Wood County commissioners dove into budget talks for the first time last Tuesday.

One theme became evident early.

Non-profits that depend upon the county and other sources for revenue are seeking more help.

Leo Rossler with United Way of Smith County kicked things off with a primer on the 211 calling system, which gives citizens avenues for assistance on a variety of topics.

And it’s not well-known.

He said funding has been flat for 17 years, and there is a $28,000 shortfall this year.

United Way is asking the 14 counties in its service area if they can help meet that deficit.

The Wood County Child Welfare Board was next, noting that it has had no increase in funding from the county in several years, while there is a rising number of children placed into foster care, and donations are down.

Sandy Cabe with the Indigent Health Care office requested some part-time help.

She has been running the office for 31 years, and Commissioner Jerry Gaskill said someone needs to be trained on that office’s procedures.

District Clerk Suzy Wright then kicked off a wide-ranging discussion of the state’s mandates on court records.

IT Director John Bell said the county’s contractor, Tyler Technologies, will need to go through all the case files to make sure they match the state’s coding system.

He said he would be requesting $15,000 for that work.

Once all the codes are aligned, it will be “locked down,” he said, so that they cannot be altered.

There are more than 300 acceptable codes, but the county has more than 700 that have been added over the years which need to be whittled down.

The system impacts any office that deals with cases, from the sheriff and district attorney to the county and district clerks and county and district judges.

Wright also requested a supplement for the chief deputy’s pay for serving as administrator for the new jury pool system.

She noted that the system has about doubled attendance by prospective jurors.

Veterans Services Officer Steve Lucas requested part-time help to enable him to serve more of the county’s veterans.