County Sets Courthouse Hours Over Complaints

After complaints from both residents and courthouse employees, the Young County Commissioners Court voted May 11 to establish uniform courthouse hours and require county offices to remain open for full workdays ahead of holidays.

The policy, approved in a 4-0 vote with Precinct 4 Commissioner Jimmy Wiley absent, sets official county office hours from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, including the days before county holidays.

County Judge Win Graham told commissioners the issue surfaced repeatedly during recent visits to county departments, and that he wanted to settle the issue before the summer budget- making season.

“I went around and I stopped by almost every department in the county and the comments like I heard there was a common theme of every office is working different hours,” Judge Graham said. “It’s gotten to the point where it seems like some offices are shutting down the day before holidays and some offices are not shutting down the day before holidays.”

Judge Graham said the inconsistent schedules had created confusion for both county employees and the public.

“I think there’s become confusion,” he said. “I just thought we needed to have a discussion because it seems like — I don’t know, it’s somewhat chaos to be honest.”

Commissioners and county officials said some courthouse offices had been closing early before holidays while others remained open, creating what several described as fairness issues among employees.

Commissioner Stacy Creswell said county employees who miss work are generally expected to use vacation or sick leave if they do not complete a full workweek.

“If my guys take off, they would use their sick leave or their vacation,” Mr. Creswell said. “If they’re not 40 hours and it’s not a holiday to get that 40 hours that week, they got to make either take sick leave or they got to take their holiday … or short pay.”

Young County Treasurer Kyle Milam told the court the inconsistent policies had become a morale issue among courthouse staff.

“I think the problem is there’s an unfairness that’s being applied to people that work in the courthouse,” Mr. Milam said. “Some are closing at half a day and others aren’t. I mean, I’m not talking about holidays. I’ve talked about during the week.”

Mr. Milam said employees in some offices had exhausted leave time caring for family members while others were receiving administrative time off when offices closed.

“I think it’s being abused and it’s just not — it’s a fairness issue,” he said.

Commissioner Alan Craig said the county also needed consistency for residents who travel to the courthouse expecting offices to be open.

“We need to put it out there for the public to know if an office is going to be open,” Mr. Craig said. “I take this as knowing that the office is going to be open those hours.”

Judge Graham’s motion declared the county’s official hours to be 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and specified that offices remain open for full days before designated county holidays unless employees use vacation time. County