Fannin County, Texas -- All five members of Fannin County Commissioners Court were present for a special meeting held Tuesday, August 18, 2026. The meeting opened with an invocation by Keri Lynn Lucas, pastor of McKenzie Methodist Church in Honey Grove, and pledges were led by Major James Manis (Ret.).
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Fannin County Judge Newt Cunningham introduced Savoy Mayor Roger Cada and Dodd City Mayor Mike Keen in attendance.
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In public forum, Jason Walker of Ravenna, Texas, urged Judge Cunningham to live up to his oft-repeated claims of transparency by allowing citizens to examine his testimony before a grand jury that went on to hand down six indictments. All six indictments were summarily dismissed for Lack of Probable Cause.
"Don't cost the taxpayers money fighting your legal battles," Walker told Cunningham. "Save us some money. Be transparent."
Molly Hayes of Tulip, Texas, complained that more elected officials didn't greet Congressman Pat Fallon when he visited Bonham.
"We need outside help," Hayes remarked. "Y'all need to come make connections."
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Routine items
Commissioners court approved payment of bills. Bills on August 11, 2026 were $314,204.34. Bills on August 18, 2026 were $241,015.73; payroll for August 14, 2026 was $486,482.03 for 169 employees.
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Commissioners court approved minutes of a previous special meeting.
Fannin County Clerk Jenny Garner addressed the court to point out that minutes of these county meetings were five years behind when she took office.
"I had absolutely no idea that was true when I took office," Garner said, but she blamed the backlog on the fact that her predecessor was overwhelmed trying to handle elections and duties of county clerk, the same double-duty position that Garner now finds herself in.
Garner's staff has whittled the backlog of minutes down to a number of meetings in 2025 and 2026.
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Matt Brown of Allegiance Mobile Health presented the Emergency Medical Services Report for July 2026.
Brown reported 166 transports, 23 patients were treated at the scene, 10 calls were cancelled while en route, and two patients were deceased prior to arrival, for a total of 202 calls.
The average response time was 12:38.
The longest response time was 32:41.
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Report of monies received by the Justice of the Peace Precinct 1 in July 2026; $45,509.70.
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Report of monies received by the Justice of the Peace Precinct 2 in July 2026; $14,476.40.
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Report of monies received by the Justice of the Peace Precinct 3 in July 2026; $8,853.60.
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Report of monies received by the District Clerk office in July 2026; $28,028.51.
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Report of monies received by the County Clerk office in July 2026; All Courts, $24,357.25 and Land Records, $36,074.00.
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Commissioners court approved the Treasurer’s Financial Report for July 2026, as well as the Treasurer’s Investment Report for July 2026.
Receipts for July totaled $1,020,417.46.
Current property tax receipts in July were $187,015.73.
Delinquent property tax receipts collected were $36,471.43.
Sales tax revenue was $178,845.48.
Interest accrued on TexPool accounts was $41,248.37 at an average rate of 3.6484%.
Interest on cash was $20,156.38.
Business money market fund $171.58.
Liquid CD interest was $8,364.32
Total interest for July was $69,940.65
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Commissioners court approved the release of the below securities from Legend Bank.
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Discussion and possible action items
Fannin County Auditor Alicia Whipple presented status updates pertaining to the External Audit Findings of BrooksWatson & Co for Fannin County.
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In a discussion regarding county road mileage, Pct. 4 Commissioner Doug Kopf suggested holding a workshop to determine accurate road mileage in each precinct.
Garner requested that the county reinstate a policy that requires a County Road Report to be filed annually with the county clerk.
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Discussion and possible action items
Commissioners court approved a 30-day extension of the ban on outdoor burning in Fannin County.
Pct. 3 Commissioner Kurt Fogelberg urged the public to be responsible for outdoor burning, whether or not a burn ban is in place.
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Commissioners court approved a renewal of the Disaster Declaration for Gober MUD for two weeks.
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Commissioners court approved an agreement with Everbridge, Inc. for public safety communication services; $10,000 per year.
Pct. 2 Commissioner A.J. Self noted that the county had been spending $19,500 annually for this mass-notification service through the previous vendor, Code Red.
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Commissioners court passed on an agenda item regarding using up to $4,000 from Contingency for a new Motorola Radio for the Pct. 2 constable. In a previous meeting, Commissioner Fogelberg had offered to find the constable a radio in order to prevent the county from having to dip into Contingency.
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Commissioners court approved the state-mandated Cybersecurity and AI Training Certification of Completion by Fannin County employees and the results will be submitted to the state.
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Commissioners court voted to approve a Special Exception request on CR 3635 in Ladonia to reduce road frontage from 100’ to 60’ on one lot concerning Property ID#s R000144286 and R000110656.
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Commissioners court voted to approve a Change in Zoning application from A&R, Agriculture and Ranching District to RE, Rural Estate Single Family District on CR 2980; Property ID# R000142692.
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Commissioners court voted to release the remaining $50,000 bond for Bois d’Arc Shores Development.
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Commissioners court approved a replat of lots #28 and #29 of the Lake Bonham Subdivision, Phase 2 on CR 2607 in Precinct 4; Property ID#s R000101091 and R000101092.
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Commissioner court approved an Order closing CR 4944 in Precinct 2.
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Commissioners court voted to approve rescheduling the September 1, 2026 Commissioners Court to August 31, 2026 at 9:00 a.m.
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Commissioners court voted to approve a Land Use Agreement between a citizen and Precinct 3.
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Commissioners court denied a request to keep the county judge’s part-time assistant position through December 2026. 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.
Cunningham wanted to pay his part-time assistant $25 an hour, a rate that Pct. 1 Commissioner Troy Waggoner called "excessive."
Pct. 4 Commissioner Doug Kopf asked if employing a part-time assistant would help keep jail numbers down.
Jason Walker suggested that Cunningham utilize his additional magistrate supplement from the state to pay for additional staff if he needs more help.
"All I can tell is, from a taxpayers' standpoint, I'm paying for an extra secretary so you can collect extra pay from the state, and I don't think that's fair to taxpayers," Walker said.
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Commissioners court passed on an agenda item regarding the approval of 2026-2027 Positions and Salaries.
Fannin County Auditor Alicia Whipple told the court that the current budget for fiscal year 2026-2027 has the county $1,078,698.25 in the red.
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Commissioners court passed on an agenda item regarding the adoption of the Fiscal Year 2026-2027 Fannin County Budget.
Now that Texas Association of Counties (TAC) doesn't appear to be willing to provide legal counsel to the county regarding four countersuits that are the result of six indictments were tossed out for Lack of Probable Cause, the county needs to budget $250,000 for legal expenses in the next fiscal year.
"It may be much more than this if it plays out," Cunningham warned.
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Commissioners court passed on an agenda item regarding the adoption of Fiscal Year 2026-2027 - Debt Rate of 0.045293 for Fannin County.
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Commissioners court passed on an agenda item regarding the adoption of the 2026 Tax Rate of 0.384549 for Fannin County.
The court will hold a special meeting at 1:00 p.m. Monday, August 31, 2026 to make final budget decisions.
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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.
The district clerk has moved into the Justice Center, but the county continues to have issues getting appropriate keys.
The DA and county clerk hope to move in August 25.
A date for an open house will be set after all employees move in.
