One of the local officials leaving office as 2018 comes to an end is longtime Pulaski Circuit Court Judge Michael Shurn. Over the past month, he’s been updating the county council and commissioners on the transition process.
He told the commissioners earlier this month that he’ll still need access to his county-issued cell phone and computer for a while longer, since he’ll continue to work in the court system as a senior judge. “I think I already had permission to keep the county phone, which doesn’t work, for a period of time,” Shurn said. “You have to have it plugged in 24/7, I think because of maybe the battery or something. But you can’t buy a battery in town.”
He may also need to keep access to a few email accounts. “My computer is so old, it doesn’t open certain things, so much of my work went to my paralegal’s email account,” Shurn explained. “So I’m going to ask to keep it for a while, at least keep it alive and access to it, and I talked to Judge Welker. I have an old HP TouchSmart, which is so old it’s not supported anymore, but that’s what I’ve worked on all these years.” Shurn said the device will remain at the courthouse for him to use for his senior judge duties.
During this month’s county council meeting, he reported that the process of moving out of the courthouse was moving along well, but at the time, he still had several pieces of his own furniture that had to be moved out of his office. The council and commissioners approved a few final budget transfer requests, and last week, the commissioners agreed to let him encumber some of that money for next year, after Shurn said he missed this year’s final claims deadline.
Meanwhile, outgoing council members Tom Roth and Linda Powers were recognized by Council Vice-President Mike Tiede during this month’s meeting. Outgoing council member Alex Haschel was not in attendance.
