Discussion of the Precinct 1 constable’s request to approve an interlocal agreement with Goodrich Independent School District for a school resource officer dominated much of the March 24 meeting of the Polk County Commissioners Court.
Officer Marcello Rosario, a bilingual, decorated retired state trooper who served on the Navasota ISD School Board for 10 years, has served as the school resource officer (SRO) for Goodrich ISD for the last three and a half years and was compensated via asset forfeiture funds. However, those funds have been depleted and Rosario has not been compensated since February.
Precinct 1 Constable Scott Hughes and Goodrich ISD Superintendent Daniel Barton drafted an agreement in which GISD would provide $50,000 to fund a part-time deputy for 1,520 hours per year to serve as an SRO.
Hughes and Barton met with County Judge Sydney Murphy and Precinct 1 Commissioner Guylene Robertson on March 5 and presented a Liberty County/Tarkington ISD agreement which was sent to Eric Magee, an attorney with the Texas Association of Counties (TAC), for review. On March 6, the county’s most recent memorandum of understanding was also forwarded to Magee for further review. Magee noted several concerns, primarily regarding payment structure and employment status and said the SRO would have to be a county employee and not a contracted officer.
“I’m not opposed to an SRO, but the biggest concern that he had is that it needed to be a county employee. So if the sheriff, or the Court, want to add a position …” Murphy said.
“I’m here representing the community I was born and raised in for over 50 years, the unincorporated town of Goodrich, Texas,” Hughes said. “We’ve been working on this for literally years. We’re at a point now where my office provided a service to the Polk County taxpayers at zero cost for over three and a half years.
“It was my understanding that we could tweak a few things on this Tarkington agreement and it would be okay. We have a tremendous opportunity here. What happened to Mike Matthews’ opinion? There’s absolutely no liability to the county,” Hughes said.
“Mike Matthews is one of the attorneys that we use. When we sent it to Mike Matthews, his response was that it was well-written but that he didn’t have enough information,” Murphy said. “We sent everything to Eric Magee with TAC. We’re not opposed to SROs at all but the issue is that they have to be a county employee and your chief law enforcement officer for the county is your sheriff.”
“I don’t appreciate the perception that we don’t have the authority to do what we’re trying to do. That’s just an opinion. I’m fighting for the kids,” Hughes said.
Moving on, the Court approved a resolution expressing its opposition to the establishment of additional data centers in the State of Texas. The purpose of the resolution is to urge state legislators to give counties more authority to regulate data centers.
In related activity – and to be prepared for future growth – the Court also approved a proposed industrial high-load facility site impact permit policy and fee schedule.
The acquisition of software or professional services to support the development of the fiscal year 2027 budget with regard to compensation benchmarking, labor costing and salary analysis was approved.
The board of directors of the IAH Public Facility Corporation was left with a vacancy following the retirement of Bobbye Christopher, the former district clerk. The Court approved the appointment of County Treasurer Terri Williams to fill the vacancy on that board.
An order authorizing the sale of fireworks during the San Jacinto Day period of April 16, 2026 through midnight April 21, 2026 was approved.
An amendment for the renewal of the lease of county office space for the Texas Department of State Health Services at 402 E. Church St. in Livingston was approved for a 24-month term at the current rate.
With the surface lease agreements for Polk County school land in Throckmorton and Baylor counties expiring June 30, 2026, the Court discussed whether any action was needed at this time. Precinct 3 Commissioner Milt Purvis, who oversees the school land agreements, said he has no concerns at this time.
The Court approved Change Order 1 for the Texas General Land Office Community Development Block Grant Regional Mitigation Bridge Projects, GLO Contract No. 24-065-044-E536.
Having just held a large item collection event on March 14 that was deemed quite successful, the Court discussed the possibility of holding future large item collection events on a regular basis and increasing capacity.
In personnel matters, the Court approved personnel action form requests submitted by department heads since the last meeting, approved a request from the Precinct 2 justice of the peace to use discretionary funds for a one-time bonus and approved the sheriff’s requests for payment of overtime earned by corrections officers and telecommunications operators.
Fiscal year 2026 budget revisions and amendments, as presented by the county auditor’s office, were approved.
In old business, the Court approved the minutes of the Feb. 24 regular and emergency meetings and selected GLS Architecture-Engineering-Surveying as the engineering firm to assist the county in its application(s) and project implementation of one or more contracts, if awarded by the Texas General Land Office.
Informational reports from the Lower Trinity Groundwater Conservation District and the March 14 tire and large item collection event were presented.
Items on the consent agenda included:
Robert Murphy of First Baptist Church Providence opened the meeting with prayer.
