The Brazos County Commissioners Court voted unanimously to approve payment of claims presented at a special session called at 10 a.m. in the Commissioners Courtroom.

County staff explained to commissioners that some payments dated Jan. 2 had already been processed under a resolution the court approved in October, while other claims with a Jan. 15 payment date labeled “AP” required court approval before they could be paid. "We paid it on January 2," an unidentified county staff member said when asked whether certain payments had already been made.

The clarification centered on the scope of a prior delegation of authority, referenced in the meeting as Order 25-027. A commissioner asked why the court was convening a special session if that order already authorized payment for many routine items; staff replied that project or contractor claims and certain nonrecurring expenditures are not covered by the delegation and must still come before the court.

Nina Payne, the county budget officer, told the court that special sessions sometimes are scheduled to avoid missing statutory vendor-payment windows, and that the September special session is used to help close out the fiscal year: "The reason why we need to have a special session at the September is to close out the end of the year." Commissioners and staff discussed whether adjusting next year’s meeting calendar could reduce the need for occasional special sessions.

A staff summary supplied to the court listed nearly 200 individual claims in the Jan. 15 summary (the staff described the range of claim numbers on the agenda). Commissioners said the summary was truncated and offered to review details with staff outside the meeting.

After discussion, the presiding officer called the vote: "All in favor say aye." No opposition was recorded and the presiding officer declared the motion carried.

The court paused consideration of other agenda items to convene an executive session later in the meeting.