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Commission approves new court, IT and grant-administration positions and related budget amendments
Summary
The commission approved several personnel additions — a chief magistrate administrative assistant, an IT specialist, a grant administration/project assistant and building maintenance staff — and passed related six-month budget amendments covering payroll and benefits.
Hamblen County commissioners approved a package of personnel additions tied to increased workloads in courts, information technology and grant administration, and passed related budget amendments to fund the positions through the remainder of the fiscal year.
County Mayor Chris Cutshall said judges Collins and Simpkowski requested a shared chief magistrate/administrative assistant to handle appointments of counsel, case scheduling and calendar management for general sessions divisions 1 and 2. Judge Cassidy said the position would reduce scheduling bottlenecks, allow special settings for lengthy cases and ease the load on the clerk—s office. Commissioners approved the position (motion carried).
The commission also approved an additional full-time information-technology specialist to provide backup for the county—s sole IT employee (Jeff). The finance committee approved budget amendments that will cover six months of salary and benefits for the new IT position; full-year funding will be considered in the regular budget process.
Mayor Cutshall requested an additional grant administration and special projects purchasing assistant to support Barbara Horton, who handled roughly $3,000,000 in grant activity last year. Commissioners approved a six-month funding amendment for that post as well.
A motion funded several other positions tied to the new Justice Center (maintenance and housekeeping) and approved a series of budget amendments including a $67,300 board-of-education amendment for UTrust grant programming and a part-time SPED teacher. All motions passed on voice or roll-call votes.
Next steps: The six-month budget amendments will be rolled into the regular budget process for full-year consideration; department heads will proceed with hiring under county personnel rules.
