At today’s meeting of the Brown County Commissioners Court, most of the meeting was spent discussing upgrades to the County information technology systems.  Sam Goldsmith of Goldsmith Solutions in Austin, the County’s IT consultant, spoke about the progress his company is making in replacing and upgrading computers, a new suggested contract with Kirbo Office Machines for copiers and printers, and a possible new contract with 8×8 & Bandwidth.com for telephone service.

Most of Goldsmith’s presentation dealt with a proposed new system for case management in the Courthouse.  The County presently uses a system from NetData, but it is not current and needs to be replaced, according to Goldsmith.  He recommended to the Court a new software system from Tyler Technologies. It is more modern and would connect with the County Jail so that the Jail and the Courthouse would see and use the same data.  Also the Tyler system has improved communication capabilities, which could help prevent potential jurors from needlessly going to the Courthouse when a trial has been cancelled.  The Commissioners appointed a committee of Goldsmith, County Judge Shane Britton, and Commissioner Joel Kelton to study the matter and negotiate a contract with Tyler Technologies.

In other business today:

*** Commissioners approved a Grant Resolution presented by Angie Dees, Director of the Senior Citizen Center.  The grant, if approved, will be from the Texas Department of Agriculture’s “Texas Feeding Texans” program in the amount of $164,284.

*** Approved a request from Sheriff Vance Hill to increase the “Out of County” inmate housing rate in the Brown County Jail to $75/day, up from the current $65/day.  The County charges $35/day to the cities of Brownwood, Early, and Bangs.

*** Approved a replat of 100 Elm Oak Drive, at Lake Brownwood.  The house is currently owned by former Brownwood resident Patti Clements Jordan, who now lives in the Austin area.  The house has been in the family since 1944, originally owned by Ms. Jordan’s grandfather, Earl Clements.  It was recently discovered that a small corner of the lot on the shoreline, where the boat dock is moored, was mistakenly not shown in the original survey, done in 1948.  The lot was recently re-surveyed by Needham Surveyors, and the Commissioners approved the new survey and plat.

*** Commissioners agreed to leave the burn ban off for now.