The petitions have been turned in, signatures have been certified by Fannin County Clerk/Voter Registrar Tammy Rich, and now it appears that voters in Fannin County will have the final decision in whether or not Grayson County Junior College District will include the Fannin County Service Area and whether or not a new campus will be built on U.S. 82 west of Bonham.

Voters were asked to place their signatures on petitions in order to have a right to vote on the possibility of a college coming to Fannin County. Deadline for signing the petition was January 25, 2009 at 5:00 p.m. 

On Thursday, January 28, 2010, the Fannin County Clerk/Voter Registrar finalized the verification of petitions and signatures in accordance with Texas Election Code Chapter 277.

Ms. Rich verified a total of 1,148 signatures were accepted as registered voters with proper signatures, printed names, date of signing, address and date of birth or voter registration number.  In order for the petition to pass, 5% of voters in the area to be affected needed to place his or her signature on the petition. 

The total number of registered voters in Fannin County at the time of the petition was 18,741.

It should be noted that registered voters in Honey Grove ISD (1,870) and Fannindel ISD (544) were excluded because the proposed annexation by Grayson County Junior College District does not include the Honey Grove and Fannindel school districts.  In addition, 1,736 registered voters were categorized as exempt due to suspense status.

Those exemptions left 14,591 authorized registered voters in districts that stand to be affected by this pending decision and 5%, or roughly 730 voters, needed to sign the petition in order to have this issue go before the voters.

The Fannin County Clerk/Voter Registrar verified 1,148 signatures on the petition as authorized registered voters. That number represents slightly less than 8% of authorized registered voters.

Facts regarding the proposed annexation by Grayson County Junior College District will be discussed in the public hearing scheduled for 2:00 p.m. Saturday, February 6 in the Fannin County Courthouse.