.

All right. And I think that... Our elections administrator, I'm sorry, I'm trying to find my notes here. Thank you, Chief. She gave us some information additional today. And if we would, I would like to open up another additional agenda item to have a discussion. For K-1? That's hers. I believe it is K-1, yes.

I was ready to open it, but this took a little longer than expected. I was going to give her and Mike priority on the short list. But here's what happens when one presentation item goes a little longer. So please open K1 so we could loop it in with this same agenda item that is currently open, F6.

K1, discussion and possible action to adopt an updated fee schedule for election equipment. So moved.

Second. All right. Since we opened it, if you want to just give us the highlight, and you provided the wonderful page. Thank you.

Thanks. Good morning. Jennifer Doinoff, Hays County Election Administrator. I presented you with the fee schedule that you would be adopting this morning with the highlighted area, equipment rental, $250. In the next code, it says $5. That's for a primary election. That's all the state will reimburse. But for all of our entities in the May and general elections in November, it would be $250 per unit. And I also took the liberty to throw on here temporary workers and interns, just in case you want to consider raising their hourly rate to $18 an hour. And that would be for our interns and admin staff that work in the office during elections. And this would be consistent with what we pay other admin roles, such as the judges, central accounting, and early vetting ballot board.

What are they currently doing?

What do they currently make? So if they're working during early voting, which they are, they're usually doing the $16 an hour that we do early voting clerks.

Do we know what that budget impact is? Just like how much? For example, do we know how many hours we had last year that we had to pay for? Scott?

So that is usually recuperated by our billing that we do with the local entities. It would impact the 50% that the county pays.

Okay, that's what I was wondering. So the 50% that the county pays, so forgive my ignorance here, but would that mean if we raised it $2, we would pay $1?

That's my understanding, that we would be paying an extra dollar, and then we would receive the dollar from the other entities that we are holding elections with.

Okay. To break it down, it would be a dollar.

And this is about 10 people.

10 people?

Yeah.

I'm not asking to raise all early voting clerks at work. No, no, no. I'm thinking it's got to be less than a few. It can't be more than a few thousand dollars is what I'm thinking. Okay.

In estimate, Jennifer, of the hours they spend, those 10 people, maybe they worked 100 hours?

Probably. We limit them to 20 hours, so it's under 20 hours a week. I think we can handle that.

20 bucks a week? What do you think?

I would think that would be less than $5,000. Per person? Per week? I mean, I'm just trying to do numbers. How many weeks?

It's usually a couple of weeks. It's going to fluctuate because we don't always have 10 people. It's usually students, so it's when they can come and go. I'm guessing it's under 10 grand. Absolutely.

Closer to three. Just for clarification, I know you ran some numbers and I saw you jot them down while we were talking. We currently charge $175,000. Is that correct? Correct. And when was the last time we changed this?

We haven't changed that, I don't believe, since I've been in this office. Probably 10 years.

I'm 100% fine with doing this, but I know that you jotted down some numbers as far as the off-year election in 2025 and I think the May election. Could you share those with us as far as how much?

Absolutely. So I went back to the last general election, which would be the November 25. Of course, that's not exactly comparable. It's a constitutional amendment election, usually less attended than our even-year elections, but we used 464 units at that 175, and we charged out $81,200 for that election. With this increase, that would increase by 34,800. We would be charging 116,000 for a constitutional amendment election. In the May 2026 election, was a very small election. We only had three entities, and that makes a difference in how much equipment you put out there and how many locations you have. We used 90 units, and we charged out $15,750 for the use of that equipment. With the new rate, it would be $22,500 for an increase of $6,750. But again, that's probably the low end of what we would be charging for a May election.

I WOULD MOVE TO ACCEPT THE NEW RATE SCHEDULE AS PRESENTED AND BACK UP FOR ITEM K-1.

SECOND. WE HAD A MOTION ALREADY.

I THOUGHT WE OPENED IT. Motion is second, and it's already backed up, so it's automatic. I just want to make sure.

So is there any conversation you guys want to have on these proposed fees that she presented?

No, I don't believe so. I mean, we talked last week in court saying that we wanted to see an increase in this that hadn't been done for a very long time, so I'm good with the judge.

I would say that I fully do think this is something that we need. Again, I made that very clear, my support on this. Unfortunately, I just can't support it because I'm not going to support a tax rate increase, and I've tried time and time again to work this in the budget, but I think it is important, and I do support the cause.

Please call the roll. We're just voting on the rate sheet. Okay.

Commissioner Inglesby? Yes. Commissioner Smith? Yes. Commissioner Cohen? Yes. Commissioner Hammer? Yes. Judge Becerra?

Yes. And we're still in the workshop. Do you want to talk about the elections equipment?

I thought that's where we're normal.

Nope.

I know.

I got you. Yes. Now I'd like to talk about the equipment. So again, the rate that we passed last week, the maximum allowable rate includes enough cap under the cap for funding for the first year funding for the equipment. I think we've kind of talked this item to death. I, again, want to make the case or want to reiterate that this election equipment is not something that you want to purchase the year of a presidential election. We are at a point where we're also, when we purchased the equipment that we had, and I think you've heard Ms. Doinoff say this, it may have been new to us, but it wasn't new equipment. It had been adopted for a couple of years before that. And so generally this equipment has about a 10-year lifespan or life expectancy as far as the technology. We're reaching that 10 years. I believe it came out in 16, 17? 15. Okay, we're past the 10-year. And so... I know that it will take us. I don't want to be a test election for new equipment on a presidential election year. I just think it's a recipe for disaster. It's going to be our largest turnout election ever. And this puts us in a spot where those of you who are going to be on the court next year won't have to come up with as much next year. Otherwise, y'all are going to be in a bad situation.

Commissioner, is there anything else to add?

I mean, I honestly, I do see the importance of keeping our election equipment up to date, and we do care about our elections, and we want to make sure that that office has what they need to be successful, because this is a forward-facing service to our voters and our constituency, and I believe that we should make this investment. I also just want to mention, because of the hospital district petition that a feasibility study needs to be added to the budget somehow. Because if that means we have to eliminate something else to make that work, it's just that we have to have that now. And so I don't know what that's going to cost us, but I know it's something that we need to add.

Okay. While we're still on this specific item, I would like to move to...

Hold on one second. Give me one more second. Scott, will you tell us the price tag of that equipment that he's making a motion for so we know what it is?

Yes. If that equipment was purchased at one time, it would be $2.6 million. If paid over three years, you're looking at roughly $979,000. That was what was included in the budget amendment last week.

Right. I'm just making sure it's available right now and an encapsulated click in the future for anyone watching.

And my comments from what we just voted on still stand on this one.

And so would you mind just recapping your comments just for the viewing public?

Yeah, no, I mean, I'd say that I think that it's an important thing to do, keeping up to date on our elections equipment. I support that initiative, and I've talked at length about it. I've tried to work in the budget as much as I possibly could for a no tax increase. That's I DON'T SUPPORT A TAX RATE INCREASE, SO I JUST CAN'T SUPPORT ANYTHING THAT FALLS OUTSIDE OF THAT TAX RATE INCREASE, UNFORTUNATELY.

I COPY-PASTE YOUR FRAMING, AND I WILL SAY THAT I TOO TRULY SUPPORT ELECTION INTEGRITY AND ALL OF THESE THINGS WHILE WE ARE For good reason or not, some people feel under attack or what is it, 1.3 or 6 million votes purged from our Texas rolls or whatever. There's a lot of reasons why we need the latest and the greatest and everything else going on. But I will say that we don't have to buy it right now. It would be nice to have. And so that's what further supports me on, well, you know what? We are asking our taxpayers to tighten their belt, and so this is some of us doing the same from the dais. Any last comments before we call the roll?

Scott Woodland, budget officer. I did want to give the court all the options. I don't know if it would be something that the court would have an appetite for, but this election equipment would be considered one-time costs and something that we could dip into reserves for. And I did also want to say that in prior years we have, budgeted to dip into reserves as well. And that in last year it was roughly 6.75 million. I just wanted to state for this year for the court and the public that we're at 3.27 million right now. So just want to give all the options to the court.

And I do think that that's what reserves is for, for expenditures like this. I just can't foresee. I mean, I guess we're at 3 point, what is it, 3 point, say it again?

It was at 3.27 million. 3.27, 6 million less.

I mean, we're just dwindling that down, though. I mean, what were we at three years ago in terms of the amount of months that we had built up in reserves?

I do know that our fund balance reserves have dropped from about five and a half months down to roughly somewhere between four and 4.4 that we're updating. And that 5.5 was several years ago, though.

And if we do the 3.48, is that what it is? It's not what it is, right? 3.27. 3.27. If we do that 3.27, then we'll be at four months, correct?

We will end up roughly around there, assuming that all that's spent. Typically, what's budgeted there, there will typically not all of that amount will be spent. But the fact that we're budgeting it, obviously, as the budget officer, I would prefer not to budget any deficit there. But I understand the needs of the county.

So if we were to increase that amount that we're taking out of reserves, we're falling below the four months. That is correct. Yeah, I can.

Additional reason why we shouldn't do it in my opinion, but that's just the vote So if there's nothing else this motion is again, but no good clarify that When he's giving us another option of where to pay for it instead of the tax rate reserves the correct So the but the cap that we passed last week and it has enough room under the cap for this for the specific number of the nine hundred and

Yes, that was factored into when we came up with that total tax rate So the motion is for the elections equipment two point six million dollars totaling to nine hundred seventy nine thousand dollars per year Has been seconded if I'm not mistaken Who seconded that motion to buy it?

I want to make sure we got elected. Oh, we didn't. We opened the discussion, and then we had a second on the other one. So I move for the inclusion at the three-year rate of new elections equipment.

Second. We have a motion and a second. And now if there's no further discussion, please call the roll.

Commissioner Smith?

Yes.

Commissioner Cohen? Yes. Commissioner Hammer? No. Commissioner Inglesby? Yes. Judge Becerra.

No. Anything else under the workshop F6? I think we're good. Scott, you're good on that? Two big ticket items taken care of. Yes, sir, Judge.

Thank you.

Yes, we're going to close that item. And let's open K2.

K2, discussion and possible action to accept proposal from Lexie Poole in the amount of $5,870.05 for the Lexie Poole policy and training subscription for the fire marshal's office and amend the budget accordingly. So moved.

Second. Mike just stepped out for a second, but he's been waiting for it. But if there's any questions. Oh, look at here. We got the marshal here. Any questions about this? No questions? Less is more. Okay. Just in case. Thank you for being here, and thank you for pointing it out. Please call the roll.

Commissioner Cohen? Yes. Commissioner Hammer? Yes. Commissioner Inglesby? Yes. Commissioner Smith?

Yes.

Judge Becerra?

Yes. I'm going to shoot us for a 10-minute recess. If there's something we've got to press out right now, tell me. Otherwise, we're going to go into a 10-minute recess, if that's okay with you guys. We're okay with that little break?

I guess so. Anything else? There's engineering firms here.

What else? We could hit whatever else real quick. Otherwise, we're going to go to a quick recess for 10 minutes. I just finished K2 while you were smoking a cigarette. Just kidding. I know you don't smoke. I know you don't smoke. Okay. 10-minute recess. 10-minute recess. All right. We are... We are back from a short recess. I move that we open all consent agenda items except for 14 and 18.

Second.

Any comments or questions? Judge. Hold on. Give me one second. I'm asking the commission first. Comments or questions on your end? Okay. Scott, what do you have? Buddy?

Yes, sir, Judge. On a G-32, I would like to make a suggested edit. Under the comments for the budget amendment, it's stating that it's in the jail division for the sheriff, whereas is really operating. That has been corrected on the amendment that will be passed around and signed at the end of court.

Thank you. And so we're going to ask that the record show that the amendment is from jail to, say it one more time.

It is operating. It is operating. instead of jail. Right now it has 03 for jail, whereas it should be 00 for sheriff's operating.

Perfect. Okay, so if nothing else, please call the roll.

Commissioner Hammer? Yes. Commissioner Inglesby? Yes. Commissioner Smith?

Yes.

Commissioner Cohen? Yes. Judge Becerra?

Yes. And we are tabling I-1, so please open I-2.

I, too. Discussion and possible action to accept physical charity for street and drainage improvements in the amount of $2,457,329.02 for the Ellington Track Phase 1 Final Plat Subdivision Bond LICX1989059. So moved. Second. Please call the roll. Commissioner Inglesby? Yes. Commissioner Smith?

Yes.

Commissioner Cohen? Yes. Commissioner Hammer?

Judge Becerra. Yes, I-3.

I-3, discussion and possible action to consider the release of the two-year maintenance bond number 258323Y in the amount of $243,560.78 and acceptance of the roads into the county road maintenance system for High Meadow Subdivision Phase 3, Section 3. So moved. Second.

Please call the roll.

Commissioner Smith?

Yes.

Commissioner Cohen? Yes. Commissioner Hammer? Yes. Commissioner Inglesby? Yes. Judge Becerra?

Yes. I-5. Have you on the move, don't I?

I-5. Discussion and possible action to authorize the execution of a contract for right-of-way acquisition services 2026-PSA-75 between Hayes County and Half Associates, Inc. to provide right-of-way services for the Dairy Roads Project in Precinct 1.

So moved.

Second. ANYTHING ELSE TO ADD, COMMISSIONER?

NO. I THINK WE'RE REDUCING. OH, NO. WHERE ARE WE?

THAT'S OKAY.

WE ON THREE? FIVE. FIVE. OH, I'M SORRY. OH, WE HAD SELECTED THEM. THIS IS THE NEGOTIATED CONTRACT.

THANK YOU. PLEASE CALL THE ROLL.

COMMISSIONER HAMMER? YES. COMMISSIONER INGLESBY? YES. COMMISSIONER SMITH?

YES.

COMMISSIONER COHEN? YES.

Yes, please open K-3. I think we've already opened one and two, if I'm not mistaken, so go to three.

K-3, discussion and possible action to authorize the acceptance of a grant award from the Department of Transportation, FY25, Safe Streets and Roads for All, planning and discrimination grant program in the amount of $200,000. So moved. Second.

Please call the roll. Judge, I would like to note this is within our road bond and within the COs. There's a portion of funding for Fitzhugh Road that we applied for additional grant funding on safety improvements. If you remember, a portion of the funding was not for design. It was for immediate safety improvements. And we were awarded this grant specifically to help us with that.

That's beautiful. Please call the roll.

Commissioner. Inglesby? Yes. Commissioner Smith? Yes. Commissioner Cohen? Yes. Commissioner Hammer? Yes. Judge Becetta?

Yes.

K-4. K-4. Discussion and possible action to authorize the acceptance of a grant award from the grant program Austin area of $290,992 authorized a spot robot from Unmanded Vehicle Technologies, UVT, for the Hayes County Sheriff's Office in the amount of $298,108 and amend the budget accordingly. So moved.

Second.

This is where I see psychologically in my head as a major fiscal conservative, some of that state inmate money coming back to us.

And Judge, this is a safety device that will access threats at active scenes. There's no match, but we have a little bit of a shortfall of $7,116. And Scott, I'm not sure where that's coming from.

Yes, that is correct. Scott Woodland, Budget Officer. There is a little bit of shortfall that I will work with the Sheriff's Office to identify and move into the grant in FY27. Even if we ordered this today, the item wouldn't come in in 26. So I'm working with the Sheriff's Office on that.

Thank you. Perfect, and thank you. If there's nothing else, please call the roll.

Commissioner Smith?

Yes.

Commissioner Cohen? Yes. Commissioner Hammer? Yes. Commissioner Inglesby? Yes. Judge Becerra?

Yes. K-5.

A5, discussion and possible action to authorize the acceptance of a grant award from the Office of the Governor, Homeland Security, Austin Area Urban Security Initiative, UASI program in the amount of $25,596. Authorize the purchase of one I-2 analyst notebook from 4, Inc. in the amount of $17,462.51 and amend the budget accordingly. So moved. Second.

And, Judge, this is actually for the purchase of a one 12-month software license for that notebook. But in the agenda item, it says to purchase a notebook. But as I was reading the summary...

It is a software. I think that notebook's just what it's called. I think it's due to the fact that it's kind of tracking and keeping track of things, kind of like you would in a notebook. I think that's the purpose behind it. But I will say on this one that... that the price did increase. Originally, we were able to get two, but on all of these UAC grants, there has been a significant delay to where the quotes that we utilize for our application are now out of date and things are costing more. In this particular situation, what we've opted to do because the cost has risen considerably would be to just get the one license for the 12 months and then we are going to forego that additional amount between the $25,596 and the $17,462 just because that wouldn't be enough to even get close to getting another one. There you go. Good job and thank you for that.

Please call the roll.

Commissioner Cohen? Yes. Commissioner Hammer? Yes. Commissioner Inglesby? Yes. Commissioner Smith?

Yes.

Judge Becerra?

Yes. K6?

K6, discussion and possible action to authorize a project management agreement between Great Springs Project and Hayes County, Texas, for the construction of the Presa Grande Trail.

So moved.

Commissioner?

October last year, we approved a grant for $300,000. This is the agreement between Great Springs Project and Hayes County. They are the ones that are going to be completing the match of $75,000, and they're doing so with labor and other sorts of things, and this just outlines that agreement.

Perfect. Please call the roll.

Commissioner Hammer? Yes. Commissioner Inglesby? Yes. Commissioner Smith?

Yes.

Commissioner Cohen? Yes. Judge Becerra?

Yes. K7.

K7. Discussion and possible action to authorize termination notice to the bug master related to pest control services at 1901 Dutton Drive. So moved.

Second. Please call the roll.

Commissioner Inglesby? Yes. Commissioner Smith?

Yes.

Commissioner Cohen? Yes. Commissioner Hammer? Yes.

Judge Becerra? Yes. K-8.

K-8. Discussion and possible action to authorize the execution of contract amendment number 10 with Waste Connections Lone Star Inc. pursuant to IFB 2021-B12, removing dumpster services under this contract for the WIC building located within City of Kyle.

So moved.

Second.

Removing the dumpster from the wing of Kyle. You want to say anything? You don't have to. Please call the roll.

Commissioner Smith?

Yes.

Commissioner.

Sorry, you could look at me if you wanted to say something. Yeah. Did you want to say something?

Please go ahead. What's going on?

You bet. Absolutely. We're going to let, yeah, name and title.

Tammy Crumley, Director of Facilities and Resource Management. We've had the dumpster service at our WIC location in Kyle for in excess of a decade. And we received notification from the city of Kyle that they have a franchise agreement with TDS under an ordinance that we must use TDS for that service. So we have to remove our own desk through service. So we will now be utilizing TDS.

Thank you. Please call the roll.

Commissioner Smith?

Yes.

Commissioner Cohen?

Yes.

Commissioner Hammer? Yes. Commissioner Inglesby? Yes. Judge Becerra?

Yes. Please open K-12.

K-12. Discussion and possible action to authorize the execution of change orders 2 through 7 for IFB 2026-B04 Health Department Roof Repairs Health Storm May 2024 overall 21% increase. So moved.

Second.

For an insurance claim.

Well, my question is, how did it go up 21%?

Tammy? Or Stephanie?

I don't have a problem. I'm just wondering how it went up 21%.

Stephanie Hunt, purchasing agent. So there's... Once we got, so when they started getting the materials in and then had to take the roof off, like there was these one by four battens that went across each section that we were not aware even existed under the roof. So that's one of the change orders is adding that in part of the original contract that we had them replacing. We took into account that every decking board would need to be replaced, but they're not all gonna be able, they're not all gonna need to be replaced, but we included that. So we took money from there to cover that. Another piece of it was the fascia boards that originally in the contract, they were one by sixes. We brought an item last week for this, for the fascia board replacement. So part of that is the additional cost of the initial boards that were identified The additional gutter linear foot originally in the procurement it was listed as 32 linear feet of gutters that needed to be replaced, but then during the addendum we Decided that we were going to do a full gutter replacement When they presented their pricing they based it off the linear footage that was in there versus full replacement So this is the additional linear footage to replace all the gutters per our request so all of these changes except for like we're upgrading the warranty from a 10-year warranty to a 15-year warranty because it was just a difference of seven thousand dollars and we got a better underlayment for that too um and we were already paying two thousand for the underlayment so it's really only a five thousand dollar increase for the additional five-year warranty um the only unforeseen thing that we weren't changing was the roof battens that were on there the rest of the scope of work we changed to make sure the roof is just a better solid foundation. So that's what all of those are. So they are maxed out on their change order. They could not do any more change orders on this project, but that should get them to final completion.

Anyone else? Please call the roll. Commissioner Cohen? Thank you.

Yes.

Commissioner Hammer? Yes. Commissioner Inglesby? Yes. Commissioner Smith?

Yes.

Judge Becerra?

Yes. Very thorough. Thank you, Stephanie. K-13.

K-13, discussion and possible action to authorize the execution of an agreement between Hays County and GTS Technology Solutions for services at the juvenile detention facility in the amount of $80,871.82 and amend the budget accordingly.

So moved.

Second. Commissioner Engels, please.

And judge, this is for the installation of cameras for safety purposes.

$83,000. Since you're here, do you mind elucidating, shedding a little light on this item and price point? Yes, sir.

Good afternoon, Commissioners and Judge Becerra, Joel Ware, Juvenile Facility Administrator of the Hays County Juvenile Center. This is just an initiative to extend on the cameras that we already have inside the facility. You know, as we, you know, it is the Mental Health Awareness Month that you guys were talking about earlier and, you know, juveniles having more behavioral health problems and mental health issues. We just want to make sure that we're able to utilize our camera system to help us, you know, when it comes to safety and security of the juveniles and also our staff as well. Good job.

And this will cover support further inside or inside and outside?

Inside. Yeah, we've got pretty much all the coverage outside and this is just to help With inside. Reinforcing the inside. Wonderful.

Good. Good job. Thank you for what you're doing. Thank you. Commissioners, any questions or comments? Commissioner Cohen? No. All right. Please call the roll. Thank you.

Commissioner Hammer? Yes. Commissioner Inglesby? Yes. Commissioner Smith?

Yes.

Commissioner Cohen? Yes. Judge Becerra?

Yes. K-14.

It's pulled. K-14.

Pulled.

I'm hearing a lot of side talk.

Are we okay to open it? K-14, discussion and possible action to pre-qualify all respondents who scored 70 or above

for RFQ2026-Q06 utility coordination and utility engineering services pool to establish a new pool of first to be used as needed basis for projects throughout the county for utility coordination and engineering services. This election of a firm will be brought to the commissioner's court for approval, utilizing the vendor selection form prior to a contract being brought back to commissioner's court for execution. The pool will be reviewed and reopened on an annual basis. So moved. Second.

Stephanie Hunt, purchasing agent. So on this procurement, we received 35 statements of qualification. Two were received as non-responsive. Per the court's direction on June 9th, Anybody who scored an average score of 70 or above would be awarded into the pool, so that is what is presented today. There are two Chapter 176 disclosures. One is for Atkins Realist, which is Marisol Villarreal Alonzo. Her husband is a construction manager, and then her daughter is an engineering intern. FOR THE COMPANY AND THEN QUIDITY COMMISSIONER PRECINCT TWO STEP FATHER WORKS AS A QA OR QUALITY ASSURANCE QUALITY CONTROL SPECIALIST. AND THEN THE RELATED PARTY DISCLOSURE FORMS, BGE OUR PAST COMMISSIONER PRECINCT TWO MARK JONES WORKS FOR THEM AND THEN WITH LJA ENGINEERING OUR PAST TRANSPORTATION DIRECTOR JERRY BORSHETTING HIS GRANDDAUGHTER WORKS FOR THEM AS A GRAPHICS COORDINATOR.

Just for clarification, the list and backup, was that supposed to be only firms that received the 70%, or was that all scores?

It's just all the scores, so y'all could see, like, this is who the scores, this is where they averaged out, and then anybody who is getting a 70 or above would be the ones that are actually awarded into the pool.

I appreciate that. In the past, we've only listed the firms that have met that minimum standard. That's the reason I was asking. Please call the roll.

Commissioner Inglesby? Yes. Commissioner Smith?

Yes.

Commissioner Cohen?

I'm recusing myself from this vote due to my stepfather working at Quigley.

Commissioner Hammer? Yes. Judge Becerra?

Yes. K-15. K-15.

Discussion and possible action to award RFP2026-P13, Indigent Cremation and Burial Services to Legends Tri-County Funeral Services and Authorized Staff and the Criminal District Attorney's Civil Division to negotiate a contract. So moved. Second.

All right.

Stephanie Hunt, Purchasing Agent. So on this procurement, we only received one proposal. It did go to the evaluation committee. Their average score on that was an 83, so exceeds expectations as far as what we had in the procurement. So it is their recommendation to move forward with contract negotiations for these services.

Perfect, and thank you. I do have one question related to this, and this is a question not for you necessarily, but for the Civil Division. If there were to be a hospital district created, would they assume the cost for cremation services?

INDIGENT CLEMATION SERVICE. SO THAT IS UNDER THE TEXAS HEALTH DEPARTMENT.

YES, SIR.

MATTHEW GONZALEZ, HAYES COUNTY HEALTH DEPARTMENT DIRECTOR. COMMISSIONER SMITH, YOUR QUESTION WAS ABOUT WHETHER OR NOT THE HOSPITAL DISTRICT WOULD ASSUME RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE INDIGENT BURIAL. MY ASSUMPTIONS IN SECTION 694-002 OF THE HEALTH AND SAFETY CODE OUTLINES THAT THAT'S A COUNTY RESPONSIBILITY. I DON'T BELIEVE IT'S A TEXAS HOSPITAL DISTRICT RESPONSIBILITY.

Please call, oh, you had something else to add?

No, Chase Young, Assistant Criminal District Attorney with the Civil Division. What Matthew says sounds correct, but I would have to do some research to further confirm that, and I'm happy to do that. I'm sending that to court. Thank you. Please call the roll.

Commissioner Smith?

Yes.

Commissioner Cohen? Yes. Commissioner Hammer?

Yes.

Commissioner Inglesby? Yes. Judge Visetta?

Yes. N-1. N-1.

In one, discussion related to the Hayes County inmate population to include current population counts and cost.

The Sheriff's Department sends my office the jail capacity report for every week, and here is ours for this week. Our jail capacity is 464 inmates, and jail standards recommends holding approximately 10% of that open, which lowers our actual capacity to 417. The jail's daily average was, however, 520 and peak was 525 on August 27th. The estimated cost for outsourcing inmates this week was $67,547. The average number of outsourced males is 95 and females are zero. This week's inmates were housed in the following county, Haskell. Paper-ready inmates, we are holding 36. Paper-ready inmates, they've gone through our judicial system. had their day in court are now state inmates. And the reason we bring that up is because that should be out of the state coffers, not the county coffers. Executive session, all three, Candace? Yes, sir. Please open M1, 2, and 3.

M1, executive session pursuant to section 551.071 of the Texas government code, consolation and counsel regarding contemplated litigation involving unauthorized roadway construction by third parties within and or surrounding the Sunfield and or Sun Creek subdivisions in precinct two. Possible discussion and or action may follow an open court. M2, executive session pursuant to sections 551.071 of the Texas Government Code, consultation with counsel regarding pending and or contemplated litigation, including but not limited to Hayes County potential intervention related to Hayes County Emergency Services District No. 9 versus San Marcos Hayes County Emergency Medical Services, Inc. cause number 26-2025-DCE pending in the 453rd Judicial District Court in East County. Possible discussion and or action may follow in open court. M3, executive session pursuant to sections 551.071 and 551.072 of the Texas Government Code, consultation with counsel and deliberation regarding the exchange, purchase, lease, sell, or value of real property located at or near FM 2325 and Red Coral Ranch Road, located in Precinct 3. Possible discussion and or action may follow in open court.

Which one would you like to start with first? Please clear the courtroom if you are not tied to M1. Come in and come out. And we are back from executive session with all of our updates. Commissioner Smith.