Commission authorizes executive assistant to sign county checks to avoid payment delays

The Bourbon County Commission voted to allow the executive assistant to sign county warrants after a guest and commissioners raised concerns that unsigned checks had caused late pay and fees.

The vote came after a county resident who identified himself as James said his office had been affected two months in a row by unsigned checks, leaving employees and some contract workers paid late. "I have employees that are now getting paid late 2 months in a row because of those miscommunications," the guest said, urging the commission to fix the process so people get paid.

Why it matters: County staff and at least one private contractor reported operational disruption and potential late fees when warrants were not signed. Commissioners debated whether statute requires a commissioner’s signature on warrants and discussed administrative fixes such as using a stamp or designating a signer to avoid repeated delays.

At the meeting, Chairman Samuel Tran said he follows the law on signing: "If the statutes require me to do them, I will do them. If the statute doesn't require me to do them, then I prefer to exercise that right." Commissioners offered a motion to permit a designated signer; the motion was seconded and approved by voice vote. The motion directs staff to allow the executive assistant, Laura Crom, to sign warrants or otherwise execute the signature function consistent with legal advice and county procedures.

The motion did not include a roll-call tally in the public transcript, and no specific statutory citation was read into the record. Commissioners discussed obtaining a stamp for the chair to reduce the burden of manually signing multiple checks in the future.

Next steps: The commission approved the administrative change to keep payments moving; commissioners said they will follow up with county legal staff to confirm the appropriate written authority or bank signature-card changes to match the new practice.