SPECIAL COMMISSION MEETING

THURSDAY, MARCH 17, 2005

PRESENT: ROBERT L. BAILEY, PRESIDENT

NANCY CARTMILL, COMMISSIONER

W. SCOTT BIAS, COMMISSIONER

WILLIAM T. WATSON, COUNTY ATTORNEY

GLENN WHITE, COUNTY MANAGER

SHARON ROSS, ASSISTANT COUNTY MANAGER

FOR BILLABLES AND PAYABLES

Robert L. Bailey, President, called the Special Meeting to order at 9:30 a.m.

#091 FISCAL YEAR 2005/2006 BUDGET DELIBERATIONS WITH

COUNTY OFFICEHOLDERS

Karen Cole, County Clerk

John Cyrus, Attorney for the County Clerk, stated that Karen Cole’s office, as the County Clerk, was a constitution position and the legislature, by law, specifies her duties and those duties are also constitutional.

Nancy Cartmill, Commissioner, asked Mrs. Cole if there was any money in her office being spent that was not constitutionally manadated by law and Mrs. Cole replied no there were none.

Glenn White, County Manager, stated that in Mrs. Cole’s budget there was $4,680.00 a year to keep the record room open in the evenings for the attorney’s. Mrs. Cole stated she believed the cost of the security passkeys covered this expense.

William Watson, County Attorney, asked Mrs. Cole about the purchase of the new voting equipment and what that would mean to the budget.

Mrs. Cole stated she was waiting to see if the legislature passed a mandate requiring a paper trail receipt and until that happened, the I-Votronic would be fine. Mrs. Cole further stated there would be HAVA funding to help with the upgrade on the county’s voting system.

Glenn White, County Manager, stated that everyone should look at the levels which money was being spent to perform constitutional functions in order to address those issues.

Adell Chandler, Circuit Clerk

John Cyrus, Attorney for the Circuit Clerk, stated the same comments he had made previously on the County Clerk’s behalf, also pertained to the Circuit Clerk.

Ms. Chandler stated her office was required to be open 24 hours a day, except on Sunday and holidays, for the filing of suits. Ms. Chandler further stated that she can usually take care of that with comp time instead of overtime.

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W. Scott Bias, Commissioner, asked Ms. Chandler if everything in her office was constitutional and Ms. Chandler replied it was.

Ottie Adkins, County Assessor

John Cyrus, Attorney for the County Assessor, stated that the same comments regarding the previous officeholders also pertained to the office of the Assessor.

W. Scott Bias, Commissioner, asked if everything in the Assessor’s Office was constitutional.

Mr. Cyrus stated that the constitution created that office and the constitution further stated that the legislature shall enact laws pertaining to this officials duties and responsibilities, so the laws the legislature did enact emanates from the constitution.

The Commission and Mr. Adkins discussed the county vehicles that were used by his staff. Mr. Adkins stated that if the Commission would establish a policy that the County Commission followed, he would also abide by that policy.

Commissioner Bias stated that if the Commission would establish a vehicle policy, it would be fair and the Commission would be the first to follow that policy.

Karen Cole, County Clerk, stated that at one time there was a policy in place to report the personal use of a vehicle on your taxes, however, that policy was no longer in effect. Mrs. Cole went on to say that by law you are required to report the personal use of a county vehicle.

Kim Wolfe, Cabell County Sheriff

John Cyrus, Attorney for the Sheriff, stated the Law Enforcement and Tax Collector for the County was a constitutional function of the Sheriff. Mr. Cyrus further stated he could not make the same statement concerning the Courthouse Security. Mr. Cyrus went on to say that Courthouse Security was probably a function for the County Commission.

William Watson, County Attorney, and Mr. Cyrus discussed whether Law Enforcement was a constitutional function for the Sheriff or for the County Commission.

The Commission and the Sheriff had a lengthy discussion on the security, regarding the safety of the judges, family court, the magistrates and everyone in the Courthouse.

Nancy Cartmill, Commissioner, asked Sheriff Wolfe if he had any grant programs that the County Commission contributes partly into that was not manadated programs, which were administered by his office. Sheriff Wolfe replied there were none to his knowledge.

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Mr. White stated there was a grant for two “Backfield Deputies” who were assigned to the Federal Drug Task Force with the costs for these deputies being mostly paid for by grant funds.

There was a lengthy discussion on the grants for the Sheriff’s Department.

Commissioner Cartmill asked Sheriff Wolfe about the vehicles that were driven home by the employees. Sheriff Wolfe replied that he would evaluate the vehicle usage, however, he stated that his position has always been that more visibility of Sheriff vehicles is good for the community.

Chris Chiles, Prosecuting Attorney

John Cyrus, Attorney for the Prosecuting Attorney, stated that Chris Chiles’s Office as Prosecuting Attorney, was a constitutional position and the legislature, by law, specified his duties and those duties were also constitutional.

Nancy Cartmill, Commissioner, asked Mr. Chiles if the grant programs that were in place in his office and that the county shared a part of the cost, were constitutional.

Mr. Chiles replied that all his grants, which would include the Prosecutor for Drugs, Prosecutor for Domestic Violence, Juvenile Prosecutor and the Victim Advocates, were manadated.

William Watson, County Attorney, and Mr. Chiles discussed whether the Victim Advocates Program was a constitutional mandate.

President Bailey asked how many vehicles were allotted for his office and Mr. Chiles replied he and his investigator had vehicles.

Robert L. Bailey, President, adjourned the meeting at 10:20 a.m.

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PRESIDENT, COUNTY COMMISSION

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