POLK COUNTY — Polk County Commissioners on Tuesday approved several routine but substantive personnel and budget measures, including payouts of accrued FLSA and holiday time for sheriff’s office and jail staff, a countywide cap on holiday accruals and an authorization for the district attorney to hire contract prosecutors using unused salary funds.

The court voted to approve personnel action forms and confirm there were no emergency hires since the last meeting. Jamie Richardson, representing Justice and Peace Precinct 4, asked the court to allow one-time discretionary payments of $671.33 each to Sharon Patterson, Mamie Robinson and Claudia Davalos; the court approved that request, which reduces Richardson’s discretionary balance to zero.

In a separate personnel item, the sheriff submitted a request to pay out accrued Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) time for both the sheriff’s office and jail staff and to pay out holiday time for jail staff. The court discussed operational limitations for the jail — noting continuous, state-mandated detention operations can restrict scheduling flexibility — and approved the requested payouts.

The court also approved a revision to the county holiday policy designed to prevent loss of earned time. The change establishes a 15-day maximum accrual cap for holidays, which the court’s discussion translated to a maximum of 120 hours for employees who accrue eight hours per holiday and 180 hours for employees who accrue 12 hours per holiday. According to the court, the change removes an expiration date on accrued holiday hours and aligns holiday administration with sick leave processes; human resources and the sheriff’s office reviewed and indicated the approach would be administratively straightforward and workable for law enforcement schedules.

On financial matters, the county auditor presented amendments to the FY2025 and FY2026 budgets (referenced as documents '2025-24' and '2026-08/A' in the meeting materials). After a motion and second, the court approved the proposed budget revisions.

District Attorney Shelly Sitton requested authority to contract with outside prosecutors to cover duties while assistant DA positions remain open. The court noted approximately $25,000 was available in the DA salaries line to transfer to contract services to cover initial engagements; the court approved the authorization and required documentation of all contracts and terminations to be filed in the commissioner’s court records.

The meeting began with a short public comment from Mister Lambeth, who gave a year-end report on persistent geese at Lakeside Village and said the county sheriff’s office had not been helpful in addressing the problem. The court also made a ceremonial recognition of a long-serving elected official identified only as 'Bobby,' who announced plans to step away to be closer to family; speakers presented gifts and offered thanks.

The court handled the agenda quickly and adjourned shortly after 10:10 a.m.