Public comments to the Kaufman County Commissioners Court will now require more information about speakers' backgrounds and be more strictly regulated.

The court passed the new rules Oct. 26, 2015, according to a Kaufman Herald report. The new rules follows months of complaints from frustrated county residents, primarily about road conditions.

To sign-up for public comment, citizens must provide their name, address, telephone number, place of employment and employment phone number. Speakers will also be asked to inform the court if they represent an organization.

Previously, speakers only had to provide their names and addresses in order to speak for five minutes. Speakers who signed up before the court meeting could relinquish their five minutes to the speaker at the podium, allowing the speaker to continue without interruption until exhaustion of all the signatures on the sign-up list.

The new rules will limit the total discussion time on any one topic to a total of 30 minutes, regardless of how many people signed up.

County officials also want to limit the discussions to county business and prohibit any attacks on individuals.

In recent months, several speakers targeted specific commissioners and other county officials for criticism.

The measure passed by a 3 to 2 vote, with County Judge Bruce Wood and Precinct 4 Commissioner Jakie Allen voting against it. Wood and Allen said they would like to forther discuss the issue with the District Attorney's office before passing the new rules.

Precinct 1 Commissioner Jimmy Vrzalik made the motion, Precinct 3 Commissioner Kenneth Svchoen seconded it and Precinct 2 Commissioner Skeet Phillips voted with them.