Commissioners approve up to $7,900 from passport budget to cover sheriff overtime for Saturday fair

Collin County Commissioners Court on Tuesday approved a budget amendment, not to exceed $7,900, to transfer available funds from the district clerk's passport budget to the Sheriff's Office to cover overtime for a passport fair scheduled for Saturday.

District Clerk staffer Mr. Gould told the court the passport fair will run from 9 a.m. to noon and is organized as a walk‑up event. "It'll be Saturday from 9 a.m. ... We'll stop taking in people at noon," Gould said, adding that the passport office has one‑time budget savings of $7,939.86 that could be used for the overtime.

The court discussed whether the Sheriff's Office would be paid overtime while district clerk employees would receive comp time. Judge Hill noted the inequity and asked whether the clerk's staff could be paid; Gould said the passport office would offer comp time because there is no overtime budget line in the clerk's office. "Our passport agents ... have just done outstanding jobs ... comp time is gonna be fine," Gould said.

Commissioner Harris asked for a "not to exceed" amount before approving the transfer. County staff recommended using the full amount available in the passport budget as the not‑to‑exceed cap; the court set the amendment at an amount not to exceed $7,900 and approved the transfer. The transferred funds will pay for sheriff staffing for security and two roving officers at the courthouse during the event.

County staff said they will track the actual hours in PeopleSoft and return actual costs after the event. The clerk's office said future passport fairs are expected to be budgeted in the regular budget process.

The motion to approve the not‑to‑exceed amendment passed on a voice vote.