County commissioners approve new mental health deputy

By CHUCK TAYLOR
Cove Leader-Press
 
The Coryell County Commissioners Court approved the addition oif a fifth mental health deputy to the sheriff’s department on Monday.
 
Room was found in the budget for the deputy, a car, uniform and equipment. This new position will increase the coverage for these specialized law enforcement personnel for more effective assistance to the regular patrol when they encounter an individual acting in an abnormal manner.
 
The county’s road and bridge department received authority to sell three used road graders which have outlived their usefulness. The county believes it will get at least $50,000 for each grader. New equipment is being leased to replace the old machines.
 
Again, the court took no action on placing a burn ban back in effect as the weather and humidity have cooperated. The issue will be reviewed at the next meeting.
 
The county set November 21 at 9 a.m. as the time for canvassing the results of the November 8 election.
 
On the subject of vote integrity, County Judge John Firth discussed at length the work the county has done to assure that each vote is counted correctly.
 
Firth mentioned that Bell County was still using paper ballots which he believes are the easiest to manipulate. Here in Coryell County, each voting machine is a standalone system and is not connected to any other machine or the Internet. County voting machines have a small “thumb drive” type of memory chip.
 
At the close of voting, these chips will be transported to Gatesville and inserted into an election computer which will verify and count each location’s vote.
 
Finally, the construction of the new 7th Street annex courtroom is on schedule and should be ready for the new district court judge before the December deadline.
 
Editor’s Note: The headline for county commissioners in the Tuesday, Oct. 18 publication should have read “Commissioners to oppose unfunded mandates”.

 

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