Roosevelt County Commission approves $5M investment transfer, behavioral health MOU and two ordinances; rejects website contract

The Roosevelt County Commission met April 21 in Portales and approved several financial and policy actions, including a transfer of up to $5 million into investments, formal acceptance of a Curry County fiscal-agent agreement for Senate Bill 3 behavioral-health funds, and adoption of two county ordinances. The board also rejected a proposed website contract in a 3-2 vote.

Chief Deputy Treasurer Layle Sanchez asked the commission to permit moving up to $5,000,000 from the general fund into an investment account with Moreton; the county will place funds in a bond ladder or money market depending on prevailing rates. "Our investments are structured in a ladder so there is always something maturing so that assets are available as needed," Chief Deputy Treasurer Layle Sanchez said. The motion to approve the transfer passed unanimously (Commissioners Grider, Criswell, Dixon, Parker and Munoz voted yes).

County Manager Meadow Forget summarized an MOU with Curry County that makes Curry the fiscal agent for $2,000,000 in Senate Bill 3 funds. Forget said $375,000 was targeted for MAT services, re-entry and youth treatment, with the remaining funds to support the Horizon Behavioral Health regional facility; the commission approved the MOU 5-0.

The board reviewed and approved two ordinances. Emergency Manager Johnny Montiel described Ordinance 2026-01, a Red Flag Open Burn Ban that would be in force only when the National Weather Service issues a Red Flag Warning for high winds; the board adopted the ordinance unanimously. Commissioners also approved Ordinance 2026-02, an amendment to the Roosevelt County Personnel Ordinance to allow future amendments by board resolution.

The commission handled several contracts and grants: it combined and approved FY27 Fire Protection Fund distribution applications for Arch Volunteer Fire District and Milnesand Volunteer Fire District; it approved an annual operating and use agreement with La Casa de Buena Salud; and it approved the indigent health-care report presented by Special Projects Coordinator Carla Weems. Weems said 18 indigent claims were submitted totaling $22,110.03; she recommended approval of 12 claims totaling $19,231.03 and disapproval of $2,879 because those patients were not detainees at the time of service. The commission accepted her recommendations by roll call vote.

A proposed contract with CivicPlus for a redesigned, ADA-compliant county website was the meeting's most divided vote. Manager Forget told commissioners she negotiated two free months of service and that billing would not begin until the next fiscal year; she also said the redesign is intended to enable future features such as facility scheduling and online payments. Commissioner Malin Parker asked whether the contract would include an app or stall-rental module; Forget replied the redesign is a first step to enable later functionality. The motion to approve the CivicPlus contract failed 3-2 (No: Commissioners Paul Grider, Tina Dixon and Malin Parker; Yes: Commissioners Roy Lee Criswell and Fabian Munoz).

The board recessed briefly, met in executive session from 5:26–6:04 p.m., and reconvened with no action taken from the closed session. The commissioners scheduled budget meetings for May 18 and May 19 and called a special meeting for May 28, 2026 to approve the preliminary budget. The meeting was adjourned at 6:09 p.m.

Key next steps: early voting in the county begins May 5; county staff will proceed with the Moreton investment transaction and the SB3 MOU implementation; budget meetings are set for mid- and late-May.