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Judicial Commissioners seek $2 an hour raise
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Warren County Judicial Commissioners could be under consideration for a salary increase after their supervisor attempted to resign.
Jim Hartman submitted a resignation letter to step down as supervisor, but remain as a judicial commissioner. His letter was considered by the county Policy and Personnel Committee.
“He wants to be an on-call commissioner and remain on the day shift,” said Commissioner Tommy Savage.
As supervisor, Hartman works a 40-hour shift Monday thru Friday. Unlike the other commissioners who are on-call, meaning they visit the jail when summoned and leave after their responsibilities are complete, Hartman stays at the jail during his shift and oversees the other commissioners, signs the timecards and addresses any issues that arise.
“I’ve been doing this for three and a half years,” said Hartman.
Hartman became supervisor when County Commissioners instituted shifts in an effort to reduce confusion. That change was made around the same time commissioners upped the salary of all judicial commissioners by $2 in order to stem their turnover rate. Hartman was given an additional $2 for his added responsibilities, bring his salary up from $8.72 an hour to $12.72 an hour.
The salary, said Hartman, isn’t enough.
“To be quite honest with you, I don’t think the salary range is adequate for what we are doing here,” said Hartman.
Hartman suggested another $2 per hour increase for all judicial commissioners.
In order to give the committee members additional time to consider the matter, discussion was tabled until Thursday, June 8, at 5 p.m.

Local farm partnership brings fresh beef to Warren County Schools
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Warren County Schools has beefed up lunch menus this school year through a new community partnership. Thanks to a collaboration between the district’s School Nutrition Department and Barton Creek Farms, students at Warren County High School, Warren County Middle School, West Elementary, Eastside Elementary, and Dibrell Elementary are enjoying locally sourced, farm-fresh beef in their lunches as part of a pilot program.

The initiative, spearheaded by Terri Mullican, Director of School Nutrition, has already shown great promise in its first few months. The partnership with Barton Creek Farms, located in Rock Island, Tennessee, ensures that the beef served is not only local to Warren County but of the highest quality. Barton Creek Farms specializes in farm-to-fork beef, with grass-fed and grain-finished cattle. Each calf is born and raised in Rock Island and goes through USDA-inspected processing, ensuring it meets the strictest safety and quality standards.

“When the opportunity arose to provide fresh, local beef, we knew it was a no-brainer,” Mullican said. “The fact that it’s a product from right here in our community makes it even more special. We can’t wait to implement it district-wide.”

Barton Creek Farms delivers fresh ground beef to the district monthly, and the nutrition

department incorporates it into homemade recipes such as lasagna, meatloaf, chili, and tacos.

As of now, the beef is being served at five schools, but the ultimate goal is to expand the program to all ten lunch-serving schools in the district.

The pilot program originated from a conversation between Mary Roller of Barton Creek Farms and Mullican. Roller, recognizing the farm’s potential to support local schools, reached out to gauge the district’s interest in serving local beef to students. Around the same time, a Warren County school board member contacted Mullican to share information about a similar partnership in neighboring Dekalb County, which helped push the initiative forward.

The timing worked in the district’s favor, as the nutrition department was able to fund the purchase of the beef using existing resources, eliminating the need for additional funding. Now that the pilot program is enjoying a successful run, the department has budgeted to extend the partnership district-wide for the 2025-26 school year.

Dr. Grant Swallows, Director of Schools, praised the program’s economic approach to student nutrition.

“This pilot is a perfect example of how we can use local resources to continue providing nutritious, healthy meals for our students,” he said. “We are grateful for partnerships like this one that benefit both our students and our local community. We always strive to support our local businesses when we can because our community is so good to us.”

In addition to working with Warren County Schools, Barton Creek Farms also partners with local restaurants to offer farm-fresh beef on their menus. The farm’s offerings include ground beef, steaks, roasts, and custom cuts by the quarter, half, or whole cow, meeting diverse consumer needs.

As the program continues to grow, the district hopes to expand its focus on farm-to-school meals, benefiting students’ health and connecting them to the agricultural roots of the community