Hood County commissioners approve elections software, authorize RFQ for thoroughfare planning; AV contract renewal tabled

Hood County Commissioners Court on Tuesday authorized an elections software purchase, advanced planning for a potential bond, tabled a courtroom audiovisual maintenance renewal and approved a series of land plats and routine financial items.

Elections Administrator Stephanie Cooper told the court the SOC Integra platform would replace several Excel-based processes — poll-worker payroll, training sign-ups and scheduling — and provide a centralized, secure portal for poll workers. "We're currently working off of multiple Excel documents…this is a centralized software that can put all of that together," Cooper said, adding the vendor is FedRAMP-certified.

The court voted unanimously to authorize the County Judge to sign the SOC Integra purchase agreement out of fund 114. The first-year cost presented was $16,324; the amounts for subsequent years were discussed during the presentation but not clearly recorded in the public transcript.

Commissioners also directed purchasing to develop Request for Qualifications (RFQ 2025-07) for transportation program development and strategic planning to implement the county—s recently adopted master thoroughfare plan and prepare materials for a proposed bond election in November 2025. Commissioner Samuelson said the RFQ will help the county identify a program manager to assemble funding sources and oversee implementation; the motion carried 5-0.

On a separate procurement matter the court considered renewal of a maintenance contract with AVISPL that covers courtroom audio-visual systems. Vendor representative Owen described the contract options (one year at $22,042.72 or three years at $60,307.34) and a four-hour response time for service calls. Commissioners expressed concerns about past vendor responsiveness and asked purchasing to solicit additional bids and quotes. Commissioner Samuelson moved to table the renewal until the April 22 meeting to obtain comparative bids and quotes; the motion passed unanimously.

Human Resources Director Melissa Welber presented housekeeping revisions to the employee handbook, including bereavement leave, code of conduct, overtime compensation and compensation for terminated employees. The court approved the handbook updates and consolidated a separate "overtime during declaration of disaster" paragraph into the overtime/compensation policy by unanimous votes.

Planning staff presented a series of final plats and replats — including Uncle Carrie—s Addition lots 1–3, several Landings replats, Rancho Brazos replats and Canyon Creek 5 Unit 9 Lot 20R — and recommended approval for each; the court approved them, largely by individual or grouped motions and unanimous votes.

County Auditor Stephanie Matlock asked the court to authorize payment of bills totaling $563,125.81; commissioners approved the expenditure. The auditor also presented monthly financial reports, bank reconciliations and a FY2023–2024 review of the sheriff's commissary and related records; the court accepted the reports and the audit presentation, with staff noting a small number of items being remedied.

Public comment included praise for emergency animal-sheltering planning led by Emergency Operations staff member Margaret Campbell. Commenter Richard Hayes described a recent exercise and said, "in my opinion, the test the plan was about 95 to 98% solid," noting more than 40 volunteers participated.

The court convened two executive sessions — one on a real estate matter under Texas Government Code §551.072 and another on security devices and audit under §551.076 — and reported no action taken upon return to open session. The judge said negotiations on the real estate matter will continue.

The court recessed and will revisit tabled procurement items and follow-up reports at future meetings, including the next regular commissioners court on April 22, 2025.