County court approves transfer from contingency to cover district court juror costs

District Judge Chris Martin told the Van Zandt County Commissioners Court that an uptick in civil jury trials has increased juror-related costs and that the county receives partial state reimbursement but needs a line-item increase to finish the fiscal year.

Judge Chris Martin said he submitted a conservative request to cover the shortfall and explained that while the state reimburses most juror pay quarterly, the county must front the costs. He noted statutory rates and recent legislative changes that raised the per-day amounts paid to jurors.

Commissioner Mitchell Williams moved to increase the district court juror-expense line by $22,500 from contingency; another commissioner seconded the motion. The court approved the transfer by voice vote.

The court chair said the transfer follows earlier budget discussions in which departments were asked to cut back and the court reserved contingency to address shortfalls. No roll-call tally of individual votes was recorded on the record.

The increase will be applied to expense line 010435485 and the auditor will process the intra-budget transfer; staff said the county expects partial reimbursement from the state but that the reimbursement is returned to the general fund rather than credited directly back to the judge's line item.