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Court approves sheriff’s step‑pay exception, cell‑phone destruction policy, two additional phones and sale of retiring officer’s weapon
Summary
The court approved a one‑time pay policy exception for a sheriff's office captain, endorsed destroying county phones that may retain data, authorized two additional sheriff cell phones, and approved selling a retiring officer’s service weapon for fair market value under state law.
McLennan County Commissioners Court on Jan. 7 approved several sheriff‑related personnel and equipment requests, including a policy exception for a captain’s pay placement, a recommendation to destroy returned county cell phones that might retain data, authorization for two additional sheriff’s cell phones, and the sale of a retiring officer’s duty weapon.
Anna (auditor's office) told the court the county had largely completed step‑pay implementation and that one outlier — Captain Tim Davenport — did not fit neatly into the standard policy. The request was to place the employee at step 2 of the captain pay structure, with the salary figure cited in discussion as $99,000. “The policy worked for 99.9% of all sheriff's office employees, and we had the 1 policy outlier,” Anna said. Court members described the request as appropriate; a motion to approve the policy exception passed.
Ken Bass described concerns about residual data remaining on county cell phones returned from service and recommended a policy allowing the county to destroy phones rather than auctioning devices that might still contain information. Court members discussed precedents and agreed to authorize destruction of county property cell phones when residual data could not be guaranteed removed. The court approved the measure.
The court also approved a sheriff’s request for two additional cell phones; the phones themselves are provided at no charge, and the recurring service cost noted in the discussion was $39.99 per line, with an additional cost for protective covers.
On equipment disposition, the court approved selling a retiring peace officer Adrian Burnett his duty weapon, a Glock 17 9mm, for the fair market value of $325, citing Government Code Section 614.051 as authority to sell surplus county property to a retiring peace officer. The court discussed the fairness of the price to taxpayers and the officer’s years of service; the motion carried.
What was not specified at the meeting: details of the written phone‑destruction procedure, any exact procurement or disposal vendor, and whether ongoing phone replacements or destruction will require legal review. The recording did not attribute individual “yes” votes by name.
