Denton County Commissioners The 2015-16 Denton County Commissioners Court members are, from left: Hugh Coleman, Ron Marchant, Mary Horn, Bobbie Mitchell and Andy Eads[/caption]

Big decisions made in 2015



  • New district court
    Denton County opened a new district court in January 2015. Judge Tiffany Haertling oversees the 442nd District Court located at the Denton County Courts Building. The court is the eighth district court in Denton County.

  • Road projects get funding
    The Commissioners Court approved allocating funds from the county’s 2008 bond election to go toward various road projects, including FM 423 in Frisco. The roadway is being widened to six lanes in Frisco, a project that is expected to be complete by mid-2018.

  • New government center approved
    The Commissioners Court approved a contract to build a new Denton County Government Center in Frisco. The current government center for that area of Denton County is located in The Colony, but the office will move to Frisco once the new 24,000-square-foot building is constructed near the intersection of Lebanon Road and FM 423. The center will provide justice of the peace, county constable, county clerk, tax office and adult and juvenile probation services.


Top issues for 2016



  • I-35 extension
    The Commissioners Court aims to keep the I-35 East project on schedule. Known at the 35Express project, the entirety of the project extends 30 miles from US 380 in Denton County to I-635 in Dallas County. One aspect of the project is to build managed toll lanes on the interstate highway.

  • New courthouse
    The Commissioners Court plans to start the process of adding another courthouse to the county. The initial plans are to move the county administrative office from the Joseph A. Carroll Building on Hickory Street in Denton to the new administration complex on Loop 288. After that move, the Carroll Building could potentially convert into a courthouse.

  • 2016 election
    Two county commissioner seats will be up for election in 2016. Both incumbents for places 1 and 3, Hugh Coleman and Bobbie Mitchell, respectively, have filed for re-election. Place 1 is the only contested seat. Place 1’s precinct covers the city of Frisco.


Meetings


The Denton County Commissioners Court meets at 9 a.m. every Tuesday at the Courthouse on the Square, 110 W. Hickory St., Denton.
940-349-2820
www.dentoncounty.com



Terms and compensation


County commissioners and the county judge serve four-year terms without term limits. The county judge earns $124,376 annually and commissioners earn $102,554 annually.


Commissioners seats place 1 and place 3 are up for election this year.



Video coverage


Commissioners Court meetings can be streamed online on the Denton County website and are available in the agenda archives.