There are 880 article(s) tagged Shelby County Commission:
County Commissioner Britney Thornton said Wednesday the allegations against Commissioner Edmund Ford Jr. shouldn’t be considered in deciding what, if any, changes should be made to the body’s grant program.
Options for funding the project, widely agreed upon by state legislators as necessary despite disputes about priorities and timing, are becoming increasingly limited.
The Shelby County Commission approved unanimously an expansion of universal prekindergarten services.
The commission also takes a second reading vote Monday on a pay raise for the next Shelby County Sheriff. Final action on a pair of ethics ordinances has been delayed to next month.
After four years away, Mark Billingsley desires to return to the Shelby County Commission in 2026. He served on the commission from 2014 until 2022.
As local groups push against xAI’s turbines as part of a fight against pollution, the Health Department director said she will schedule a public hearing on the permit for the company’s Southwest Memphis plant.
Proposed changes to how the Shelby County Commission gives funds are area nonprofits follow the federal indictment of Commissioner Edmund Ford Jr. on bribery and tax evasion charges.
Shelby County Commissioners are still divided over whether their earlier no-confidence resolution in the Memphis-Shelby County Schools board led to plans to for a state takeover of the school system.
The Monday, March 31, County Commission meeting will be a busy one. On the agenda is an advisory board for Memphis-Shelby County Schools and a call for public hearings on xAI’s permitting process.
“If we do nothing then we are really leaving ourselves at the will of the state,” said Commissioner Shante Avant.
The money to hire and pay an accounting firm to conduct the audit is part of Gov. Bill Lee’s amended budget proposal.
A proposed one-month moratorium on the Shelby County Board of Commissioners’ grant program was voted down, but the commission may change how grants are made. There could also changes to the ethics board. County Commission has little appetite for giving itself a raiseRelated content:
While only two commissioners voted to get a raise, the panel showed more warmth to a proposed minimum-wage increase for county employees.
The possible freeze, which follows the indictment of Commissioner Edmund Ford Jr. on bribery and tax evasion charges linked to grants, is one of the items on the March 17 agenda.
The Shelby County commissioner faces federal bribery and tax-evasion charges as he nears the end of his second term on the Board of Commissioners and after 11 years on the Memphis City Council before that.
Proposals have bipartisan support in the Tennessee General Assembly, and Shelby County commissioners appear supportive of local efforts to bring recall questions to voters.
The proposals include ballot questions for voters countywide in 2026 and an attempt to bring to life the dormant Shelby County Ethics Commission — or abolish it.
Shelby County Commissioner Mick Wright identified three additional instances where Ford steered county funds to nonprofits federal investigators associated with an alleged kickback scheme.
Mayor Lee Harris also said he wants to meet with attorneys and other elected officials to see if further steps need to be taken.
There is no provision for removing a Shelby County commissioner facing criminal charges, but there is a push to strengthen the ethics commission’s role, Chairman Michael Whaley said.
Shelby County Commissioner Edmund Ford Jr. entered the Odell Horton Federal Building in Downtown Memphis at about 9:35 a.m. Friday, Feb. 28.
The new General Sessions Criminal Court judge was chosen by Shelby County Board of Commissioners on Monday, Feb.24, on the third ballot. She takes office March 1. County Commission moves forward on sheriff’s pay raise, but not their ownRelated content:
The commission approved more money to buy the property that goes with the old Commercial Appeal buildings. Deals on the three remaining adjacent parcels for the 16-acre site are still pending.
County commissioners are considering a raise for the whoever is elected Shelby County sheriff in 2026. Meanwhile, a proposal to give the next group of commissioners a pay raise was withdrawn.
Commissioners could also have more to say about the forensic audit of Memphis-Shelby County Schools they approved last month. Plus, the body will vote on several millions of dollars for the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office.