Commissioners update on bond money; Judge Chitty presented with courtroom seal

So he designed a seal almost a yard across based on the Texas state seal and carved in wood. It hung on his 422nd wall even as the court moved from courtroom to courtroom and remained when he retired in 2020.

Judge Shelton Gibbs, first elected to the court in 2020, presented Chitty with the seal as a memento of his time in office at the commissioner’s court meeting Tuesday morning.

“He has served as a friend, a mentor, and an example of what a judge should be,” Gibbs said when the presented the heavy seal.

The old courthouse has closed, and the courts moved to the new Justice Center.

The commissioners court, with new County Judge Jakie Allen and new Precinct 4 Commissioner Tommy Moore, heard an update on bond funds and federal American Rescue Plan money still available to complete county projects. The bond package approved in 2019 included $50 million for facilities and $104 million for roads.

There is about $7.5 million left of the facilities bond funds and about $20 million remaining in federal funds. Federal funds can be used for projects to aid the community.

The Justice Center, which accounts for most of the facilities bond money already spent, opened to the public on Monday. Most county offices and courts are housed in the new building.

An animal adoption center has been completed and several other projects are underway.

Renovating the historic courthouse on the Kaufman square is the next major project planned. Those renovations are expected to cost about $17.5 million. When complete, many county services houses in leased buildings will move into the building, saving the county money.

Requests for proposals for professional services for the renovation were on the court’s agenda Dec. 27, but the meeting was cancelled for lack of a quorum. Only outgoing Judge Hal Richards and outgoing Precinct 4 commissioner Ken Cates were present.

Out of the $67 millions remains in the road bond. It will be distributed among the four county precincts.

County auditor Karen MacLeod asked commissioners to send her a report on completed projects and amount left in contingency funds. The leftover contingency funds can be used on other roads.