Trigg County Fiscal Court magistrates learned about some possible decisions they may have to make next year concerning volunteer fire departments and Sheriff Jason Barnes shared information about a new hire for his department during their meeting Monday night.
Judge-executive Hollis Alexander says the emergency services committee recently met to discuss options for ways to address the decline in volunteer rescue and firefighters.
Trigg County has no full-time fire departments but has nine volunteer departments, including the Cadiz VFD.
In other business, Trigg County Sheriff Jason Barnes shared with magistrates that they recently hired his brother, Billy Barnes, to be the next deputy in the county. Barnes adds the department received 16 applications, but after administering a physical agility test and background checks, only four applicants remained.
The four applicants were screened by an interview panel consisting of Lucy Kyler, Faye Godair, former Sheriff Randy Clark, and an intern from Trigg County High School.
Barnes is a graduate of the Department of Criminal Justice Training police academy and has worked as a police officer for the City of Cadiz and as a deputy previously with the Trigg County Sheriff’s Department.
Barnes would have to complete a re-certification course through the DOCJT before gaining full time status.
Magistrates approved the re-appointment of Bill Lawrence and Mike Hyde to the Barkley Lake Water Board, effective January 1, 2020.
In other discussions, magistrates spoke a few minutes on the topic of changing their meeting schedule to just one meeting a month. If approved, the meetings would be on the second Tuesday of the month, instead of the first and third Monday of each month. Further discussion and a possible vote on the idea could be had during the Monday, January 6, 2020 meeting. Magistrates agree that a majority of their work is done in the community and on various boards and commissions and that switching their meeting schedule would not affect the work they do.
Trigg Fiscal Court used to meet once a month until opting for two meetings a month a few years ago.
