City, county okay sheriff’s contract

Donley County Commissioners’ Court approved a new contract between the Sheriff’s Office and the City of Clarendon last Tuesday, and city officials followed suit this week.

Sheriff Butch Blackburn said the new five-year agreement for law enforcement services in the city will provide his office with annual two percent increases.

The current contract amount is for $130,000.

“This way each entity knows every year what’s going on, and we don’t have to worry about it,” Blackburn said. “It’s good for everybody.”

Details of the new agreement were ironed out during a meeting last month which included the sheriff, County Judge Jack Hall, Mayor Chris Ford, and Interim City Administrator Phyllis Jeffers.

Also under the new contract, fines collected in the city will go to the city, and the sheriff’s office will enforce city ordinances, Jeffers said.

“We had a good meeting with a spirit of cooperativeness,” Jeffers said. “(The contract) is fiscally responsible and maintains a high level of law enforcement. I was pleased with the outcome.”

Jeffers said the city and county will still meet annually to review the agreement and make sure it is working well.

The Clarendon Board of Aldermen approved the contract at their regular meeting last night.

In other count business last week, commissioners approved employees’ health insurance for the coming year through, which includes an eight percent increase in premiums. The court also approved a bid on tax delinquent property and approved a request for a deed to clear up title to an acre of land in Section 14 that was once part of the Watkins School.

The commissioners also met in regular session July 12 and took the following actions:
Approved the 2010 Summer Celebration activities on July 22 on the Courthouse Square; Voted to sponsor the 2010 Col. Charles Goodnight Chuckwagon Cookoff with $500; Voted to approve the schedule of County Road & Bridge Fees for 2011, leaving those fees at the current levels; Approved the purchase of a storage building for use by the Justice of the Peace in Precincts 3&4; and Renewed guidelines governing tax abatements in the county for another two years.