Quorum court approves transfer of sheriff vehicle, budget amendment and new felony case coordinator

Saline County’s quorum court approved three measures during its meeting: an ordinance transferring an unused sheriff’s department vehicle to the city of Mark Tree, a budget amendment to reallocate county funds, and an action to add a new felony case coordinator position.

The court voted to transfer the unused sheriff’s department vehicle to the city of Mark Tree after a motion to suspend the rules and place the ordinance on second and third reading. Justice Rue moved to suspend the rules and read the ordinance by title only; Justice Krausson seconded. The presiding judge called a roll and recorded affirmative votes from the present justices. The transcript records the court reading the ordinance “authorizing the sheriff’s department to transfer an unused department vehicle to the city of Mark Tree” and a subsequent roll call in which attending members recorded “yes.”

The court then considered an ordinance to amend the county’s 02/2025 budget to appropriate transfers between various budgets. Justice Curtis moved to suspend the rules and read by title only; Justice Engel seconded. The ordinance was approved on a roll call with affirmative responses recorded for those present. The read-by-title language in the record described the measure as “an order to amend the 02/2025 Saline County budget…to appropriate transfer of funds, therefore, to the various budgets and for other purposes.” The transcript does not specify line-by-line transfers or dollar amounts.

An administrative action item to increase staffing—a new hire and a felony case coordinator position—was presented to the court after prior review in the HR committee. A motion to approve the action item was made by Justice Billingsley and seconded by Justice Whitley; the motion passed on a voice vote after discussion. During that discussion a court member noted that in the past the county has applied retroactive pay for new positions but that HR committee members suggested hiring new employees at the stated starting rate going forward rather than granting retroactive increases. The court recorded an affirmative voice vote to approve the position and the staffing action.

All three items were presented, debated briefly on procedure and pay practice, and approved by the attending justices. The transcript does not include ordinance numbers in a standard numeric format or specify budget line items or dollar amounts for the budget amendment; those details were not specified in the public record provided.

Votes at a glance • Transfer of sheriff’s department vehicle to the city of Mark Tree — motion to suspend rules and adopt on third reading passed; mover: Justice Rue; second: Justice Krausson; outcome: approved (roll call recorded affirmative responses). • Budget amendment to amend 02/2025 Saline County budget — motion to approve passed after read-by-title; mover: Justice Curtis; second: Justice Engel; outcome: approved (roll call recorded affirmative responses). Specific appropriation amounts were not specified in the transcript. • Action to authorize a new hire and felony case coordinator position — motion to accept action item passed; mover: Justice Billingsley; second: Justice Whitley; outcome: approved (voice vote). Discussion included a recommendation from HR committee members about avoiding retroactive pay for new hires going forward.

The court did not record member-level “no” votes for the items whose roll calls are in the transcript; recorded responses for the roll-call items were affirmative for the attending justices listed in the record. The transcript does not include full ordinance numbering or precise budget figures for the amendment.