The Orange County Jail will need a new vendor to provide prescription drugs to its inmates. The more than a century old pharmacy Sholars Medicine Chest which was renewed as the contracted pharmacy for the jail in May is closing as of this Friday after being bought out by CVS.
Commissioner David Dubose said Tuesday it was a sad for the Commissioners Court to lose Sholars as a vendor and especially for him since he owned the pharmacy for 18 years before becoming a county commissioner. Dubose recalled that he was the fourth of five owners for Sholars which has been open since the 1890s. The next step as Dubose related is for the county to go out for bids to get a new pharmacy vendor for the jail. Commissioner Dubose indicated bids could come from pharmacies from as far away as north Texas, but he hopes the Court can get someone local because the county can get more immediate results from it.
The Commissioners Court approved 15 line item transfers Tuesday from the Contingency Fund to ten different county departments to allow them to make capital outlay purchases totaling over $120,000. County Judge Brint Carlton said the Court is considering further transfers from unused department funds to Contingency that could be used to pay for needed items in the county. The Commissioners also approved the MIS Department to purchase 11 scanners totaling over $9800 which will be used by the four county constables, the Veterans Department, and other county offices.
Early voting dates and locations for the November general election were approved by the Court on Tuesday. Early voting will be conducted from 8 AM to 5 PM beginning Monday, October 24, through Saturday, October 29, and then will resume on Monday, October 31, through Friday, November 4. Extended hours for early voting will be done from 8 AM to 8 PM on Tuesday, October 25, and Tuesday, November 1.
Early voting locations will remain the same with the Orange Public Library as the main voting location. Other early voting locations are the Mauriceville Fire Department, the Bridge City Public Works Building, and the Raymond Gould Community Center in Vidor.
The dates for public hearings on the proposed county tax rate were changed by the Commissioners. The first hearing will now be on Tuesday, September 6, at 6:00 PM. The second public hearing will be at 9:00 AM on Friday, September 9. Both public hearings will be in the Commissioners Courtroom of the Administration Building at the Courthouse. The Commissioners approved a proposed tax rate of 60.32 cents per 100 dollars value at last week’s meeting.
-Dan Perrine, KOGT-
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