Collin County Commissioners Court Preview — July 20, 2026
Bottom Line (Ironically, at the Top)
Congratulations to the City of Lucas! Lucas is standing up its own police department, and as such is ending its law-enforcement contract with the Sheriff’s Office effective October 1. On the money side, the biggest item is $171,150 to lease 75 new ballot scanners for the November 3 election. We have a fresh round of jail-expansion change orders and a status update on our new ESD (Emergency Services District) for rural Fire and EMS.
Logistics
Review the full agenda here. Meetings start at 1:30 p.m. at the Jack Hatchell Administration Building, 4th Floor, 2300 Bloomdale Road, McKinney, TX 75071. You can sign up to speak at Commissioners Court meetings in person by filling out a blue card shortly before the meeting. You may alternatively share your thoughts by emailing the Commissioners Court through their contact info here. Videos of the meetings can be viewed here.
Commissioners Court Business (General Discussion Items)
- Update on Emergency Services District No. 1: Last November, voters in unincorporated Collin County approved creating ESD No. 1 to fund fire protection and EMS outside of city limits, primarily because the cities that had been contracted to provide services to the rural parts of the county weren’t being sufficiently compensated for it. Bear in mind, the ESD only provides the funding; the cities are still contracted to provide services, so this doesn’t solve the issue of response times in the most remote parts of the county. The district is funded by a rural property tax the state caps at 10 cents per $100 of value, and provides for its first full budget and service contracts on October 1. Today’s item is a status report on that. There’s no money or vote in this agenda item. It’s just an update.
Executive Session
Executive session is a closed meeting authorized by Texas law for discussions involving real estate, personnel, pending litigation, or attorney-client matters. Any action taken must return to open session.
- The Court reserves the right to convene in closed session on any agenda matter under Texas Government Code Chapter 551 (§§ 551.071–551.076), including consultation with its attorneys. No specific topics were separately itemized on this agenda.
Notable Consent & FYI Items
Total of $816,726.56 of your money in proposed expenses
- City of Lucas law enforcement contract — Amendment No. 2: For years, the Sheriff’s Office has provided Lucas two dedicated patrol deputies and two patrol vehicles for about $226,000 a year, paid by the city. Now Lucas is establishing its own police department and ending the interlocal agreement (ILA) with the Sheriff’s Office. Lucas made the announcement back in February and hired a Director of Public Safety. This amendment sets the termination date and sorts out the two patrol vehicles: Lucas keeps the ones it’s paid off, and the County pulls its decals, radios, radar, in-car computers, and restricted software before handing them over. No cost to the county on this vote; this is just a growing city establishing its own police department. Congratulations, Lucas!
- Change Order No. 31 — Christman (Healthcare, Medical Examiner & Parking Garage): $226,024.66. A bunch of small, boring changes: masonry infill, extra fire strobes required by the Fire Marshal, drain connections, a document pass-through window on the big public-health-building-and-garage project. It’s about one-third of one percent of the contract, which now sits at roughly $65.2M. Paid from ARPA interest and 2023 bond funds. On a job this size, this is completely normal.
- Voting equipment lease — Election Systems & Software: $171,150 to lease 75 DS200 poll-place scanners and tabulators for the November 3 Uniform Election. Last year, we moved to hand-marked paper ballots (not a fan, but I digress… that’s a whole other story). We piloted it in last year’s November election which had teeny tiny turnout because it was just for Constitutional Amendments. Then we got a bigger taste with the Primaries and Local elections. Now we have the big test with a much bigger turnout.
- Change Order No. 39 — Sedalco (Jail Medical/Mental Health Expansion): $85,517.96. Electrified door hardware, elevator intercoms, a couple of owner-requested deletions that actually save money (out come the foot rails and half-doors at the nurse stations). The new contract total is about $112.7M. This is the medical and mental-health wing being added to the jail, which matters, because the jail is desperately in need of additional capacity. If only we knew last week that a jail expansion was under construction! IYKYK /sarcasm.
- Change Order No. 40 — Sedalco (Jail Medical/Mental Health Expansion): $76,514.76. More of the same project: cameras and intercoms at two doors, floor prep for polished concrete, added corridor doors. The cover sheet also moves $1,000,000 of already-appropriated bond money from 2023 “to cover this and future change orders.” That’s not new spending; it’s just fund reallocation, and it’s a good proactive example of it.
- Courthouse roof repairs: $38,835 — $32,363 for the actual repair plus a 20% contingency, from 2025 Tax Notes. When roofs leak, we fix them. It’s a bit overdue.
- ACFR publishing software amendment — Vertosoft: $24,250 to upgrade the software the Auditor uses to publish the county’s Annual Comprehensive Financial Report. The term also shrinks from 36 months to 12, so we’re not locked in for three years.
- Alternative Dispute Resolution program — Amendment No. 1: Modifies the contract with the Collin County ADR Program, which runs mediation for disputes. The term is a one-year base, with four annual renewal options at the County’s discretion, and it restates the initial term at the same not-to-exceed amount of $264,930.59.
- Property tax refunds: $194,434.18 going back to taxpayers who overpaid. Hooray! Hooray for refunds, not overpayment to begin with.
Also on the agenda as no-cost items: the Sheriff is asking permission to apply for two grants—a Texas Juvenile Justice grant for a body scanner at the juvenile detention center (no county match) and a federal STEP traffic-safety grant to run DWI enforcement over big holidays. Also, Private Road 6114 is being renamed to “Tate Trail” at the request of the folks who live on it.
How to Engage
- Watch: Meetings are broadcast and archived through Collin County’s video portal at collincountytx.gov.
- Speak: Fill out a blue card at the County Clerk’s office before the 1:30 PM start.
- Read: The full agenda with linked attachments.
- Contact: Commissioners Court members and the County Judge are listed at the County’s Commissioners Court page.
We’re growing fast. Lucas is growing and getting its own police department (also hooray!). Getting ahead of the curve to meet the challenges of our growth, whether it’s a new police department, ESD funding, or change orders to the jail expansion are the little things that really add up to minimizing our growing pains.
— Shelby
