The Williamson County Sheriff’s Office will hire consulting firm Stanard and Associates Inc. to build a physical fitness test for potential field officers and corrections employees. The $47,000 agreement was signed off by the Williamson County Commissioners Court during a meeting Jan. 15. County Judge Bill Gravell and Precinct 4 Commissioner Russ Boles were not present. Stanard and Associates is a human resources consulting firm that specializes in employee surveys and testing and assessment systems, according to the company website. Tim Ryle, chief deputy for the WCSO, said the firm will collect the data on the physical demands of different jobs within the department and make recommendation to the sheriff’s office on what physical fitness requirements it should ask of potential deputies. “If we don’t have 10-foot walls anywhere in the county, we only have 6-foot fences, then we don’t need to be able to jump over 10-foot walls,” Ryle said as an example of how the firm will evaluate requirements. Ryle added that the department will also build a test course with the recommendations in mind at the Williamson County Sheriff's Office Deputy A.W. Grimes Law Enforcement Training Center in Hutto. Ryle said he plans to cap the additional expense at $10,000. “This program is designed to create a process where we test any new employees based on their abilities, not their looks, to see if they have the physical ability to perform the function of the job,” Ryle said.

In other business

Shelley Franklin was named the new Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Natural Resources agent. Franklin was the 4-H project manager for Travis County and will now manage 4-H project livestock and adult education programs for Williamson County. She begins Feb. 1. “I’m very excited to work and live in a place that I call home [and] in a program that is so near and dear to my heart,” Franklin said. “I look forward to serving the people of Williamson County.”