In Monday’s meeting of the Brown County Commissioners Court, approval was given to a resolution in support of County-wide voting.  Brown County currently has County-wide voting, which means that persons registered to vote in Brown County are not required to vote at the polling place nearest to their home, as was the case for many years, but instead can vote at any polling place in the County.

In the current session of the Texas Legislature are several proposed bills to change election procedures.  Senate Bills 77 and 148 would eliminate County-wide voting.  Senate Bill 76 and House Bill 1001 would eliminate “electronic marking devices,” which means that the electronic voting machines currently used in Brown County would be outlawed, and only paper ballots would be permitted in the future.

Brown County Elections Administrator Brenda Arp presented to the Commissioners a resolution opposed to the proposed bills and in favor of the current voting machines and the County-wide voting system.  She said that the County-wide voting has worked well, has been popular with the voters, and has increased voter participation in Brown County elections.  Arp also argued in favor of the current voting machines.  While they do require the citizens to vote electronically, the machines do print a paper copy of the ballot which could be counted by hand if necessary.  Meanwhile, the electronic machines can tally the vote totals very quickly after the polls close.  Going back to paper ballots would require counting the votes by hand, which would take many hours, and would likely be less accurate.  The Commissioners approved the resolution by a vote of 4-0 (with Commissioner Joel Kelton abstaining), and the resolution will be sent to the Texas Legislature.

The Commissioners also heard from Brown County 4-H Agent Nick Gonzales concerning the salary for the office manager of the local Texas A&M Agrilife Extension office.  A new office manager is to be hired soon, and the current salary for that job is $33,000 per year, while the budget does allow for up to $39,000.  Gonzales requested approval for a salary increase to $39,000 to attract the best talent possible for the office manager job.  Commissioners approved the request on a 3-2 vote, with County Judge Britton and Commissioners Traweek and Chastain voting yes, and Commissioners Kelton and Reid voting no.

Commissioners also approved a new lower-cost contract with Unifirst for County uniforms; approved a change to the Commissioners Court meeting schedule to the 1st and 3rd Monday of each month; and agreed to keep the current burn ban On.

Commissioners also received from the Sheriff’s Office the Racial Profiling Report for 2024.  Details below:

Total Number of Stops:  2,128

Racial Breakdown of Persons Stopped:  White 74.5%; Hispanic/Latino 19.7%; Black 5.0%; Other 0.8%

Gender Breakdown:  Male 63.6%; Female 36.4%

Reason for Stop:  Moving traffic violation 95.1%; Vehicle traffic violation 4.7%; Violation of Law 0.2%

Search Conducted:  Yes 4.0%; No 96.0%

Result of Stop:  Verbal Warning 82.9%; Written Warning 0.5%; Citation 15.3%; Arrest 0.9%; Citation and Arrest 0.3%

Physical Force Used Resulting in Bodily Injury: Yes 0.0%;  No 100.0%

Number of Complaints of Racial Profiling: 0