Tom Green County to help with FLDS cases
 Commissioners OK grant for one part-time staffer
 
By Matthew Waller
San Angelo Standard-Times
 
SAN ANGELO, Texas — The effect of the ongoing criminal cases involving members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints has stretched across Schleicher County and into Tom Green County.

The Tom Green County Commissioners Court this morning approved funds to ease the stress of staffing legal proceedings in those cases.

Specifically, the Commissioners Court met today to approve a grant that pays for a part-time court administrator to help the 51st District Court in cases brought against several men associated with the FLDS Yearning for Zion Ranch outside of Eldorado.

Money for the grant comes from the County Essential Services out of the Texas governor’s office.

"It’s fully funded," Nathan Cradduck, the county auditor, said. "There is no match required."

The grant is a continuation of a grant that expired in August 2009, Cradduck said.

The money for the position will extend the grant to August 2010. The grant is for about $37,000.

"If the cases go past that time, we can always apply again," Cradduck said. "That’s why this is a continuation grant."

The criminal cases involving FLDS members are set to extend through December 2010. The cases range from sexual assault of a minor to bigamy. They stem from a raid in April 2008 by authorities of the polygamist sect’s ranch near Eldorado.

Cradduck said that the part-time court administrator may have responsibilities such as handling schedules and coordinating hearings, although the court can use its own discretion as to what it wants the administrator to do.

In other actions:
  • Commissioners awarded requests for bids for several vehicles and in-car video systems.

    One request for bids for five police cars at $22,095 each went to Jim Bass Ford, purchasing agent Johnny Grimaldo said. Philpott Ford Motors, located in southeast Texas, was the only other bidder, Mary Adame, the purchasing assistant, said.

    A maintenance pick-up truck was awarded to Jim Bass Ford for $23,230 and Philpott Ford Motors was the other bidder, Adame said.

    A bid for in-car video systems was awarded to Watch Guard Video, Adame said. The bid was $4,886.

  • Commissioners approved two plats: one for a one-lot Mesquite Flats subdivision and another for Stone Key Estates, a four-lot plat.

    "They have to get the subdivisions approved," Gary Monico, chief deputy for the county clerk’s office, said. "Then they’ll develop."

  • Commissioners issued a proclamation designating Nov. 20 as Century Celebration Day for Christoval Independent School District.

    "We’re really proud, and we’re going to have a day of activities," Christoval ISD Superintendent David Walker said. The event starts at 9:30 a.m. Friday at the elementary school.

  • Commissioners accepted the Tom Green County Library Director Larry Justiss’s 2010-2013 Technology Plan.

    The three-year plan lists what technology the library and its branches have and what they plan to get so that the library can apply for E-Rate funds.

    E-Rate funds come from a federal tax on communication bills such as telephone bills, Justiss said.

    "It’s an inventory of what we have now, our servers, our computers, our infrastructure. And it’s what we’re planning on doing in the next few years ... and how we plan on obtaining funds," Justiss said.

    Justiss said he hopes the library can get about $50,000 from the E-Rate funds.
gosanangelo.com
Originally published November 17, 2009
 
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