Supervisors authorize reuse of demolition debris for road work, ratify youth-court prosecutor and add legislative priorities

At the supervisors meeting, staff proposed modifying a demolition contract so the contractor would make concrete demolition debris from the Marquette cement facility available to Rankin County for use in road maintenance — provided the material is processed to meet Department of Transportation standards. Staff advised the board the county would pay $20 per ton for material that meets DOT specifications and the board authorized publication and movement of the item through the planning and procurement process.

The board also ratified the prior appointment of Corey Gerber as Assistant County Prosecuting Attorney for youth-court delinquency matters to maintain continuity after recent statutory changes affecting youth-court filings. Staff said the statutory amendment created uncertainty about who may file delinquency petitions; appointing Gerber as an assistant county prosecutor removes the doubt.

Finally, staff asked the board to add two items to its legislative-priority list for the next session: (1) technical fixes to the new youth-court law to remove operational uncertainties; and (2) a statutory clarification to confirm that supervisors may spend public funds to improve or maintain privately owned polling places (responding to a recent AG opinion). The board voted to add both items to its priorities.