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Commissioners debate outside HR search; agree to post in-house for 30 days before hiring recruiter
Summary
After a presentation by recruiter Rhonda Davenport, the court reviewed options for hiring an HR director. Commissioners discussed past hiring challenges and budget trade-offs, then voted to post the HR director position in-house for 30 days and evaluate applicants before considering outside recruitment services.
The Kaufman County Commissioners Court discussed a proposal to retain a professional recruiting service for an HR director and decided to post the position in-house for 30 days before engaging an outside firm.
Rhonda Davenport, who presented as owner of Smart HR, described her recruiting approach and said she charges a flat fee rather than the percentage-of-salary fee typical of third-party recruiters. Davenport said she would screen applicants, conduct initial video interviews and present top candidates for the county to evaluate. She described experience in executive HR leadership and recruiting and said she founded Smart HR in 2019 to provide executive-level HR services on a flat-fee basis.
Commissioners debated the merits of an outside search and discussed challenges the county has had filling HR roles. Several commissioners said the county's past hiring process had “not worked” and that an HR function is increasingly necessary as the county grows. Others said paying $20,000 for recruitment would be difficult to justify when local candidates might be available and when many elected officials conduct their own hiring.
After discussion, a motion passed to post the HR director job internally for 30 days and evaluate applicants; if the in-house recruitment did not produce satisfactory candidates, the court left open the option of returning to the presenter or considering other firms. The motion carried by voice vote.
