[{"_1":2,"_111":-5,"_112":-5},"loaderData",{"_3":4,"_26":27},"root",{"_5":6,"_17":10,"_18":19,"_20":21,"_22":10,"_23":-5,"_24":-5,"_25":10},"user",{"_7":8,"_9":10,"_11":10,"_12":-5,"_13":-5,"_14":15,"_16":-5},"roles",[],"isAuthenticated",false,"isPremium","planName","subscriptionStatus","featureFlags",{},"insightsBudget","isDevelopmentHost","userPreferences",{},"recaptchaSiteKey","6LcvOJcUAAAAAHsB-gPGfGktcRlKpH7OTIU_dMTD","isImpersonating","impersonation","affiliateStatus","isFreedomPortal","routes/v2/article/layout",{"_28":29,"_30":31},"notFound",true,"relatedArticles",[32,75,87,99],{"_33":34,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":40,"_41":42,"_43":44,"_45":46,"_47":48,"_49":50,"_51":52,"_53":54,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":60,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":66,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":68,"_72":73,"_74":73},"mediaId",6657433,"mediaKeyId","5075209-5ea844646af88ccf097f17c5bfd3d225","parentId",5075209,"title","Medical examiner seeks steady funding as new Lubbock facility nears handover, chief says office may serve neighboring counties","audioSeconds",1318,"startMs",8592000,"endMs",9910000,"viewUrl","/Search/View?dp=1&key=5075209-5ea844646af88ccf097f17c5bfd3d225&start=8592&end=9910","thumbnailUrl","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/5075209-5ea844646af88ccf097f17c5bfd3d225/thumbnail_8592000.jpg","articleUrl","/articles/6657433/Lubbock-County/Texas/Medical-examiner-seeks-steady-funding-as-new-Lubbock-facility-nears-handover-chief-says-office-may-serve-neighboring-counties","mediaUrl","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6657433-82d3ca15fb5d4064a493928eda0f486b/orig.mp4?Expires=1770753636&Signature=bU7XS4cA47HZ-2dOtZRxqx2LgS5BXkUmNY8sTVlYpAfD3lexx~px75VRvxxChmOQKolmVONJuXXir8iA4MUvwZiHhcCVJ2bVWQfETtP4exkNpsYhefwb3KTWCphvzWyR4qjh8SK531xTVVEOpurNzKO1eU6-TBpTr8iioUCszWOD~giYzzlJdTrZ25uam1gCnedQdOWzTXLD-eSwG~zGMRepXx10xQh61SqKHE9JGB-TU03tQqdkObnTLOc3L38AV3dNorxpd5zeHw5DgFGSXFyQrg7meoxrEMi0AWy52k6qdiELZEYFCWUvZ5T~PA~f44pZOEx6RD4JfLIBqDBXRQ__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","author","Lubbock","date","2025-06-25T00:00:00Z","article","Dr. (Addington) the county medical examiner, told Commissioners Court on June 25 that his office had a productive year and that a new, purpose-built facility is nearing handover, which he said would enable the office to expand operations and potentially serve nearby counties.

The ME said the office\u000027s FY26 budget request totaled approximately $3,335,236 and that much of the increase reflected professional services for forensic pathology staffing and increased histology and toxicology costs driven by case volume. He told the court he had requested one new front-office position to manage intake and finances once the new facility accepts outside-case revenue and that vehicle and facility costs had been managed this year.

Answering commissioners\u000027 questions about regional service and capacity, Dr. Addington said he expects the office could become neutral in cost or approach modest cost-recovery by taking on cases from other counties, but that he would not “be a tremendous revenue generator for Lubbock County.” He suggested a realistic three-year plan could see multiple counties participating, and a five-year vision could bring a larger regional workload and training opportunities.

Dr. Addington told the court the construction team expects to hand over keys in March and that the office was prepared to make a public announcement when the building handoff is complete. He also described staffing and operational adjustments since adding contract pathology support and said the office performs regular evaluations and audits for quality.

On contract services with the outsourced forensic provider (referred to in the meeting as FPS), commissioners asked whether prepaying for services for a discount was lawful. County counsel indicated the court would need to verify whether paying in advance for services that have not yet been rendered complies with procurement and county payment rules; no policy change was adopted that day.

Operational detail cited in the meeting: as of the June session the ME reported roughly 324 autopsies and external examinations in the fiscal year and 104 record reviews. The office said locum and pathology contracts were stable and that toxicology and histology costs had increased with more required testing.

What\u000027s next: the ME will proceed with facility readiness, continue to track case volume and costs, and work with county finance and counsel on any contracts or payment-structure questions for FPS/other vendors. Commissioners asked staff to continue preparing budget revisions and possible options for the county\u000027s consideration.","mediaType","Video","parentTitle","Lubbock - Commissioners Court Work Session - Jun 25, 2025","oneSentenceSummary","The county\u000027s medical examiner reported a year of steady operations and said a new facility is near completion; the ME indicated the office could cover costs and add regional cases over several years but cautioned it would not be a large revenue generator.","taxTitle","Lubbock County, Texas","taxId",2711,"location","headline","","shortSummary",{"_33":76,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":77,"_41":78,"_43":79,"_45":80,"_47":81,"_49":82,"_51":83,"_53":84,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":85,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":86,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":68,"_72":73,"_74":73},6657438,"IT director warns of federal ADA web-accessibility deadline; proposes $300,000 start to overhaul county website",2379,4448000,6827000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=5075209-5ea844646af88ccf097f17c5bfd3d225&start=4448&end=6827","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/5075209-5ea844646af88ccf097f17c5bfd3d225/thumbnail_4448000.jpg","/articles/6657438/Lubbock-County/Texas/IT-director-warns-of-federal-ADA-web-accessibility-deadline-proposes-300000-start-to-overhaul-county-website","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6657438-70060f2b3f4b4def7ce2c75d22c7f357/orig.mp4?Expires=1770753636&Signature=I3AtePmmMI6HdsoTIkJknrUqdOAdjeunNMieJr17liAaVUf-OYB~kyv1n4FTzP8~3nvc70SfBm4WrOohSU57ao4Dfr2m28jpu21W3g1Flk8CrAdSYPbjsgsDAL1vCb7~WIG7uTltKcOEIP2-RZZ5al8luHBU1SIYScKjG8HKfQ6nzScexArsWU~h5d8lj3rUwgbVbOkTVuolPidr2hIdSoZoPHABgp-4hGVt5ETcIwUjbW1U4EPgJOH1zNgh1nNhhOFmehTap0-TehhsDLBO5dGTClD8N9uuIRFWP67cfxedhF8u8ukl8XHzVEzSS4aMlfHaW4VD0Fu3DGrznYooRg__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","Isaac Badu, director of Information Technology Services, told Commissioners Court on June 25 the county\u000027s website and public-access portals contain accessibility gaps and that federal guidance will require agencies serving more than 50,000 people to meet web content accessibility guidelines by April 2026.

Badu said an external review and internal checks show the county site contains non-OCR scanned documents, inconsistent file naming and structural issues that prevent screen readers and assistive technologies from correctly rendering content. He gave a live demonstration showing how a PDF on the site reads poorly for a nonvisual user and said that even file-naming conventions (e.g., file numbers rather than descriptive titles) degrade accessibility.

\"Now there is a mandate for us to be compliant by April of 20 26,\" Badu told the court. He said the rule stems from Department of Justice enforcement under ADA web-accessibility guidance and that the county is not eligible for the extra 2027 extension available to jurisdictions under 50,000 population.

Badu proposed an initial, phased budget approach beginning with a $300,000 allocation to start an RFP and vendor engagement, content remediation, staff training across departments and site redesign work. He stressed the project would be larger than a vendor redesign: departments must standardize how they publish documents and staff must be trained to produce accessible content. County counsel and disability-rights representatives have already been engaged, he said.

The IT budget discussion also highlighted increases in recurring software maintenance contracts. Badu said the county\u000027s software-maintenance line rose about 11.3% year over year and that some contracts (Microsoft, Tyler products) account for the majority of the rise. He listed other capital and operational items in the IT budget, including planned VXrail capacity expansion (additional nodes for virtualization), a video surveillance server replacement, network backbone work to create a true ring for resilience, and the need for additional BGP-capable gateway routers to improve internet failover.

Badu also requested staff and consultant positions tied to audiovisual, security camera and door-control systems, and said he is exploring consolidating printer contracts to a per-page service rather than maintaining many in-house devices.

Commissioners asked about scope and timing; Badu said the $300,000 was a starting point to procure services and begin remediation and that he would return with a detailed plan and RFP timeline. Disability-rights attorney Danette Vaughn (present in a meeting earlier that day) and other participants emphasized the county\u000027s existing incremental progress but urged a firm plan and funding to meet the federal deadline.

What’s next: Badu will prepare scope and procurement steps for the website/accessibility project and return with a costed plan for commissioners to consider as part of FY26 capital and operating budgets.","Director Isaac Badu told Commissioners Court the county\u000027s website and public portals are not fully ADA-compliant and cited a DOJ deadline for jurisdictions above 50,000 population; he proposed a multi-phase project with an initial $300,000 allocation and listed growing software-maintenance costs.",{"_33":88,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":89,"_41":90,"_43":91,"_45":92,"_47":93,"_49":94,"_51":95,"_53":96,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":97,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":98,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":68,"_72":73,"_74":73},6657442,"Commissioners weigh converting worn county \"wrap\" roads to caliche, debate keeping or selling milling machine",1381,2172000,3553000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=5075209-5ea844646af88ccf097f17c5bfd3d225&start=2172&end=3553","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/5075209-5ea844646af88ccf097f17c5bfd3d225/thumbnail_2172000.jpg","/articles/6657442/Lubbock-County/Texas/Commissioners-weigh-converting-worn-county-wrap-roads-to-caliche-debate-keeping-or-selling-milling-machine","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6657442-27b8f7aa01442ec9fee6de6d342701f8/orig.mp4?Expires=1770753637&Signature=e2kSrYw57FY09ZpTil9zs6~lcGTdkoGXXTNgpRReabNKJ7fmAqKeV13bYT0bOguW87pO7gYexBHZJI4C53yJ36xDUo2I2Deh0CZ6kSqUjiGKlCgyS3isIr53wWYSa2t58yCXYFp~wEyyCRs22Tx22FcCRY8UaGnRjiAc1HWccjk~QgqybvuIS7lb4so2oaWFYeblbIAGhzCxx8SGwl4wOfp~0RN1SauwCX9uGewha97bepELt5y8VvOAeAbdQfMrkKy~UewKSATpAZznt6uFc7afvFE8gvSD8tCUvYUaOhNJ~AniPp~TpEsKk1g8-S~SaEumiQfPd4MFtHwkMGkPOA__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","Roads and Bridge staff told Commissioners Court on June 25 they can address a list of high-cost wrap and pavement roads over a two-year window but sought direction on funding sources and whether to keep expensive milling equipment.

The department presented a prioritized list of problem road segments and material-cost estimates totaling about $1,600,000 for the items shown in the worksheet provided to commissioners. Staff recommended converting many wrap roads to caliche — a lower-maintenance surface — while reserving engineering-level work for larger, drainage- or interstate-adjacent projects.

Commissioners and county staff discussed one high-cost, recurring maintenance stretch (precinct example given as roughly a mile with recurring patching costs). Staff said converting that section back to caliche would substantially reduce ongoing maintenance, calling the current approach “putting out fires” rather than executing sustainable maintenance.

A major point of debate: the county’s milling/reclaimer machine. Staff described the machine as expensive to maintain and said it slows on certain patched areas; possibilities discussed included keeping, overhauling at substantial cost, leasing, renting as needed, or selling the machine outright. Commissioners noted an option to use part of park contingency funds to tackle multiple roads in one effort and thereby remove the need to own milling equipment.

Staff said they could likely complete two targeted wrap-road projects this fiscal year (weather permitting) and that a two-year timeline is a realistic estimate for the full list shown. They also said some roads already have tentative dates in the work plan. On the larger Woodrow Road project, staff said phase 1 is scheduled for completion in fiscal 2026 and that phase 2 would be a county-led project put out to bid; they hope to have phase 2 awarded by October.

Commissioners asked about equipment rental costs and how machine age affects maintenance; staff estimated reclamer monthly rental or maintenance equivalence in the tens of thousands and said heavy hot-mix patches are particularly hard on teeth and components. The court discussed funding tradeoffs: park funds, capital vs. maintenance lines, or spreading projects over two fiscal years.

No final appropriation was made during the session. Commissioners asked staff to return with refined cost estimates and a proposed funding plan within approximately five weeks for budget planning ahead of the August budget deadline.

Clarifying details: staff said converting several wrap roads to caliche would reduce recurring patching costs and that milling throughput can vary (an estimate given: roughly 0.3 mile per day under some conditions). A list presented to commissioners included multiple segments flagged for conversion or engineered study; the staff estimated current program costs at scale would move from roughly $1.2 million this year toward a request of about $2.6 million in next year\u000027s draft to reach the department\u000027s mile targets for sealing and resurfacing programs.

What’s next: commissioners instructed staff to return with clearer prioritization and funding options so the court can decide whether to fund conversions, sell or keep the milling machine, or reallocate contingency funds.","Roads and Bridge staff presented a multi-year plan to convert heavily maintained wrap/paved roads back to caliche, prioritize engineering for big projects and consider selling or leasing a costly milling/reclaimer machine.",{"_33":100,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":101,"_41":102,"_43":103,"_45":104,"_47":105,"_49":106,"_51":107,"_53":108,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":109,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":110,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":68,"_72":73,"_74":73},6657447,"Lubbock County treasurer asks for part-time hire to reduce reliance on interns, staff say heavy bond workload",1926,91000,2017000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=5075209-5ea844646af88ccf097f17c5bfd3d225&start=91&end=2017","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/5075209-5ea844646af88ccf097f17c5bfd3d225/thumbnail_91000.jpg","/articles/6657447/Lubbock-County/Texas/Lubbock-County-treasurer-asks-for-part-time-hire-to-reduce-reliance-on-interns-staff-say-heavy-bond-workload","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6657447-2c5478ea84d11ed7898e93ed9cde0390/orig.mp4?Expires=1770753637&Signature=UGWI4yYiBpkAiLy0bHzTc6J47uNRQDVjEiIy~xsVaWZHVkNeRmf5RegsxK9alf1FaZiy73W0CsC5UVLEjikOOIUSd~-A-vDCj~GJXh~bi8Kq8cxIok6Hd59Wlxs25TsbpqUeTpsRgsym9uE-IuxSnmrKGGyiUTNMqtB5pWdgINEc8fh2~dSbR5j3pBs0vX~mppjjf9jgCtJWS4ohjJ4W-40vh8ZgiW3ZOvltF71SshJNC2tKjky40W6lltuo-LSe7E7GacanIphVPwjCyWwu80llbL~KCTMn7fSTJLH6wkyRy2UhcKCySOcsjJOCWFcpg9f9l7wjRIeCI3NRDu2MxA__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","Lubbock County Treasurer Chris Winn asked Commissioners Court on June 25 to approve a new part-time position to ease heavy workloads and improve cross-training in his four-person office.

Winn told the court the treasurer’s office currently has one elected official, three full-time staff, one part-time employee and one intern, and “we respectfully request the addition of a . . . part time staff member.” He said the office has historically relied on interns for work equivalent to at least one full-time position and that intern absences during exams and school breaks have caused “significant disruptions.”

Winn and Assistant Treasurer Alice Solswiegel walked the court through updated performance measures that, they said, better capture the office’s work than prior measures. Solswiegel said the office handles county receipts, monthly and quarterly reports, bank reconciliations for eight county accounts, ACH and Citibank transfers (about 400–500 per year each), and substantial cash- and surety-bond work. She said quarterly reporting can consume “almost an entire month” of staff time.

Winn described how departures exposed knowledge gaps: when a longtime operations staffer left in February, many bond functions were known mainly to two people, forcing others to work long hours until a new operations controller was hired. He said the office is aiming to reduce reliance on multiple interns and scale the intern program to one at a time while adding the requested part-time employee focused on cash bonds.

On bond operations, Winn and Solswiegel described the county’s interaction with bail bond companies and with the Bail Bond Board. Winn said the county oversees more than $100,000,000 in surety valuation carried by bail companies and that when a bond company closes the county may work with the district attorney’s civil division or the bail bond board for recovery. “The system is covered by either an insurance company or cash or prop or . . . real property,” Winn said. Solswiegel described routine workflows for refunding bond payors when a case is dismissed and the logistical challenges when payors are difficult to reach.

Commissioners asked about training and travel line items and whether local training could replace some out-of-town conferences. Winn and Solswiegel said the office will work with the court’s direction; Solswiegel noted some training (for systems such as Munis and Odyssey) is hard to replicate locally and can be valuable for staff proficiency.

Clarifying details from the presentation: the treasurer’s office reported plans to receive roughly $300,000,000 in receipts for the fiscal year and jury pay near $200,000; payroll-related tax payments were estimated at roughly $20,000,000. The office reconciles eight bank accounts. Staffing currently is four full-time including the elected official, one part-time, and one intern returning in the fall. The office said it has not received approval for a new position in the last six years and that similar county financial administration departments typically have six to eight full-time staff.

The court did not take a vote at the June 25 work session; Winn said he was “thankful for your consideration” and left the request for the court’s budget deliberations.

What’s next: the treasurer asked the court to consider the requested position as part of fiscal-year-2026 budget deliberations. Commissioners discussed merit pay and evaluation processes for staff more broadly during the session, and the treasurer said his office performs evaluations and would participate in countywide evaluation processes if the court directs one.","County Treasurer Chris Winn told Commissioners Court his office is short-staffed, asking for a part-time position to ease cross-training limits and handle caseloads such as cash and surety bond processing.","actionData","errors"]

Article not found

Medical examiner seeks steady funding as new Lubbock facility nears handover, chief says office may serve neighboring counties

IT director warns of federal ADA web-accessibility deadline; proposes $300,000 start to overhaul county website

Commissioners weigh converting worn county "wrap" roads to caliche, debate keeping or selling milling machine

Lubbock County treasurer asks for part-time hire to reduce reliance on interns, staff say heavy bond workload