Bell County designates 42 polling places, outlines ADA remediation under DOJ settlement

Bell County’s commissioners on Aug. 19 approved the designation of 42 polling places for the Nov. 5 general election and reviewed a plan to bring those sites into compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act under a Department of Justice settlement.

Desi, the county elections administrator, told commissioners the county had inspected sites and recommended one change: replacing Bliss Community Center with Little Rivers Freedom Road Fellowship at 1406 West Church Street in Little River Academy because the former would have required extensive permanent remediation. Desi said the work relied largely on temporary measures such as mats, cones and signage that would be deployed on election day or shortly before, and explained that the county had grouped sites by estimated remediation cost: 11 sites under $1,000, 18 sites between $1,000 and $2,000, and 14 sites exceeding $2,000 in estimated remediation costs.

Andrea Lacour of Contour Collective, the firm the county hired to inspect sites, said the consulting team had inspected 29 sites the DOJ did not inspect and reviewed DOJ findings on the remaining 13. Lacour said DOJ had approved the assessment protocol but "has not seen any of this in the packet yet," adding the settlement allows DOJ 60 days to review remediation plans following submission. "We did get all of these inspections done within the last 30 days," she said, calling the cost figures estimates that may be refined once equipment availability and final pricing are confirmed.

Court members discussed how temporary measures would be implemented and inspected on election day. Lacour and elections staff said county election-day surveyors would inspect a subset of sites and report findings after the election; if a county-owned site fails to be properly remediated in two consecutive elections, the settlement requires the county to relocate that polling place to an accessible site or complete permanent remediation.

The county judge emphasized that most polling places are not county-owned, so temporary remediation equipment will be owned and managed by Bell County and reused across sites. Commissioners also discussed storage and procurement logistics for the temporary equipment. Desi said the county expects the cost to be a largely nonrecurring, one-time purchase to establish an inventory of mats, signage and other materials for use across election cycles.

The court voted to designate the recommended polling places as part of its formal responsibilities under Texas Election Code Section 43.002. The official list includes the recommended change to site #5 and will be finalized with any technical adjustments after county staff and DOJ review the remediation packet.