By GAGE WILSON
The Hart County Fiscal Court met this morning, Feb. 22, at Hart County Courthouse. With no absences, Judge Executive Joe Choate called the meeting to order promptly at 9 a.m.
The court spent a majority of the meeting listening to the Barren River Area Child Advocacy Center (BRACAC) Executive Director Leah Thompson. The organization works closely with communities to assist in the, often daunting, task of aiding children victimized by sexual violence. Unfortunately, funding for BRACAC has decreased significantly since the COVID-19 pandemic. In an effort to make up for lost funding Thompson has been appealing to fiscal courts in the area to consider aiding BRACAC when creating the courts 2025 fiscal budget.
Thompson has already visited multiple courts, including an appearance at Barren County’s meeting earlier this week.
The court, and members of the public that were present made several positive comments in support of BRACAC’s endeavor.
The court then moved to the Jailer, Israel Bergensen, who was the first to report. The court would later vote on a budget amendment in regard to the cost increase for Hart County Jail. Bergensen pointed to a rise in a cost of living causing the increase of $100,000, this was offset by a surplus sale that brought in $107,000.
Bergensen added,”It was a great turnout, we were able to sell a lot of our vehicles and I’m thankful we were able to raise enough to break even.”
Choate explained before the vote that this was the first time an increase to the jailer’s budget has come before the court.
The court agreed unanimously to pass the amendment adjusting the budget.
Once reports were heard the council voted to go into closed session to discuss land acquisition. The court stayed in closed session briefly with magistrates returning to their seats in short order.
With no other major items, or public comment a motion to adjourn was made, with the next meeting scheduled for March 12th.
