The Commissioners Court approved an agreement Tuesday with the Spindletop Center in Beaumont to provide a Mental Health Liaison Deputy for the Orange County Jail. The program which has also been used in the Jefferson County Jail and in Chambers County has been very effective and is 100 percent funded by Spindletop Center.
Representatives Amber Woods and Tommy Smith from Spindletop spoke to the Court telling how the program at the Jefferson County Jail helped identify inmates there that had mental health issues. Orange County Sheriff Keith Merritt added he highly approved using the program here.
In a somewhat related item, the Commissioners approved allowing Spindletop Center to provide mental health screening assessments requested for any inmate at the jail. Jail Lieutenant James Eifelstein supports the service provided by Spindletop Center. The one change made in the agreement was allowing the county to make the payment of invoices 30 days after receiving them instead of 15 days as originally stipulated in the agreement.
Commissioner Johnny Trahan informed the Court he had checked with Human Resource Director Lori Ardoin about emergency back for employees with the Road and Bridge Department who worked during snow days on January 16 and 17 of this year. Trahan said he believes after discussions with Ardoin that the employees were paid correctly since there was no disaster declared during the ice storm. No action was needed by the Commissioners Court.
Sabrina Gray presented some recommended changes to the policy for renting the Orange County Convention and Expo Center. The most significant change was an increase in the deposit fee from $60 to $100 to rent the center.
The fee is refunded if the group renting the Expo Center does a proper cleanup of the facility afterwards. Failure to do so forfeits the deposit and prohibits the group from renting the center in the future. The Commissioners asked Gray to formalize the recommendations in writing and present them for the Court’s approval at its next meeting.
-Dan Perrine, KOGT-
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