By Ray King
Committees of the Jefferson County Quorum Court on Tuesday sailed through a 12-item agenda in a less than a 30-minute period, approving raises for some employees who were left out when others were given raises, approving the elimination of a position in district court and approving the adding of a position in the County Clerk’s Office.
County Judge Gerald Robinson spoke to Deltaplex News after the meeting and explained what the county’s legislative body recommend for approval.
Specifically, employees who work at the school at the juvenile detention center, who are paid by the state, and a deputy assigned to the Tri-County Drug Task Force is paid from a grant. No new money will be involved in these salary increases.
At the request of District Judge Kim Bridgforth, the justices of the peace recommended eliminating an unfilled slot in her office, and taking part of the money for that slot, which is already in the 2021 budget and dividing it up between other employees. The salary for that slot was set at $27,560 in the budget and $8,400 of that will be divided between the seven current employees of the court, meaning each would receive a $100 per month increase.
The remaining $19,160 balance would be eliminated from the yearly budget completely.
County Clerk Shawandra Taggart’s request to hire a new deputy clerk to allow that clerk to be trained in voter registration duties was also recommended for approval. Taggart said in a letter to Robinson and members of the quorum court that the current voter registration clerk will be retiring Dec. 31 and she wanted to hire someone so the office could be prepared for the 2022 primaries and general election.
The Quorum Court will meet Monday at 5:30 p.m. to vote on all the actions that were recommended for approval at this committee meeting.
