1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 KERR COUNTY COMMISSIONERS COURT 9 Emergency Session 10 Wednesday, April 30, 2014 11 8:30 a.m. 12 Commissioners' Courtroom 13 Kerr County Courthouse 14 Kerrville, Texas 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 PRESENT: TOM POLLARD, Kerr County Judge H. A. "BUSTER" BALDWIN, Commissioner Pct. 1 24 TOM MOSER, Commissioner Pct. 2 JONATHAN LETZ, Commissioner Pct. 3 25 2 1 I N D E X April 30, 2014 2 PAGE 3 1.1 Consider/discuss, take appropriate action on Interim Director and operations at the Juvenile 4 Detention Center (Executive Session) 3 5 --- Adjourned 14 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 3 1 On Wednesday, April 30, 2014, at 8:30 a.m., an 2 emergency meeting of the Kerr County Commissioners Court was 3 held in the Commissioners' Courtroom, Kerr County Courthouse, 4 Kerrville, Texas, and the following proceedings were had in 5 open court: 6 P R O C E E D I N G S 7 JUDGE POLLARD: Okay, ladies and gentlemen. It's 8 8:30 a.m., and it's now time to open this emergency meeting 9 of the Kerr County Commissioners Court. This is Wednesday, 10 April the 30th, 2014, and it's now 8:30 a.m., and we're in 11 the Commissioners Courtroom of the Kerr County Courthouse. 12 And the first item -- well, I guess it's -- yeah, it's the 13 only item on the agenda, is to consider, discuss, and take 14 appropriate action on Interim Director and operations at the 15 Juvenile Detention Center. Commissioner Letz? 16 COMMISSIONER LETZ: First, I think we need to go 17 into executive session, possibly, on this. It's up to the 18 Court, but I just want to get a little background as to how 19 we got here this morning. Yesterday morning, I talked to 20 Dawn Lantz, started the conversation with her, and that led 21 to some other questions. And then later in the day, I talked 22 to Judge Emerson and the Kerr County Attorney's office, Jason 23 Davis. Then it became evident that there's some things that, 24 because of the nature of the Juvenile Detention facility and 25 state laws, requirements, there's stipulations as to who can 4-30-14 emg 4 1 act as interim -- as a director, period. Certain 2 qualifications you have to have, and there are also certain 3 notifications that need to take place very promptly. And 4 because of the -- you know, having minors at that facility, a 5 lot of these things are more highly regulated than, you know, 6 I really thought, and probably the whole Court thought 7 initially on Monday. 8 So, based on all that conversation, it became 9 evident that we needed to have a meeting. It qualified as an 10 emergency because of the issues I just mentioned. And I want 11 to thank both Judge Emerson and Jason Davis, who did a lot -- 12 and the County Attorney's office. They did a great deal of 13 work yesterday trying to figure out exactly what our 14 requirements were and what kind of decisions we needed to 15 make today, and it was -- basically, it's just who's going to 16 serve as the Interim Director in that facility. So, that's 17 kind of why we're here. And, you know, we have probably a 18 couple options, and we probably need to go into executive 19 session to talk about that from a personnel standpoint. 20 And -- 21 JUDGE POLLARD: Okay. 22 COMMISSIONER LETZ: -- then we can come back out; 23 we can do it in public, too. What do you think, Judge? You 24 pretty much know the -- 25 JUDGE POLLARD: I'd probably do it in public, 4-30-14 emg 5 1 really. Let's try do it in public, okay? 2 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Okay. I visited with -- talked 3 with Dawn and with Jason Davis. They're figuring out who we 4 have on staff currently that has the qualifications and is 5 able to take and step in as Interim Director. One of the 6 options we have is Jason Davis, that we have Jason Davis take 7 that position. And I talked to him; he was willing to help 8 us on a short -- short-term -- I don't want to put words in 9 his mouth, but he certainly understood the situation and was 10 willing to help the County solve the immediate needs out 11 there as the Interim Director. That required, though, 12 approval from the Juvenile Board, and I believe they met this 13 morning, and I'm not sure what they said. I think I know 14 what they probably said, but I'm not sure what they said. 15 JUDGE POLLARD: Juvenile Board did, in fact, 16 approve of the various options, including Jason Davis as 17 the -- acting as the temporary acting director. Okay. 18 COMMISSIONER LETZ: There may be other people. One 19 of the qualifications you have to have is a degree -- 20 Bachelor's degree, as I understand it, and you also have to 21 have -- Jason, help me on this one. Have to have the ability 22 to be approved as a probation officer or something along that 23 line? 24 MR. DAVIS: That's correct Commissioner. 25 Bachelor's degree and one year experience are the two main 4-30-14 emg 6 1 things, yes, sir. 2 COMMISSIONER LETZ: So, one year experience and 3 then Bachelor's degree, so that's limited. The assistant 4 director out there does not have a Bachelor's degree, so that 5 was an issue, Mr. Witten. So, anyway, that's kind of where 6 we are. To me, I would recommend, you know, probably Jason 7 step in on an interim basis. I think we need to figure out a 8 long-term direction quickly, but that's not necessarily for 9 today's business. I think we need to put that on our next 10 agenda to kind of discuss that. 11 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Can you tell us a little bit 12 about yourself, Jason? 13 MR. DAVIS: Yes, Commissioner. My name is Jason 14 Davis; I've been a probation officer since 1997. I began in 15 Adult Probation, and in 2000, I was -- in August of 2000, was 16 appointed by Kerr County Juvenile Board as the Chief Juvenile 17 Probation Officer in Kerr County. I've been serving in that 18 capacity since that time. Originally, I'm from Pecos; went 19 to high school in Ingram, and I came back to the hill country 20 in 2000 when I went to work for Adult Probation here. I 21 worked for the 216th for roughly three years, and the 198th 22 Adult Probation Department for roughly three years with them 23 before beginning -- before having the opportunity to come 24 work with the youth here in Kerr County in 2000. 25 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Okay. 4-30-14 emg 7 1 MR. DAVIS: 2006, I'm sorry. 2 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Where'd you go to school? 3 MR. DAVIS: Angelo State. 4 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Okay. 5 MR. DAVIS: Yes, sir. 6 JUDGE POLLARD: Bachelor's degree when? 7 MR. DAVIS: Pardon me, sir? 8 JUDGE POLLARD: You got a Bachelor's degree there 9 when? 10 MR. DAVIS: Yes, sir, in psychology in 1997. 11 JUDGE POLLARD: Okay. 12 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I think one of the things also, 13 and the reason I think Jason is a good fit is, my 14 understanding is -- and the Judge or Jason, correct me if I'm 15 wrong on this, but because of the placement of juveniles in 16 that facility from Kerr County, you have a very close 17 relationship with that facility, and are actually responsible 18 for checking that facility out to make sure that it's meeting 19 the requirements of your department. So, there's been an 20 interaction, and I think you're familiar with that facility 21 for that reason. 22 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Okay. 23 COMMISSIONER LETZ: So, he's -- he knows the people 24 there. I think he knows how it operates, or how it's 25 supposed to operate. And, you know, that's more or less 4-30-14 emg 8 1 accurate, Jason? 2 MR. DAVIS: Yes, Commissioner. I can say that the 3 majority of the staff of the J.D.C., I know. Our officers 4 are in that building all day long, I mean, throughout the 5 day. We're, as you know, in the old J.D.C. building; we're 6 just across the sallyport. We have very close interaction, 7 our staff along with J.D.C. staff. The standards for 8 juvenile facilities are very, very involved, I will say, and 9 for good reason, for protection of youth. It is different 10 than Juvenile Probation. I don't want to mislead this 11 Commission -- this Court. It is a different animal. 12 However, most of the standards I am familiar with, just 13 because of the fact that we have contracts not only with Kerr 14 County Juvenile Facility, but we have contracts with numerous 15 other facilities. We have to maintain contract compliance, 16 and so as part of that, we have -- "we" being the Juvenile 17 Probation Department, have to audit every facility that we 18 have a contract with, so we have to be familiar with the 19 standards that are required of all juvenile facilities under 20 the Texas Juvenile Justice Department, standards and 21 compliance. 22 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: I've got a comment, or a 23 question, maybe. If I were this person that is going to be 24 appointed at the temporary, I would kind of want to know 25 about, "How long do you think that this will last?" I mean, 4-30-14 emg 9 1 if it's, like, a couple of -- and it kind of hinges on 2 compensation, in my mind. If it's going to last a year, then 3 we really need to sit down and talk about compensation, and 4 -- and in a serious way. Or if it's just going -- if we plan 5 on just lasting a month, that changes the ballgame some. So, 6 you know, if we have an idea about -- I mean, what is our 7 goal? Are we going to try to fill this thing on a permanent 8 basis within six months? Or, you know, what do we see from 9 the -- have you thought about that? 10 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I have thought about it, and I 11 think to answer that fully, we would need to go into 12 executive session a little bit because of some personnel 13 issues. My view is just a very short-term -- as short-term 14 as possible; probably, I think, a month, in that area. But I 15 think -- you know, I'd be glad to talk about it more, but I 16 think we need to go into closed session on that issue a 17 little bit. 18 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: And, historically, it seems 19 to me that this Court, when we've asked people to do the 20 double duty, that we do give some compensation for doing 21 extra work. And that conversation came up in the earlier 22 meeting, and Jason commented that, yes, he would be doing 23 some of the double duties, but also one of the staff members 24 would probably be doing as much, if not more, than he would 25 be. So, you know, if we get into the compensation thing, I 4-30-14 emg 10 1 think we need to -- need to take a look at both of those 2 people, or at least get his advice on -- 3 JUDGE POLLARD: He'd have to dump some of these 4 duties and obligations onto his assistant. Jason, is that 5 correct? 6 MR. DAVIS: Yes, Your Honor. And for this Court's 7 information, as Commissioner Baldwin stated, I would not ask 8 the Court for any compensation for myself. However -- and 9 even in the short term, if we're talking, oh, two months time 10 period, I wouldn't have a great concern over -- over the 11 operations or compensation for my Probation Department staff. 12 If it went any longer, though, I would be remiss if I didn't 13 ask the Juvenile Board to take that into consideration for 14 Assistant Chief Herrera, because I would be dumping some 15 things on him that are not necessarily in his normal 16 responsibilities, and my concern would be for my assistant 17 chief rather than for myself, because it would fall on him to 18 pick up some of my slack. 19 COMMISSIONER LETZ: And also, I think the other 20 person to look at in this scenario would be Mr. Witten out at 21 the Juvenile Detention Facility. I don't know that, but I 22 think that -- you know, I'd certainly be willing to listen to 23 Jason. I agree that compensation needs to be looked at, and 24 let's allow Jason to kind of look at this, and revisit it in 25 a week or so at our next Commissioners regular meeting, and 4-30-14 emg 11 1 if adjustments need to be made, we need to make them. 2 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Okay, thank you. 3 JUDGE POLLARD: Anything else that needs to be 4 discussed in open session, at least to this point? 5 COMMISSIONER LETZ: The -- on the issue -- my 6 intent would be to put this item back on our special meeting 7 for Monday. I think y'all all know we have a special meeting 8 on Monday. And we can do it in executive session at that 9 time, or we can do it today. It's just whatever the Court's 10 pleasure is. 11 JUDGE POLLARD: May be better, just from the 12 standpoint of moving forward. 13 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Let's do it today. We're 14 sitting here right now. 15 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Okay. 16 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Okay. 17 COMMISSIONER LETZ: We can go ahead and take action 18 on this item and then go into closed session, 'cause I don't 19 see any action coming out of that discussion. 20 JUDGE POLLARD: Do you have something? 21 MS. HARGIS: Judge Pollard, would you like for me 22 to tell the Commissioners Court what happened yesterday, so 23 that they're aware of it? On our system? 24 JUDGE POLLARD: I think we need to reserve that for 25 closed session. 4-30-14 emg 12 1 MS. HARGIS: Oh. 2 JUDGE POLLARD: All right. If there's nothing 3 further for the open session, we'll close the open session, 4 and we will go into a closed session pursuant to... 5 (Discussion off the record.) 6 JUDGE POLLARD: Normally I have some statutes to 7 cite, but it's not in the agenda. 8 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Personnel matters. 9 JUDGE POLLARD: That's on personnel matters, yeah. 10 (The open session was closed at 8:44 a.m., and an executive session was held, the transcript of which 11 is contained in a separate document.) 12 - - - - - - - - - - 13 JUDGE POLLARD: Okay. I declare the open session 14 -- we're back in open session now. And are there any motions 15 or discussion? 16 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I'll make a motion to appoint 17 Jason Davis as the Interim Director of the Kerr County 18 Juvenile Detention Facility. 19 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Second. 20 JUDGE POLLARD: It's been moved and seconded that 21 Jason Davis be appointed the Interim Director of the juvenile 22 facility. Those in favor -- is there any discussion -- 23 further discussion about it? There being none, those in 24 favor, signify by raising your right hand. 25 (The motion carried by unanimous vote,3-0.) 4-30-14 emg 13 1 JUDGE POLLARD: It's 3-0, that passes unanimously. 2 Are there any other motions? 3 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I'll make a motion that we 4 authorize -- or request the H.R. Director to immediately post 5 a vacancy in this position. 6 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Second. 7 JUDGE POLLARD: Been moved and seconded. Is there 8 any discussion about that motion, further? There being none, 9 those in favor of that motion, signify by raising your right 10 hand. 11 (The motion carried by unanimous vote, 3-0.) 12 JUDGE POLLARD: It's 3-0; that's unanimous. 13 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Judge I have one more comment, 14 if I might, as to Mr. Davis, and also just to put it on the 15 record that -- I'll make it very clear that any records in 16 that facility are to be retained. Nothing is to be destroyed 17 or erased or anything like that, both from the standpoint of 18 our Kerr County policy and a potential criminal investigation 19 out there as well. 20 JUDGE POLLARD: And that you immediately 21 disseminate that information to all the employees out there. 22 MR. DAVIS: Yes, Your Honor. Yes, Commissioner. 23 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Okay. 24 JUDGE POLLARD: All right. Anything further? If 25 nothing further, I declare this open meeting closed, 4-30-14 emg 14 1 terminated. 2 (Meeting was adjourned at 8:59 a.m.) 3 - - - - - - - - - - 4 5 6 STATE OF TEXAS | 7 COUNTY OF KERR | 8 The above and foregoing is a true and complete 9 transcription of my stenotype notes taken in my capacity as 10 official reporter for the Commissioners Court of Kerr County, 11 Texas, at the time and place heretofore set forth. 12 DATED at Kerrville, Texas, this 1st day of May, 2014. 13 14 JANNETT PIEPER, Kerr County Clerk 15 BY: _________________________________ Kathy Banik, Deputy County Clerk 16 Certified Shorthand Reporter 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 4-30-14 emg