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Chair moves — commissioners authorize using county mineral/entitlement funds to cover $60,000 trial expense
Summary
Prairie County commissioners approved a motion allowing staff to pull up to $60,000 from one of three county accounts (mineral royalties, oil-and-gas account or entitlement/LATCM fund) to pay trial-related expenses; the attorney general's office is leading the case and a mid-January trial date was noted.
Prairie County commissioners voted to allow staff to use one of three county accounts to cover an estimated $60,000 in trial and travel expenses connected to litigation being led by the state attorney general's office.
Chair (Speaker 4) moved that the county seek the funds from either oil-and-gas/mineral royalties, the Mineral Wild/LATCM account, or another entitlement account at commissioners' discretion; Committee member (Speaker 1) seconded. The chair called for a voice vote, multiple commissioners answered "aye," and the motion passed.
The request for $60,000 was presented to the commission as a preliminary estimate by county staff (Staff member, Speaker 8), who said the attorney general's office is leading the defense and that hearing dates have shifted to mid-January. Staff cautioned the figure is a best guess and may change as the work proceeds.
Commissioners and staff clarified the account identifiers to ensure the appropriation would be recorded correctly. Staff read account numbers aloud during the discussion (Mineral/Wild account noted as 2894 and oil-and-gas account referred to as 2899) so the finance office could identify the correct source for any transfer. The chair said the commissioners would decide at disbursement time which of the three accounts to draw from.
The commissioners discussed options for where the money could come from if entitlement or mineral accounts proved insufficient; staff said an internal transfer from the general fund would remain possible if auditors or other constraints prevented an immediate draw. Staff emphasized the number is provisional and that final accounting will await invoices and the auditor's guidance.
The commission did not record a roll-call tally in the transcript; action was approved on a voice vote as the chair called "all in favor, say aye" and then declared the motion passed. The action directs staff to identify an eligible account among the three named funds and, if needed, return with a formal amendment or budget adjustment for accounting and auditing records.
