Fannin County, Texas -- Fannin County Judge Newt Cunningham presided over a regular meeting of Fannin County Commissioners held Tuesday, August 4, 2026, with Pct. 1 Commissioner Troy Waggoner, Pct. 3 Commissioner Kurt Fogelberg and Pct. 4 Commissioner Doug Kopf in attendance; Pct. 4 Commissioner A.J. Self was absent. The meeting opened with an invocation by Ricky Granstaff, pastor at Ravenna Baptist Church, and pledges were led by Jenny Garner (Captain, ASAF).
Fannin County Judge Newt Cunningham introduced Savoy Mayor Roger Cada and Dodd City Mayor Mike Keene in the audience.
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Routine items
Commissioners court approved payment of bills. Bills on July 28, 2026 were $549,600.54. Bills on August 4, 2026 were $281,007.90 ; payroll was $408,570.77.
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Commissioners court approved minutes from five previous meetings.
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Discussion only items
Commissioners court briefly discussed the pending submission of the 2026-2027 Proposed Budget by Judge Cunningham.
Cunningham asked commissioners to extend his part-time assistant through December. Fannin County Judge-elect John Tynan has sent word that he will not need a part-time assistant when he takes office January 1, 2027.
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Dustin Morrow, Fannin County I.T. Director, presented an update regarding required Cybersecurity and AI training for Fannin County employees.
Morrow said that emails have been sent to employees who still need to complete AI training.
"We are not ready to get it certified today," Morrow said. "We can postpone this until the next meeting. I think we can get it done."
Failure to complete this required training counld knock the county out of consideration for grants.
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Fannin County Auditor Alicia Whipple presented the Internal Audit Report of the Fannin County Payroll Department.
Whipple pointed out that the two biggest concerns were segregation of duties -- which has already been corrected -- and proper procedures for handling timesheets.
"No one should enter and submit their own timesheets," Whipple stated.
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Discussion and possible action items
Commissioners court voted to set a Public Hearing on the 2026-2027 Proposed Budget at the Fannin County Courthouse on August 18, 2026 at 8:30 a.m., with a vote on the 2026-2027 Proposed Budget to occur on the same day at the 9:00 a.m. regular meeting of commissioners court.
Cunningham reiterated that he wants his temporary employee budgeted through the end of the December 2026.
The consensus of the court was that this issue needs to be placed as a separate agenda item at a future meeting of the court when all four commissioners can vote.
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Commissioners court voted to set a Public Hearing on the Proposed Tax Rate of 0.384549 at the Fannin County Courthouse on August 18, 2026 at 8:45 a.m., with a vote on the 2026 Proposed Tax Rate to occur on the same day at the 9:00 a.m. regular meeting of Commissioners Court.
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Commissioners court voted to approve renewal of the Texas DMV Imposition of Optional Fees for calendar year 2027 per Texas Transportation Code, Chapter 502.
The $10 fee generates approximately $360,000 annually for the county.
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Commissioners court voted passed on an agenda item regarding 2026-2027 positions and salaries.
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Commissioners court followed the recommendation of the Fannin County Subdivision Committee and approved a Short Plat for Alexa’s Acres on CR 2275 in Telephone; 5 lots at 4.92-4.924 acres each, Property ID# R000144302.
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Commissioners court voted to go out for Request for Proposals for Justice Center Security Service; RFP 2026-004. The facility will need two full-time, armed security guards, and since proposals are above the $100,000 threshold, a bidding process is required.
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Commissioners court passed on an agenda item regarding a Request for Proposals for small animal capture, transport, impound services and rabies control; RFP 2026-005. City of Bonham picks up rabid animals and the county has $800 budgeted.
The current situation places a difficult burden on sheriff's deputies that are spending a considerable amount of time picking up strays and finding a shelter or volunteers to care for the animals.
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Commissioners court voted to approve using up to $1,500 from R&B funds for new tires for the facilities management coordinator’s truck. The actual cost was estimated at $822.60. The four precincts will divide the cost equally in order to prevent the county from depleting Contingency funds.
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Commissioners court passed on an agenda item regarding the use of up to $4,000 from Contingency for a new Motorola Radio for Constable Pct. 2, with a portion of the cost to be paid by the Precinct 2 Constable.
"I may have a Motorola Radio," offered Pct. 3 Commissioner Kurt Fogelberg. " I'll see about getting you a radio."
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Commissioners court voted to approve Road Material Justification Form to purchase slag from TMS International; amount not to exceed $50,000; to be divided and paid from each Precinct’s rock and gravel budgets.
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Commissioners court decided to keep the Purchasing Agent office on the third floor of the Courthouse after the move to the Justice Center.
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Open discussion items
Open discussion items may be passed on unless discussion requested by a member of the court or a citizen.
In regard to county policies, ordinances and regulations, Fannin County Clerk Jenny Garner reported that all applications for countywide voting have been submitted to the Secretary of State and she expects an answer in a week.
Garner also gave a shout out to Tarrant County for volunteering to load and deliver a trailer-load of shelving at no cost to Fannin County. Tarrant County had sold used shelving to Fannin County at a very reasonable price.
Garner said that shelving for the land records won't be here until September.
She noted that the IT department has already moved into the Justice Center and all departments hope to be moved in by the end of August.
Garner asked for at least one camera to be installed in the county clerk's area.
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In regard to the Justice Center, changes will need to be made the in holding-cell area and the county is waiting on 14 sets of keys.
"There has been no communication with the architect in 6-8 weeks," remarked Pct. 1 Commissioner Troy Waggoner.
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In regard to the budget, Garner asked if the Fidlar software could be paid out of the General Fund, instead of taking it out of a special fund that has paid for the software in years past. The cost of the software is estimated at $21,600.00.
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Executive session(s) and action if needed
Fannin County Commissioners Court had no need for executive session and adjourned at 10:08 a.m.
