COUNTY COMMISSIONERS CONSIDER GUN FREE ZONE NEXT TUESDAY

  

Update: The meeting scheduled for Tuesday morning was canceled due to the winter weather conditions.  A date and time for the rescheduled meeting have not been announced yet.

Washington County Commissioners will consider making the 2nd and 3rd floor of the courthouse a gun free zone during their meeting next Tuesday. The issue was discussed a year ago and commissioners asked the judges that use the courtrooms on the 2nd and 3rd floors for their opinion. County Judge John Brieden said that each judge, District, County, and JP, had a different opinion on what areas should be gun free. The courtrooms are already gun free, but adjacent hallways and offices were in question. Brieden says the judges have now come to a consensus and are requesting that the entire second and third floors of the courthouse be off limits to firearms. Commissioners will consider having the appropriate signage produced to designate the areas as a gun free zone.

Also on the agenda for Tuesday, commissioners will open the submitted qualifications for an architect for the new Washington County Road and Bridge facility.  They are also expected to appoint a committee to review the submissions.  A new Road and Bridge facility is planned for property the county has purchased on Highway 36 North.

Commissioners will also discuss awarding the bids on two items.  A bid for steel products for the Road and Bridge Department is expected to be awarded.  The one bid received in December was thrown out due to it arriving 10 minutes past the bid deadline.  A bid is also expected to be awarded for the jail inmate payphone service.  Commissioners invalidated the previous awarding in December after one of the bidders protested. It was found that one of the bids was received late, and that the specifications listed for the bid were vague.

Commissioners will also receive a number of monthly reports including those from the Sheriff’s Office, 911 Dispatch, EMS, and the County IT Department.

Commissioners Court meets Tuesday morning at 9:00 at the Washington County Courthouse.

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2 Comments

  1. Our judges that work in our court house are a vital branch of law enforcement. Many times they work in court house areas outside the court rooms. They and their staff are sometimes working on cases involving mentally unstable victims or family members of criminals who are in the hallway areas. In these circumstances what they are asking is a reasonable and a sensible request. Our entire county law enforcement deserves our support, not just the ones on the front line. Our commissioners court plays a vital role in county management and business, they are needed. Each entity to their own area, Federal, state, county, city. All working harmoniously within our common denominator, the United States constitution.

  2. Court rooms are already off limits to legally permitted carry holders. What about the other offices on these floors that somebody may have business in? The county wants law abiding citizens to give up a right given to them from the state of Texas?

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