Macon County Mayor Glen Harold Donoho addressed the committee as a whole Monday night and requested help with a matter concerning the Judicial Commissioner.

According to the mayor, Judicial Commissioner Ralph Meeks fell last week and suffered severe injuries. Meeks however failed to call and inform the sheriff or the mayor of the incident. This left officers in a bind when they made several arrest over the weekend and then had no one to write a warrant.

Several deputies from the Circuit Court Clerk's office had to be called in to write the warrants. This caused these deputies to have overtime pay. The county will now have to pay the overtime pay in the estimated amount of $500.

Mayor Donoho wanted the commissioners devise a plan of what to do in case the judicial commissioner was ever out. He stated they either needed to hire and assistant or be prepared to pay the clerk deputies overtime. He also stated that the deputies from the clerk's office are actually not responsible for writing the warrants after 4:30 p.m. each day.

A motion was made by Commissioner Scott Gammons to hire an assistant for Meeks and pay him out of Meeks salary. This would mean that on the days Meeks is off, the assistant would be paid out of his salary. Commissioner Ralph Doss stated that he would not vote for that because he would not want someone else to take Meeks pay when he was off on sick leave. That is not the normal process for when people are out, stated Commissioner Anna Dean Carter. Most offices offer paid vacation or sick leave.

Gammons received no second for his motion. Another motion was then made for an assistant to be hired from applications the county has on file. The assistant would be paid the same hourly rate as Meeks. They also agreed to pay the clerk's deputies the overtime pay due until an assistant could be hired.

The commissioners approved all board minutes including those from the court meeting on March 21, ambulance meeting on March 21, and loss control meeting on March 22.

Commissioners also approved 13 budget amendments and five resolutions.

Mayor Donoho addressed a letter he had received stating that the cost of the Trammel Creek bridge was going to increase to $79,781. This is approximately a $30,000 increase from what was originally expected. The committee agreed to take the additional money needed out of the fund balance.

The next scheduled meeting of the county commissioners is scheduled for April 18, at 7 p.m.