PP Courthouse annex in MW open for business

Oct. 12—PALO PINTO — County Judge Shane Long has wanted to say this about the Palo Pinto Courthouse Annex in Mineral Wells for a long time:

"All the offices are in, all the offices are open," he said Tuesday, after a commissioners court session which included acknowledgement the countywide burn ban remains in place.

Long and commissioners have contended with more than a year delays from supply chain issues and, one time, discovering a personnel holdup with electrical systems which in turn delayed other work that had to wait on wiring installation.

But Mineral Wells residents, who comprise 80 percent of the county population, can now use several offices without taking the 12-mile drive to Palo Pinto.

"Those offices, all the furniture, are in there," Long said. "As far as the tax office, the county clerk office annex and Justice of the Peace (Precinct) 5 downstairs, are open for business. And upstairs, we have the juvenile probation office, which is open, the veterans affairs office is open, public works is open, our 911 addressing office is open, the elections administrator's office is open.

"As far as functioning, there's nothing that keeps us from conducting business."

Office phone numbers remain the same as in Palo Pinto.

A combined fire marshal/emergency management coordinator office also will open once commissioners fill the combined position, Long added.

"We're still advertising for that fire marshal/emergency management coordinator position, which is on our website," he said.

Some state offices — the Department of Public Safety, Parks and Wildlife and the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission — also will be in the former Bank of America Building at East First Street and NE Sixth Avenue.

Their furniture is in those offices, Long said, adding they will move into the new setting at their own pace.