Lowndes County supervisors discussed, but did not reach a decision, on how to fill the county prosecutor’s job after the November election.
Board President Harry Sanders brought up the matter during Monday’s board meeting.
County Prosecutor Allison Kizer is running unopposed for a seat as a county judge, Sanders said at the meeting.
“So that means we’ll have to appoint someone to fill out the rest of her term as soon as she is sworn in on Jan. 2,” he said. “I thought we should discuss how we want to fill that position.”
With another year remaining on the county prosecutor’s term, supervisors debated whether to establish a policy that prevents those who serve out a term from seeking the same office at the subsequent election.
Sanders floated that change in policy, but District 5 Supervisor -Leroy Brooks said it might be better to handle those situations on a case by case basis.
“It might be, in the future, a situation where the board supports the person who is filling out a term to serve permanently, if it’s the voters’ will,” Brooks said.
Sanders said he was open to any ideas.
“That’s why I put this on the agenda,” he said. “The reason is that I’ve had three or four people approach me about this and ask for my support. But I really have a problem with choosing somebody who’s going to run for the office in a year because it gives that person an unfair advantage. It could send a message that the person we appoint has the support of the board when it’s time for the election.
“I’d rather have a policy or something where the person who we appoint agrees not to run in the election,” he added.
Supervisors ultimately took no action, which Sanders said was OK.
“We’ve got plenty of time,” he said. “It’s just something we should be thinking about how we want to handle.”
County court judges hear civil actions under $75,000, as well as civil appeals from the justice and municipal courts. They try misdemeanor criminal cases and conduct preliminary hearings, in addition to serving as the youth (juvenile) court judge.
In other business, the board:
■ approved an amended contract with Baptist Medical Group for clinic services. County administrator Ralph Billingsley made the recommendation after working out a new agreement; and
■ approved a resolution that will ask the Legislature to change the valuation date on the county’s hospital trust fund from Dec. 31 to Aug. 31. That change will allow supervisors to know how much revenue can be pulled from the trust fund profits before completing its budget in September. Previously, the board had no fixed estimation of those funds when its fiscal year began each Oct. 1.
Slim Smith is a columnist and feature writer for The Dispatch. His email address is [email protected].
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