At today’s meeting of the Brown County Commissioners, the majority of the time was spent discussing the vacant Justice of the Peace position, and the County-wide voting issue which cropped up on Election Day last week.

The Justice of the Peace Precinct 1 position was vacated recently by the resignation of Doug Hurt, who accepted a position with the Office of the Inspector General, Juvenile Justice Department.  Precinct 1 Commissioner Gary Worley said there are three options:

(1)  Do nothing, leaving the position vacant until the general election in November 2024.  Worley said JP’s Hogan and Perez have indicated that they would be willing to cover some of the duties in Precinct 1 until then.

(2) Appoint a temporary Justice of the Peace to serve until a permanent JP is elected.

(3) Wait until the Primary election in March 2024.  If a candidate wins the Primary in one party, and has no opponent from the other party in the November general election, that candidate could be declared elected at that time, and installed in the job.

The filing period for candidates for Justice of the Peace Precinct 1 is currently open and runs through December 11.  Commissioners decided to make no decision on this issue until after the filing period has closed.

Anyone interested in running for Justice of the Peace Precinct 1 can file in the Brown County Clerk’s office in the Courthouse through December 11.

Commissioners also heard from Brown County Elections Administrator Brenda Arp about an issue that arose on Election Day last week concerning County-wide voting.  Up until now, voters have always been required to vote in their own precinct, at a location specified on their voter registration card.  Earlier this year it was announced that the voting machines would be updated to allow voters to vote anywhere in the County, and receive the proper ballot for their location of residence.  During Election Day, it was discovered that this was not possible, because of a lack of approval from the State of Texas.  Nothing was wrong with the voting machines, according to Arp:  “I was notified on Election Day that County-wide polling here in Brown County was not fully and successfully completed.  There were things from past administrations that were not completed.  Anybody can go on the Secretary of State (website) and look it up.  After you apply for the County-wide polling and have a public hearing, everything has to come together, everything has to be sent to the Secretary of State, and they give you a successful rating.  Brown County does not have that.”

Arp said that despite the confusion on Election Day, no one was disenfranchised.  “There was no issue, all the numbers matched, everybody got to vote who wanted to vote.”  Now she plans to go to work on this issue immediately, so that Brown County will have the proper approval for County-wide voting before the Primary election in March.  First there must be a public hearing on the issue, which will be held during the Commissioners Court meeting on December 4.

In other business, Sheriff Vance Hill addressed the Commissioners concerning an upcoming expensive repair in the Law Enforcement Center.  He said that recently the boiler system completely broke down, resulting in no hot water in the complex.  A temporary repair was made, but a permanent replacement will be required.  Hill recommended that the boiler system not be replaced, as it is an obsolete system, and would be very expensive.  One option is high-recovery water heaters, but they would cost about $200,000.  Hill’s suggestion was to install a tankless water heater system:  8 in the jail and 4 in the kitchen/office areas.  Commissioner Worley stated that he has used tankless water heaters in his home for a number of years and is very pleased with their performance.  When asked for a cost estimate, Hill said probably between $90,000 and $130,000, and that the City of Brownwood would help pay for some of the cost.  A Request for Proposal will be posted for bids from plumbing contractors.

In two final pieces of business, the Commissioners ratified a funding agreement of $30,000 for the Brownwood Public Library, and agreed to take no action on a burn ban, leaving the current “No Burn Ban” in place.