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Fannin County Commissioners Court gives green light to Countywide Polling Place Program application
By Allen Rich
Jul 22, 2026
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Fannin County, Texas -- Fannin County Judge Newt Cunningham presided over a regular meeting of Fannin County Commissioners Court on Tuesday, July 21, 2026, with Pct. 3 Commissioner Kurt Fogelberg and Pct. 4 Commissioner Doug Kopf present; Pct. 1 Commissioner Troy Waggoner and Pct. 2 Commissioner A.J. Self were attending classes.

The meeting opened with an invocation by David Woodson and pledges were led by Jenny Garner (Captain, USAF).

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Fannin County Judge Newt Cunningham introduced Savoy Mayor Roger Cada in attendance.

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In public forum, Fannin County District Clerk April Gibbs gave a shout out to Corey Baker and Adult Probation, as well as her staff, for early preparations as most county employees get ready to move to the Justice Center.

Fannin County Judge Cunningham repeated his litany of complaints about the courthouse restoration and said he couldn't comment on the upcoming 202 discovery deposition that may compel Cunningham and former DA Richard Glaser to give testimony under oath. After appearing to lead the push for indictments and testifying in front of the grand jury, Cunningham claimed in commissioners court Tuesday that he was "not involved in making the decision to indict."

The result is a pending lawsuit against the county.

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Routine items

Commissioners court approved payment of bills.

Bills on July 14, 2026 were $370,950.13. On July 21, 2026, bills were $244,841.69; payroll was $488,394.79.

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Commissioners court approved minutes of a previous meetings.

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Matt Brown of Allegiance Mobile Health presented the Emergency Medical Services Report for June 2026.

Brown reported 162 transports, 22 were treated at the scene, EMS calls were cancelled 12 times while en route, one call was for a deceased individual, for a total of 197 calls.

The average response time was 13:22 and the longest response was slightly more than 37 minutes.

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Commissioners court approved the Financial Report for June 2026, as well as the Investment report for June 2026.

Fannin County Treasurer David Woodson reported that revenue in June was $1,441,497.24. 

Current property tax collected in June was $232,556.98.

Delinquent property taxes collected in June was $32,823.42.

Sales tax received in June was $186,088.30.

Interest drawn on TexPool accounts was $46,044.36 at an average rate of 3.6241%.

Interest on cash in the bank was $19,213.59.

Interest on the business money-market account was $176.88.

Total interest for June was $65,434.83.

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Fannin County Auditor Alicia Whipple presented the Auditor Monthly Reports for June 2026.

Revenue for General Fund to-date is $16,187,912.08; year-to-date expenses are $15,323,741.64, for a difference of $864,170.44.

Whipple explained that Pct. 1 adjusted funds and is now back in the black.

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Report of monies received by Justice of the Peace, Precinct 1 in June 2026; $43,790.65.

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Report of monies received by Justice of the Peace, Precinct 2 in June 2026; $14,386.50.

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Report of monies received by Justice of the Peace, Precinct 3 in June 2026; $11,122.10.

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Report of monies received by County Clerk in June 2026; all courts, $23,460.51 and land records, $38,154.50.

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Report of monies received by District Clerk in June 2026; $27,158.74.

Discussion only items

Commissioners Court observed Orders setting salaries of the auditor, assistant auditors and 336th District Court reporter

The annual salary of the 336th District Court reporter is set at $125,667.44.

The annual salary of the county auditor is set at $115,378.83, and assistants' salaries are set at $57,930.85, $55,265.53, $51,625.63 and $50,560.00. The auditor didn't take a raise this year, only her assistants.

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Discussion and possible action items

Commissioners court approved a Resolution stating Fannin County Sheriff’s Office will not be reduced due to any grants received through the Texas Comptroller’s Sheriff’s Office Senate Bill 8 Program.

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Commissioners court unanimously voted to move forward with the Countywide Polling Place Program application through the Secretary of State.

Fannin County Clerk Jenny Garner said the county is adequately prepared to implement a program that will allow registered voters to cast a ballot at any voting location in the county.

The county currently has seven voting locations. Under this program, Fannin County may have to offer 11 voting locations in the first year before trimming down to seven voting locations.

"I think it is in the county's best interest," advised Garner.

Both party chairs noted the difficulty in staffing a large number of voting locations and both support the program while stressing the need to educate voters about the transition to countywide voting. 

SB 2753 will require a change in terminology and reporting; this bill calls for an election period, as opposed to early voting and election day voting.

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Commissioners court approved an Order amending budget; April 2026 through June 2026 budget amendments.

The amendments were in regard to money moved from line item to line item.

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Commissioners court approved the 2026-2027 Organizational Chart.

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Commissioners court approved the Fannin County Grant Policy.

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Commissioners court followed the recommendation of the subdivision committee and approved the Preliminary Plat for Bois d’Arc Valley Estates, Property ID#s R000080608 & R000109815 on FM 2216 in Honey Grove; Seventeen 2+ acre lots.

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Commissioners court approved submitting the 2026 Unclaimed Capital Credits for Counties form through the Texas State Comptroller’s Office.

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Open discussion items

Open discussion items may be passed on unless discussion requested by a member of the Court or a Citizen.

In regard to the county budget and revenue sources, Dale McQueen addressed the court to say, "

A few weeks ago I was before you and you were looking at a $1 million dollar deficit and now it is up to $1.9 million. I'm not sure but I was able to get hold of the budget you put out on July 6, 2026 and I'm not sure we are following the Truth and Taxation provisions. You are guaranteed the same income you had last year, no matter what. I know there has been some discussion, well we lost $66 million through the legislature and the Engie plant went off the tax rolls -- those have nothing to do with how your tax rate finally gets set. You are guaranteed the same amount you had last year, no matter what, from the taxpayers that paid last year, even with all those listed as "disappears." You also can get 3.5% more, so that's where I am having a problem. Why does the July 6 budget say you are getting less money than you did last year from the tax appraisal office? That's not possible unless you purposely set the tax rate too low. You can do that....but if you do that it is basically financial mismanagement. You should not be doing that to this county. What's happened is, your Voter Approved Tax Rate (VAR) last year was .412. What I don't think a lot of people understand is, sales tax is part of this. Y'all have had a lot of sales tax come in the year before, November and December of 2024, you had $600,000-$700,000 in sales tax revenue that you did not expect. That got rolled into last year's tax rate, which dropped the rate to .350. I'm not sure y'all get that sales tax is part of your taxes that go into what you can spend. This year, just based on the numbers the appraisal district has had so far, your Voter Approved Tax Rate should be about .433, and that rolls in your debt rate, also. But your sales tax is only going to be about $2.2 million at the end of this year, so it's going to drop your Voter Approved Tax to about .38. So, you are still going to bring in more money than you did last year, no matter what. Just because you had those other things happen, the Truth in Taxation gets rid of that now. It guarantees you the same amount as last year. You get the same amount you did, plus the 3.5% increase, and then you get new property on top of that.

McQueen went on to say that the BESS plant should be paying the county for 600MW, not the 300MW. On the other side of the ledger, McQueen suggested lowering the amount budgeted for sales tax revenue next year.

"You still have a problem with the budget, but it is not as bad as it looks," McQueen remarked.

The county treasurer has $7,000 budgeted for travel, but he only needs $2,500, estimates McQueen, so that could put $4,500 back in the county coffers.

In another positive development, Judge Cunningham said he found that one solar farm hasn't been making PILOT payments for five years and, when contacted by the judge's office, offered to pay $267,000.

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Executive session(s) and action if needed

 Pursuant to Texas Government Code, Section 551.071, Fannin County Commissioners Court entered into executive session at 10:29 a.m. to consult with their attorney regarding cell tower negotiations, and to discuss personnel issues.

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Commissioners court reconvened in regular open session at 10:57 a.m. to announce no action was taken in executive session.