[{"_1":2,"_87":-5,"_88":-5},"loaderData",{"_3":4,"_26":27},"root",{"_5":6,"_17":10,"_18":19,"_20":21,"_22":10,"_23":-5,"_24":-5,"_25":10},"user",{"_7":8,"_9":10,"_11":10,"_12":-5,"_13":-5,"_14":15,"_16":-5},"roles",[],"isAuthenticated",false,"isPremium","planName","subscriptionStatus","featureFlags",{},"insightsBudget","isDevelopmentHost","userPreferences",{},"recaptchaSiteKey","6LcvOJcUAAAAAHsB-gPGfGktcRlKpH7OTIU_dMTD","isImpersonating","impersonation","affiliateStatus","isFreedomPortal","routes/v2/article/layout",{"_28":29,"_30":31},"notFound",true,"relatedArticles",[32,75],{"_33":34,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":40,"_41":42,"_43":44,"_45":46,"_47":48,"_49":50,"_51":52,"_53":54,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":60,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":66,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":68,"_72":73,"_74":73},"mediaId",6509381,"mediaKeyId","5429514-ae34ff6332a6651706a3f091dd7da2f4","parentId",5429514,"title","Denton County Commissioners Court approves resolutions, contracts and interlocal agreements; votes at a glance","audioSeconds",130,"startMs",5330000,"endMs",5460000,"viewUrl","/Search/View?dp=1&key=5429514-ae34ff6332a6651706a3f091dd7da2f4&start=5330&end=5460","thumbnailUrl","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/5429514-ae34ff6332a6651706a3f091dd7da2f4/thumbnail_5330000.jpg","articleUrl","/articles/6509381/Denton-County/Texas/Denton-County-Commissioners-Court-approves-resolutions-contracts-and-interlocal-agreements-votes-at-a-glance","mediaUrl","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6509381-8070e58a3ccc27c19e1ab7d6a6714674/orig.mp4?Expires=1771175079&Signature=neKzm1yGzp0mXo0fBkNjlCA-DYeDNYoe~Ytt0SgP1Xlmu7oM~YzGiDfAlcfibZK2kGwuZOK-P5KD0DJQhDl~wYKSsqRI-uDcgsGDhxuJXAwiMlJQY~sZ49ZgwsH6xQe6bxVoO8-CdXGIenxBZdIGl2FHvIDyznPr8fA-iYOb02zM7acQJOmY6C-a881dHxNZLthOlgEDy1qz2jAwAs-bOIApJ9p7GkEebc9si77~~TbaQpF8tNrD-hskLwAnPUyh5Ef-DlALdRQiM5UBrCJD3HLMQdY6bIJw12YL7peP6pu04VMNtvn99YcE1-pvwJuO9VwX9xO5bLxZeXuE5~dZ2A__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","author","Denton County Texas","date","2025-07-18T19:04:00.427Z","article","The Denton County Commissioners Court on July 18 voted unanimously on a large consent and regular agenda that included ceremonial recognitions for youth programs, multiple interlocal cooperation agreements for tax assessment and special-assessment collection, several procurement awards, budget amendments and authorizations for road and building projects.

Top actions approved

- Civil courts building remodel (CMAR contract): The court approved an agreement with Burton Construction Services for construction-manager-at-risk services for the Civil Courts Building remodel in the amount of $4,614,151 (including a $1,590,000 CMAR contingency). Commissioner Falconer moved approval; Commissioner Williams seconded; the motion carried unanimously.

- TxDOT Denton County Outerloop participation and USACE MOA: The court approved an interlocal agreement for the Denton County Outerloop project (local participation estimated at $949,758) and a memorandum of agreement with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for NEPA participation for the Outerloop project ( $156,141 charged to the outer loop line). Motion and second recorded; motions carried unanimously.

- Fishtrap Road supplement: The court approved Supplement Agreement No. 1 for the Fishtrap Road professional services contract, adding $468,789 and bringing the revised contract total to $7,551,835. Motion carried unanimously.

Other notable approvals (summary)

- Resolutions recognizing Scouts BSA Citizenship in the Community merit badge cohort and Denton County Junior Historians (ceremonial approvals).

- Procurement and contracting approvals including: ITB award for hot-mix surface course to Eurovia Atlantic Coast, LLC dba Sun Mount Paving Company; ranking Alliance Geotechnical Group for material testing services; renewal of SHI software licenses; sole-source purchase for LifeScan Systems; and CMAR preconstruction work for the civil courts remodel.

- Multiple interlocal cooperation agreements for property tax assessment and collection and for collection of special assessments covering a range of cities, municipal utility districts and public improvement districts (items listed on the record: Town of Hickory Creek; City of Carrollton; Town of Little Elm; Prairie Oaks MUD; Oak Point WCI; Smiley Road WCI; Tabor Ranch; Denton County MUDs; City of Celina; Castle Hills; Hillstone Point; Spiritus Ranch; Valencia; Lakeside Estates; Redmond Tract; City of Sanger; Town of Lakewood Village; City of Denton; Crossroads; Sanctuary MUD; and others as recorded).

- Budget and administrative items including payroll approval, bill report payments across several funds, a budget amendment to fund fingerprint-scanning stations ($51,170), and change orders and reportings related to Workday and CAM teller integration.

Court commentary and staff recognition: The judge and multiple commissioners thanked county staff, volunteers and partners involved in the procurement, construction and elections processes. The judge said, \"I want to thank all of our staff, all of our elected officials, the Workday leadership team, and those who are the front lines working and implementing this system,\" in remarks recognizing the workload of implementing countywide systems.

All recorded motions on the consent and regular agenda carried unanimously; the court adjourned for executive session at 10:38 a.m.","mediaType","Video","parentTitle","Denton County Commissioners Court","oneSentenceSummary","On July 18 the Denton County Commissioners Court unanimously approved a series of ceremonial resolutions, procurement contracts, interlocal cooperation agreements, budget amendments and construction agreements, including a civil courts building CMAR award and a TxDOT outer-loop participation agreement.","taxTitle","Denton County, Texas","taxId",2701,"location","headline","","shortSummary",{"_33":76,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":77,"_41":78,"_43":79,"_45":80,"_47":81,"_49":82,"_51":83,"_53":84,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":85,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":86,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":68,"_72":73,"_74":73},6509387,"Denton County residents, election workers debate countywide voting centers during public comment",1986,708000,2694000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=5429514-ae34ff6332a6651706a3f091dd7da2f4&start=708&end=2694","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/5429514-ae34ff6332a6651706a3f091dd7da2f4/thumbnail_708000.jpg","/articles/6509387/Denton-County/Texas/Denton-County-residents-election-workers-debate-countywide-voting-centers-during-public-comment","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6509387-961c1b093e5883c2c4dc1c58981c4525/orig.mp4?Expires=1771175079&Signature=M29lZ4wDveKaIVFY-Z1uAYSOy4HfPGZTvYcNXNko32K2Msd8GSBMY0SR5RCMNNvTh375MSPZMBVlC2-Fri7ZugX9WQD5VOmw88Ha-ufG~gf48M5h33~DJ44zzUGJ6MAD-3~--D84PKvSuydLnnxaL40H2ffeP0Y3A4NH8UUWbqjGP0O9-W8KCkCnw53ncBXsBqzJv3zgLG78KQ-S6AmY-PSjajyqkSzVxAzuiJewcGrqiUVxOujjQCdP53Da3Edm4DS3sJhhTbk5euhcgR08W-igSB-iGEip3iX2vawEVHJihKyZpLtAA62Sb2LM3O78Gksm0C4VH~oIwb5gZNjR-Q__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","Dozens of Denton County residents and longtime election workers used the court’s public-comment period on July 18 to press opposing views about whether the county should allow countywide voting centers (allowing voters to cast in-person ballots at any county polling location on election day) or continue precinct-only election-day voting.

Speakers said the issue matters because redirecting voters from one polling place to another on election day can lead to long lines, provisional ballots and, in some cases, voters who do not complete voting. Several speakers urged the commissioners to compile an official, precinct-by-precinct count of redirected voters rather than relying on unofficial estimates.

The debate focused on two competing claims: some election workers and precinct chairs said a significant share of voters are redirected on election day and that countywide voting centers would reduce that confusion; others, including precinct chairs and judges, said redirects are rare in their experience and argued precinct voting preserves local oversight and voter-contact opportunities.

Dan Burnham, who said he served as an election judge at North Branch Library in the last general election, described his observations in numbers: \"We processed 596 people. We redirected 191 people to other sites to vote.\" He added, \"That's approximately a quarter,\" and urged the court to obtain hard, official counts rather than rely on unofficial tallies.

Christie Wood, who identified herself as a small-business owner and as an election judge, described repeated redirecting at a downtown Denton location that affected many university students, saying the redirects sometimes produced long provisional-ballot work for judges and clerks. \"Please adopt voting centers because it will help stop this confusion on the voters,\" she said.

By contrast, Joel McGregor, Gail Solomon and David Wiley — all of whom said they serve as election judges or precinct chairs — said their experience is that redirects are uncommon. \"In my experience, that is the exception rather than the norm,\" Wiley said, noting local variations among precincts. Several speakers suggested the county’s voter lookup tools and poll-book instructions already guide most voters to the correct location.

Other commenters pressed different concerns. Jane Scholes criticized countywide voting centers on the grounds of potential corruption, telling the court, \"Voting centers open the door to corruption. Period.\" Deborah Avalano, a Republican precinct chair, said, \"Convenience doesn't equal security or saved money,\" and warned that vote centers would increase complexity and cost for local elections.

Speakers on both sides asked the court for better data. Multiple speakers proposed that election administration capture redirect counts automatically in the poll-book system and provide precinct-level metrics after each election so the commissioners could see where redirects occur and whether they materially reduce or increase barriers to voting.

The court made no policy decision during the public-comment period; these remarks were delivered under the item for public input and will be considered if the matter becomes a future agenda item. The county’s election administration was repeatedly identified by speakers as the appropriate office to provide precinct-level redirect data and explain safeguards for ballot secrecy and election security.

Context and next steps: Several speakers said that early voting already allows voting at any county location and that the policy difference concerns only election-day voting. A petition circulating to permit countywide election-day voting was mentioned; Robert Holt told the court, \"Denton is the seventh most populous county in Texas, and it is the largest county without county wide voting,\" and said petitioners seek to change that. The court did not take formal action on the petition at this meeting.

The commissioners’ clerk or elections office can be asked later to provide the official counts speakers requested if the court places the topic on a future agenda.","Residents, longtime election workers and precinct chairs told the Denton County Commissioners Court on July 18 that countywide voting centers would reduce voter confusion while others warned the change could hurt security; speakers offered mixed experience-based counts of redirected voters and asked the county to audit its redirect data.","actionData","errors"]

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Denton County Commissioners Court approves resolutions, contracts and interlocal agreements; votes at a glance

Denton County residents, election workers debate countywide voting centers during public comment