Huerfano County commissioners approve switch to T-Mobile, interim acting-pay policy and accept court security award

Huerfano County commissioners at their June 17 meeting approved switching the county’s cell-phone service to T-Mobile, adopted an interim temporary/acting pay policy and accepted a $63,620 award from the 2025–26 Court Security Cash Fund, officials said.

The board voted to instruct staff to begin the process of changing the county’s service from Verizon to T-Mobile after county staff members said field testing around the county showed improved reception for many employees while keeping costs comparable. “This switch will improve reception for employees across the county while maintaining comparable cost,” a county staff member said during the presentation.

The interim policy on temporary or acting pay was presented as a stopgap to ensure compliance with state equal-pay requirements and to provide consistent treatment for employees assigned additional duties. County staff described the policy as temporary and intended to be folded into an updated employee handbook when that document is completed.

Commissioners also accepted a partial grant award of $63,620 from the 2025–26 Court Security Cash Fund. County staff said the award covered personnel costs for the court security guard but did not cover several security upgrades the county had requested; the application originally sought about $90,000, staff said.

Votes at a glance: - Motion to approve switching county cell-phone service to T-Mobile and instruct staff to begin the change: approved. (Motion text in meeting record: “I make a motion to approve the quote from T Mobile and instruct staff to begin the process to switch carriers.”) - Motion to adopt an interim temporary/acting pay policy: approved. (Motion text in meeting record: “Make a motion to approve the interim policy for temporary.”) - Motion to accept the $63,620 award from the 2025–26 Court Security Cash Fund: approved. (Motion text in meeting record: “I make a motion to accept the award of $63,620 from the Court's Security cash.”) - Motion to accept vendor run payments totaling $282,347.82: approved. (Motion text in meeting record: “I make a motion to accept the vendor run amount of $282,347.82.”)

Public comment touched on the T-Mobile switch. Ryan Gies, of Colorado Rhino Plumbing, said his own field testing showed good T-Mobile coverage in parts of the county but that T-Mobile customer service told him the company “doesn't have 5 g service in town,” prompting commissioners and staff to say they would check permits and tower upgrades before finalizing the carrier change.

The board did not adopt additional security upgrades sought in the court-security grant application because the award was partial; staff said the county will seek other funding sources for those items. The interim pay policy will be in effect until the county adopts an updated employee handbook, when the policy will be incorporated and sunset as a standalone interim policy.

Less-critical items cleared at the meeting included routine vendor payments and administrative housekeeping. Several commissioners and staff said they would follow up with additional details at future meetings.