The Jones County Board of Supervisors opened Monday's meeting by presenting Emergency Operations Center Director Paul Sheffield with a certificate of appreciation for his efforts for the county during the COVID-19 pandemic and the recent tornado recovery efforts. Sheffield was grateful for the recognition but taken by surprise. “If I had known y’all were doing this, I would have stayed at the office,” he quipped.
The supervisors then received good news from the county’s insurance liaison, Jamie Taylor, on the upcoming insurance renewals for county employees. Taylor said that the medical, dental and vision carriers had agreed to hold rates for employees at the same level as last year, due to the COVID-19 crisis.
“They have all agreed, this being an unprecedented year, that regardless of the claims, they are going to hold all the rates the same as last year to eliminate the issue, number one, of your employees having to be burdened with increased costs and, number two, of them having to make changes at open enrollment,” she said.
Taylor also said that the county’s carrier had agreed to pay 100 percent of all tests and treatments related to COVID-19 for the employees, and she noted that a virtual visit service had been added to the insurance plan. Taylor has also been working with the county’s Human Resources director, Chastity Gray, to create as safe of an environment as possible for county employees who need to attend open enrollment. The safeguards include providing face masks, hand sanitizer and even separate pens for each employee as they come in to make changes. The county typically has close to 400 employees participate in open enrollment, but the number should decrease this year due to the carriers not changing rates and thus allowing employees to simply keep their current plan. Open enrollment is set for the third week in July for county employees.
LOCAL AIRPORT READIES FOR NEW CARRIER
Hattiesburg-Laurel Regional Airport Director Tom Heanue asked the supervisors for their support as a guarantor on a state revolving loan that will be used to upgrade the wastewater treatment system at the airport. Heanue assured the supervisors that the airport would take care of the loan, but one requirement to receive the loan is the county’s backing.
Heanue also updated the supervisors on the status of United Airlines taking over as the carrier for the Hattiesburg-Laurel Airport. That service to Houston, Texas, is set to begin July 1. The former carrier, American Airlines, which flew local passengers to Dallas, dropped 14 smaller airports when trouble with its 730 Max aircraft caused the company some struggles. The Hattiesburg-Laurel Airport was one of the 14 sites that AA dropped.
“Our numbers were looking good under American Airlines with direct flights to Dallas,” commented Heanue. “I think we’ll get those same kind of numbers with United once Covid is over.”
Heanue acknowledged that COVID-19 has really affected the airport’s revenue, but he sees signs of a recovery. He told the supervisors that business was down 65 percent in April compared to 2019, May was down 53 percent, and June is projected to be down 37 percent. The trend is positive.
“We’re coming back. Believe it or not, we did very well during these months compared to the rest of the state.”
Heanue is convinced that the flights to Houston will work well for the local airport, as he pointed out that many oilfield related workers fly from here to Houston, and he said many churches send parishioners on overseas mission trips through the Houston terminal.
JUDGES MAKE REQUESTS
Circuit Court Judge Dal Williamson approached the supervisors with a request for them to designate the Ronald E. Whitehead Advanced Technology Center as a part of the courthouse for the upcoming July court term in Ellisville. The judge noted that his court needs more room to bring in jury pools and host trials while simultaneously following the social distancing and other safety guidelines related to COVID-19. State law allows the supervisors to make such a designation.
“It’s becoming more obvious that we’re going to need to have a place available for some trials that we can allow for social distancing,” the judge explained.
Williamson met with Jones College President Dr. Jesse Smith about the facility, and he said the ATC’s auditorium has enough room to accommodate jurors, attorneys, the bench, and a witness stand.
Typically there are four to five trials per day set for the Ellisville term, but a number of those will be pleaded or delayed for various legal reasons. Still, the judge wants to be prepared.
“I want to be set up to have some trials, if we need to, during that term,” he ended.
A little later, Justice Court Judges Billie Graham and Grant Hedgepeth, along with local attorney Jeannine Pacific, asked that the supervisors consider increasing funding to pay for rising costs associated with public defenders in Justice Court. Judge David Lyon was in court and could not attend.
“We operate under the same rules as the Circuit Court does, as far as the appointment for representation for criminal defendants,” opened District 2 Justice Court Judge Billie Graham. “We had some changes in the law probably three years ago in the rules of criminal procedure that the Supreme Court approved, and we have to abide by that.”
Some of the rules require that any person charged with a felony or a misdemeanor offense that could mandate jail time be afforded the appointment of a public defender at their initial appearance. Persons charged with offenses also have the right to appear before a judge within 48 hours of their arrest. This right demands that the judges meet on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays and sometimes on Sundays for initial hearings.
Graham said that Justice Court currently uses two public defenders, but “they are not down there nearly as much as we need.”
“We’re here before the board today to ask that there be provisions made for the payment of public defenders for Justice Court,” she stated.
Graham concluded by saying that the request for additional funding was one that could not wait until the regular budget hearing set for later in the summer.
“We’ll see if we can get in compliance and work up some money from somewhere,” offered Board President Johnny Burnett.