County Clerk’s office earns 5-star award

Monday, 12 November 2012 by Sonya Campbell

Jeannette Compean and Shelley Coston are shown together following the Commissioners Court meeting Monday. For the fifth consecutive year, the Bell County Clerk's Office has earned the Five Star Award for Excellence from the Texas Department of State Health Services.

The announcement was made during the Commissioners Court meeting Monday.

At that time, County Clerk Shelley Coston and Vital Statistics Supervisor Jeannette Compean were recognized for their efforts.

Coston credited Compean and the rest of the staff, including deputy clerks Lorena Ortiz, Rose Calhoun and Georgia Centers, for their work.

"They are responsible for this award," she said.

To earn the honor, Coston said her office had to register 85 percent of birth record with the state within one business day.

Other criteria for qualifying for the award include the following:

- Averaging no more than 20 days for all death registrations, including manual, drop-to-paper and fully electronic, from the date of the event to filling in the state office between Jan. 1, 2012 to Sept. 30, 2012.

- Submitting a fully completed local registrar self-assessment survey provided by the Vital Statistics Unit no later than Aug. 30, 2012.

- Sending a letter to area medical certifiers informing them of the law regarding use of the TER-Death Registration System.

- Attending the 2011 Annual Vital Statistics Conference or one of the 2012 Regional Vital Statistics Conferences.

County Judge Jon Burrows said only 42 county clerk's offices out of the state's 254 counties received the Five Star designation this year.

Other local governmental bodies earning the distinction include the City of Temple and Williamson County.

The awards will be presented during the 58th Annual Texas Vital Statistics Annual Conference, which is planned for Dec. 5-7 in Austin.

Also during the Commissioners Court meeting, Coston shared information about early voting results and gave a comparison to 2008.

She said the number of people who had voted early through Sunday was slightly behind the number of votes cast in the first week of the 2008 presidential election – 33,173.

After local polls closed Monday, the number was 35,350, according to information on the county's website at www.co.bell.tx.us.

In related news, Coston reported receiving an email from the Army that informed the county a military transport plane had gone down earlier this month carrying with it 4, 700 pieces of mail.

While six mail-in ballots from Bell County voters were initially thought to have been affected, it was later determined three of the ballots had already been received and three others had not yet been returned.

"None were affected," Coston said.

In other business, the court:

- Approved entering into an interlocal agreement with the City of Holland in Precinct 1 for two crosswalks – one at Hackberry and El Paso Street and the other at Hackberry and Crockett Street. The estimated cost is $550 each.

- Approved a contract with SOE Software Corporation in Florida and the Bell County Clerk for election night reporting software. The purchase will be made with Help America Vote Act grant funds. It was noted the software will not be operational in time for the upcoming General Election.

- Approved a statement of work extension between Bell County and the Managing to Excellence Corporation for Bell County Finance, HR & Payroll and JD Edwards Technical Support Services.

- Authorized the county auditor to advertise for bids for liquid asphalt, hot mix, reinforcing steel, base material and aggregates for the Road and Bridge Department.

- Awarded Bid 34-12 for patrol vehicles for the sheriff's office as approved in the Fiscal Year 2013 budget.

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