By Ray King
Jefferson County Sheriff Lafayette Woods Jr., has asked the Quorum Court to pass two emergency supplemental appropriation ordinances to fund the adult detention center and the juvenile center.
At a meeting of Quorum Court committees Tuesday, copies of the appropriations and a letter from Woods were passed out to members of the court and to the media in attendance.
The items were not on the agenda for the meeting, which included only another attempt to pass a policies and procedures ordinance that has been on the agenda since January, and a resolution certifying a business in the county to participate in a tax back program for state taxes.
Members of the Human Resources Committee voted to send the policies and procedures ordinance to the full court by a vote of 4-3 with justices Roy Agee, Conley Byrd, Patricia Royal Johnson and Ted Harden voting yes and justices Brenda Bishop Gaddy, Cedric Jackson and Melanie Johnson Dumas voting no.
The resolution to send the measure to the full court was approved without dissent, even though it has passed last month during a meeting County Judge Gerald Robinson has called illegal.
Sheriff Woods was not at the meeting but Maj. Gary McClain, who is the department spokesman, explained the two appropriation requests, beginning with the adult jail.
McClain then explained the request for the juvenile detention center)
Both requested ordinances carried an emergency clause which means if approved, they would be in effect immediately.
The Quorum Court took no action on the requests but agreed to a special meeting of the Public Safety and then Finance Committees beginning at 5:20 p.m. Monday to consider the requests before the regular quorum court meeting at 5:30 p.m.
