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During a recent meeting, the Harlan County Fiscal Court discussed separate agreements for space in the Harlan County Justice Center and the Harlan County Courthouse with the Administrative Office of the Court (AOC) and the Commonwealth of Kentucky.

Harlan County Judge-Executive Dan Mosley brought the topic up to the magistrates midway through the meeting.

“This item will be to approve an agreement between the Administrative Office of the Courts and the Harlan County Fiscal Court for reimbursement for fiscal year 2024, July 2023 through June 30, 2024.”

According to Mosley, the amount of the reimbursement funds is based on the square footage used at the Harlan County Justice Center.

“Ryan (Harlan County Treasurer Ryan Creech) and I have discussed this. It is down a little bit, about $15,000 from the previous year,” Mosley said. “Basically, the way the AOC works is they tell you how much they’re going to pay you, and you either take it or you don’t.”

Magistrate Robert Leo Miller motioned to accept the agreement, seconded by Magistrate Paul Browning. The motion was approved with no opposition.

“They did increase the amount of reimbursement for court security officers,” Mosley said. “So, that is a positive as it relates to the security at the Justice Center through the Sheriff’s Office.”

The Court also took action on an agreement for office space in the Harlan County Courthouse.

“This item is a lease agreement between the Harlan County Fiscal Court and the Commonwealth of Kentucky for office space in the Harlan County Courthouse,” Mosley said. “This is related to the lease downstairs where the Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office is located.”

Mosley informed the magistrates there had been an increase in the lease payment.

“We did get a little bit of an increase,” Mosley said. “They raised it to $19,948 a year. They pay that quarterly.”

Mosley noted the payments from the state are made in a timely manner.

“This lease is for 12 months, but they have the option renew for three periods after that,” Mosley said.

Miller made a motion to approve the agreement, seconded by Magistrate Bill Moore. The magistrate unanimously passed the motion.

In other Court activity:

• The prior Harlan County Sheriff’s final tax audit for 2022 for standard property tax was accepted, subject to audit.

• The prior Harlan County Sheriff’s final tax settlement for city taxing district property tax was accepted, subject to audit.

• The court accepted the prior Harlan County Sheriff’s final tax settlement for bank shares subject to audit.

• The prior Harlan County Sheriff’s final settlement for additional tax was accepted, subject to audit.

• An affiliation agreement between the Harlan County Fiscal Court and the Harlan County Rescue Squad was approved.