Atascosa County adopts 90-day burn ban, approves insurance renewal, equipment donation and multiple hires

Atascosa County Commissioner's Court on Jan. 27 adopted a 90-day outdoor burning ban effective Jan. 27 and approved a package of routine but budget-relevant items, including a property and casualty insurance renewal, acceptance of donated light towers from EOG Resources, revised election equipment rental rates for contracting entities and numerous personnel hires and promotions.

The burn ban was presented by Fire Marshal Ronald Saench, who said persistent winds and low recent rainfall justified a temporary restriction on outdoor burning. The court voted to adopt an order restricting outdoor burning for 90 days — until April 27, 2025 — and authorized the fire marshal to lift the ban early without returning to the court when conditions improve.

The court also approved a renewal of the county's property, general liability and auto insurance effective Feb. 1, 2025. Linda Burrows of Rick's Insurance told the court that the insurance market is “really tough this year,” and that after additional market outreach the broker reduced the initial premium quote by $15,000. The renewal includes changes to several deductibles: law-enforcement liability deductibles rise to $50,000 per claim and public-officials/employment-practice deductibles to $25,000; the annual premium increase across coverages was described as about 10 percent. The court approved the renewal by motion.

Emergency Management Coordinator Mike Panta introduced representatives from EOG Resources and asked the court to accept two refurbished light towers donated by EOG for county public safety use. The towers were described as converted to LED and fully refurbished; one was to be assigned for general emergency/public safety use and the other to the sheriff's office. The court accepted the donation and thanked the donors.

Election Administrator Kathy Sider presented an updated interlocal agreement for joint election services and recommended a new fee formula for rental of election equipment for contracting cities and school districts. Sider proposed scaling rental rates by the size of the contracting entity’s registered voter base (examples given in court: under 500 voters = 2%; under 1,000 = 4%; under 5,000 = 6%; under 10,000 = 8%; over 10,000 = 10%). Commissioners approved the approach and the court set the county’s rates consistent with the formula described.

Sheriff Guerra requested that the judge sign required law-enforcement certification paperwork needed for continued receipt of Operation Lone Star funds. Separately, the court approved acceptance of an Operation Lone Star grant (listed as grant number 5,366,001) and noted the sheriff’s office intends to dedicate those funds to overtime. The court also approved the sale of a duty firearm to an honorably retired deputy under Texas Government Code procedures; the court-set price was $20.

The court approved a range of personnel matters across county offices: the hiring of Tracy Franklin as an assistant public defender at a stated annual salary of $100,000; the hiring of juvenile supervision and detention staff, multiple promotions and new hires in the sheriff’s office and jail (with stated hourly rates and uniform allowances provided in personnel packets); and the appointment of a victim assistance coordinator at $59,400 annually. The court approved a constable office racial-profiling report for filing with the state and authorized a set of interagency lease/insurance agreements for constables’ vehicles.

Other administrative approvals included payment of invoices to DRG Architects for medical examiner and sheriff’s office architectural services (one noted to be paid from ARPA funds), disbursement of a $10,500 pretrial diversion payment as authorized by Article 102.0121 of the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure, and acceptance of right-of-way and temporary water-line permit extensions for several rural water projects presented by county staff. Planning staff presented and the court approved multiple certificates of exception for agricultural acreage exceptions on county roads after staff said the applicants met conditions including driveway spacing and floodplain avoidance.

Votes at a glance (motions recorded as presented to court): the insurance renewal (approved, motion by Commissioner Gillespie, seconded by Commissioner Cohen); acceptance of two donated light towers from EOG Resources (approved, motion by Commissioner Gillespie, seconded by Commissioner Riley); hire of Tracy Franklin, assistant public defender (approved, motion by Commissioner Gillespie, seconded by Commissioner Pavelic); approval of the 2024 racial-profiling report for Constable Precinct 4 (approved, motion by Commissioner Bowen, seconded by Commissioner Pavelic); approval of the interlocal election agreement and new fee formula (approved, motion by Commissioner Gillespie, seconded by Commissioner Riley); adoption of a 90-day burn ban (approved, motion by Commissioner Gillespie, seconded by Commissioner Pavelic); authorization for the judge to sign law-enforcement certification forms and acceptance of the Operation Lone Star grant (approved; motions recorded); approval of sale of a duty firearm to retired Deputy Paul Schneider for $20 (approved, motion by Commissioner Gillespie, seconded by Commissioner Pavelic); multiple personnel promotions and hires for the sheriff’s office, jail and other county departments (approved, motions recorded); approval of DRG Architects invoices for medical examiner and sheriff’s office architectural services (approved); approval of pretrial diversion disbursement of $10,500 (approved); and approval of temporary water-line permit extensions and right-of-way for McCoy Water Supply Corporation (approved). Where the transcript recorded only “all those in favor? That motion carries,” the court’s outcome is reported as approved per the record.

Why it matters: the burn ban gives the county immediate authority to restrict outdoor burning during elevated fire risk and delegates practical discretion to the fire marshal to lift the ban as conditions improve. The insurance renewal and deductible changes affect county budget exposure and potential out-of-pocket liability for certain claims. The Operation Lone Star grant and associated paperwork enable continued overtime funding for sheriff’s operations. The election equipment fee formula changes affect how the county recovers costs from contracting cities and school districts.

The court set its next meeting for Feb. 10, 2025. Several commissioners noted pending executive-session items for that meeting.