New Denton County District Attorney Paul Johnson was sworn into office at the first meeting of the 2007 Commissioners Court on Monday, along with two newly elected commissioners and 20 other elected officials.

DRC/Gary Payne

Denton County Judge Mary Horn, far left, swears in new District Attorney Paul Johnson at the Denton County Courthouse on the Square on Monday. Standing with Johnson are his son Paul Johnson Jr., second from left, his daughter Mallory Johnson, his wife, Katherine Johnson, and son Pierce Johnson.

During the short court session following the swearing-in ceremony, the new commissioners, Andy Eads and Ron Marchant, had their first disagreement on the court. They were voting on the salary for a new hire in the district attorney’s office.

The new hire was under the impression he would earn $54,000 a year. The county had the position budgeted for $48,000, County Judge Mary Horn said. She was also sworn into office for another term Monday.

“Normally an elected official has a little leeway when hiring people,” Horn said. “And since the employee has seven or eight years of previous experience with the county, I voted for it [increasing his salary].”

Johnson said that the mistake was just a miscommunication and that he would like to see the employee earn the salary he had expected.

“It was a fluky thing that happened,” he said. “And he’s already quit his other job, which was in law enforcement.”

Horn and Marchant voted to pay the employee $54,000, while Eads and Bobbie Mitchell voted to keep it at $48,000. Because the fifth commissioner, Cynthia White, was not in court to file the deciding vote, the decision was put off until the next meeting, Horn said.

To earn a seat on the court, Eads defeated incumbent Precinct 4 Commissioner Jim Carter in the March Republican primaries and ran unopposed in the general election. Marchant defeated Democrat Amy Manuel in the general election after Precinct 2 incumbent Sandy Jacobs announced her retirement.

The new commissioners almost couldn’t be sworn in because three commissioners must be present and only two, Mitchell and Horn, were at the time. However, outgoing Commissioner Sandy Jacobs did show up to see Marchant sworn in to the office she held for more than 20 years.

“I wasn’t suppose to work today,” she said jokingly, to the more than one hundred people in the court.

Before Marchant’s swearing-in, Jacobs gave an emotional speech thanking her family members and supporters. Unable to finish the speech through her tears, Jacobs’ longtime chief administrator Patty Larson — the new justice of the peace for Precinct 6 — took over.

“What she’s trying to say is she is thrilled to be here today and grateful to all of you,” Larson said, as Jacobs nodded.

The crowd in the courtroom rose to its feet in applause for the outgoing commissioner. After Marchant was sworn in, he took his seat on the court as Jacobs exited stage right.

“I feel really good today,” Marchant said after being sworn in.

Other officials sworn in on Monday included Precinct 1 Justice of the Peace Joe Holland, County Clerk Cynthia Mitchell, Treasurer Cindy Yeatts Brown and Constable Michael Truitt.

MONTY MILLER JR. can be reached at 940-566-6875. His e-mail address is mwmiller@dentonrc.com .