Court approves addition of three jailers/one investigator for LCSO
The Lavaca County Commissioners’ Court met in a regular meeting Monday morning and voted to add three jailers and one investigator to the Lavaca County Sheriff ’s Office.
Chief deputy Carl Herbst and jail administer Matt Keller met before the court addressing the hiring of the positions.
Keller said the reason for hiring the three jailers would be to utilize funds from Senate Bill 22 and would address issues such as safety and liability at the jail.
Herbst said the sheriffs office had a special investigator come to them and offer to work for the department on major offenses as well as work with federal law enforcement agencies and we didn’t want to pass that opportunity up.
Judge Keith Mudd informed the court from the information he is aware of the jail has been overcrowded with 40-41 inmates who are there 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
“These are not misdemeanors, these are felons and we’ve had some problems ,” Mudd said. “Our jail for the public’s perspective, we have two jailers on duty with one in the control room locked and the other on the floor with 40 inmates, and we have had some altercations. It’s no longer safe. I can’t imagine doing that work.”
Mudd said moving from 14 to 17 jailers would be a basic level move to get extra coverage and have three people on duty.
“Since January 1, we have 107 indictments and we have a bunch more to go and that’s an understatement,” Mudd said. “This is a base level to get us where we need to be.”
The court approved the additions and the matter will be revisited during budget time for the new fiscal year that begins October 1.
Budget Schedule
Mudd announced a tentative schedule for the 2025-26 budget process listing:
• May 21 – Budget worksheets available at the judge’s office.
• June 20 – Deadline for worksheets to be turned in at the judge’s office.
• July 23 – Special called budget workshop for the court to deliberate and discuss the budget.
• July 28 – Regular Commissioner’s Court meeting – Optional: Alternate date where the court can hear budget requests.
Aug. 2 – Proposed budget/tax rate will be published online and available to the public.
• Aug. 11 – Regular Commissioner Court meeting with the Tax assessor presenting certified values, the no new revenue/voter approval rates.
• Aug. 25 – Regular Commissioner Court meeting with the court approving budget and tax rate.
Health/employee Benefits Insurance
The court heard from Daniel Brown with The Summit Insurance Agency and Lacy Jones, consultant with TAC Health and Employee Benefits Pool.
Brown presented amount of employee premium payouts and submitted claims for the 2024- 25 and said there would be a 5.7% rate increase for the medical plan for 2025-26.
The court voted to approve the renewal of rates for insurance coverage through the Texas Association of Counties Health and Employees Benefits Pool that included health, dental, vision and basic life. It tabled benefit waiting period for new hires and Cobra administration.
Unclaimed Properties
The court approved the distribution of unclaimed property capital credits for 2023 for $8,416.51 and 2024 for $36,374.03.
It was decided to divide the total amount of the two years and provide an equal share to Norma’s House, the Child Welfare Board and the Yoakum Library.
Concrete/Labor Bids Advertisement
The court approved advertising for concrete and labor bids for Lavaca County roads.
Stipulations for the bidding process included the bids are to be received by the county auditor’s office by 10:30 a.m. on Monday, June 30 and would be opened and read aloud by Judge Mudd, or his designee, at 10:45 a.m. on the same day.
The bids would be discussed and/or awarded at the Commissioners’ Court regular meeting on Monday, July 14 at 10 a.m.
In other action taken by the court:
• Approved an interlocal agreement for the sale of surplus property with the City of Burleson and the county.
• Approved a replat for Calvin and Beverly Walters.
• Approved certificates of exemption from subdivision requirements for Denis Berger, Jr. as well as Marcus Grahmann.
• Approved a contract between Thomson Reuters and the LCSO for CLEAR Proflex, an investigative support software service.
• Approved a donation of two tables from Merle and Janis Richardson to be used in the archives department.
• Approved allowing Allison, Bass and Magee, LLP to pursue litigation on an illegal subdivision in Lavaca County.
County judge Keith Mudd presided over the meeting with commissioners Edward Pustka, Wayne Faircloth, Kenny Siegel and Dennis W. Kocian present for the meeting.