Washington County Commissioners Court met Monday, Dec. 30, 2024, and by voice vote approved several year-end personnel and administrative measures while authorizing officials to make technical budget adjustments needed to close the 2024 fiscal year.

The court approved a pay-rate adjustment for a civil warrant deputy moving to Constable 1’s office. County staff told the court the requested pay reflects experience and falls outside the county’s 6%-over-minimum guideline. County staff said the approved rate is $27.88 per hour. "It is outside of the 6% over minimum, per our policy, so we're coming to you asking for approval," a county staff member said during the discussion.

The court also approved a 2025 pay-rate assignment for support staff in the district attorney’s office after staff confirmed the change had cleared human resources, the auditor and the treasurer and that the budgeted funds were available.

Separately, commissioners adopted a set of revisions to the county’s employee handbook. Revisions summarized to the court included adding a personal social-media use provision to align with the county’s IT policy (section 4.06), ensuring employees whose schedules fall outside a given holiday accrue eight hours of paid time off for that holiday (section 8.01), defining PTO payout notice on voluntary separation as at least two weeks’ notice (section 8.02), replacing separate sick and vacation references with a consolidated PTO policy (section 8.07), and setting a flat per-diem rate of $55 (section 9.03).

To help close the county’s fiscal year, the court granted the county judge, county auditor and county treasurer authority to make budget amendments and line-item transfers if necessary to finalize 2024 accounts.

On a transportation matter, the court accepted an offer of right-of-way dedication along Caney Creek Road in Precinct 2 tied to a planned second campus for Camp For All. County engineering staff described two locations where the dedication would add roughly 20 feet and 35 feet, respectively, expanding curvature radii; staff said the total dedication was about 66,100 square feet and that the work would shift existing flex-based roadway material only rather than add pavement. The county approved accepting the dedication.

Engineering and Development Services job descriptions were updated and approved. Changes included clarifying which positions are designated essential for emergency response, consolidating redundant language, changing a system reference from a vendor name to a generic CAD system, and adding an emergency-operations support duty to the addressing and mapping coordinator role.

The court approved the week’s accounts payable after staff removed a duplicate invoice. Staff reported the corrected grand total for the batch as $479,520,883 and the court approved payment.

All votes recorded in the meeting were taken by voice (ayes/nays) and the court’s motions on the items listed above carried.

Following adjournment, the court held a small presentation honoring outgoing Commissioner Don Kester. Colleagues offered remarks recognizing his years of service and the court presented a certificate noting that a Texas flag had been flown at the state capitol on Nov. 25, 2024, in recognition of his retirement.

Votes at a glance:
- Approve 2025 pay-rate assignment for civil warrant deputy (Constable 1) — approved by voice vote (mover: Speaker 2; outcome: approved).
- Approve 2025 pay-rate assignment for district attorney support staff — approved by voice vote (mover: Speaker 2; outcome: approved).
- Approve employee handbook revisions (sections 4.06, 8.01, 8.02, 8.07, 9.03) — approved by voice vote (mover: Speaker 2; outcome: approved).
- Authorize judge/auditor/treasurer to make budget amendments to close 2024 fiscal year — approved by voice vote (mover: Speaker 2; outcome: approved).
- Accept right-of-way dedication for Caney Creek Road (Precinct 2) from Camp For All — approved by voice vote (mover: Speaker 2; outcome: approved).
- Approve Engineering & Development Services job description updates — approved by voice vote (mover: Speaker 2; outcome: approved).
- Approve accounts payable (corrected total reported by staff: $479,520,883) — approved by voice vote (mover: Speaker 2; outcome: approved).

The court adjourned after the votes. A short presentation and remarks honoring Commissioner Don Kester followed the meeting.