Karnes County commissioners approve easement, contracts and jail expansion RFQ; proposed EMS PRN pay increase fails

Karnes County Commissioners Court met Oct. 14, 2025, and approved a bundle of procurement and facilities actions while rejecting a proposed pay‑rate increase for part‑time EMS workers.

The court voted to approve revisions to the county purchasing policy, adopt a 10‑foot utility easement to the City of Kennedy to allow relocation of an unrecorded sewer line crossing county property, and authorized the county to present the signed easement to Kennedy City Council for its consideration.

Sheriff’s staff presented and the court approved a three‑year commissary services contract with Correct Commissary LLC after reviewing competitive bids; the sheriff said Correct Commissary provided responsive local service and better implementation than one higher‑bid vendor that served only large urban jails. The court also approved a consolidated public‑safety software contract with CentralSquare Solutions to combine CAD, mobile terminals, records management and jail management systems; the county expects first‑year costs to rise from about $142,000 (current combined systems) to roughly $195,000 for the integrated suite.

The court approved geotechnical exploration and related work for ongoing jail repairs (ECS Southwest LLP) and added a $1,200 private utility‑locator task so on‑site buried lines not found by 811 locates would be marked before drilling. The sheriff also received authorization to issue RFQs for replacement HVAC units at the jail and to solicit architectural design RFQs for potential jail expansion; county staff cited a Texas Commission on Jail Standards recommendation for at least a 94‑bed increase and said the current certified capacity is 48 beds.

Road & Bridge starting‑salary adjustments for maintenance positions (equipment operator I/II, construction inspector, foreman and service manager) were approved on a 3–2 vote after commissioners discussed countywide pay precedents and salary‑committee review.

A lengthy discussion over pay for EMS ‘regular variable hour’ (PRN) personnel ended with the motion to raise PRN hourly rates (proposal: EMT Basic $16.57→$22.04; Advanced EMT $17.99→$23.93; Paramedic $22.41→$29.81) failing to pass. EMS Chief Casey Ibram told the court the proposed time‑and‑a‑third increase would be below overtime thresholds and would reduce overtime costs by encouraging a larger PRN pool; Commissioner Beatatric said she respected the need but wanted salary‑committee guidance before approving broader pay increases.

The court approved payment of the presented bills totaling $3,309,922.07 (one invoice was pulled for later consideration) and passed the consent agenda containing routine departmental and justice‑of‑the‑peace reports.

Why it matters: The CentralSquare contract and consolidated systems aim to modernize dispatch and records across public‑safety functions; the jail‑capacity actions and geotechnical work respond to a state assessment that the county must increase bed capacity; and the failed EMS PRN pay motion highlights ongoing staffing and budget tradeoffs for emergency services in the county.

What’s next: The City of Kennedy will consider the easement at its council meeting; the county will advertise RFQs for architectural design on jail expansion and for replacement HVAC units and proceed with the contracted geotechnical work. The EMS PRN pay proposal may be revisited after further budget or salary‑committee review.