Jail Money
By PJ Martin
Editor
The Herald-News
The Metcalfe County fiscal court held its regular meeting on July 11th with all the magistrates in attendance.
Judge/Executive Larry Wilson stated, “One of the things that I’ve had a problem with, an issue with ever since I took office is our jail bill.” He explained that County Attorney Sharon Howard is working with the judges to get approval to use more of the ankle bracelets for non-violent offenders. He added, “It would cost us about $5 a day. For the jail, it’s $40 a day. It’s going up…I think it’s going from $40 a day to $45.”
Currently, the jail bill is running in the upper 20s to over $30,000 per month and it was also noted that plans are being discussed about adding to the sentence of the offender that they are required to pay the jail bill, making them reimburse that money to the county. Even if they don’t pay it, a claim can be filed with the circuit court and kept on file indefinitely.
All agreed the worst part is the repeat offenders and Magistrate Daniel Bragg asked, “Is there anything stopping us from….doing an attachment? I think we need to start that tomorrow.”
“We’re gonna have to get more aggressive with this,” replied Wilson.
Reapportionment
The reapportionment of the four magisterial districts’ populations has been completed and the version 2 map was chosen by Brandon Bell, Henry Froggett, and Benny Lile the representatives assigned to the reapportionment, because it had the least change while still meeting the criteria.
The first reading of Ordinance # 23-0714 to adopt the reapportionment of the four magisterial districts in Metcalfe County was approved with a vote of 3 – 1. The one no vote was cast by Magistrate Ronnie Miller. When asked why he voted no he stated, “Because I’m losing 99 votes,” while pointing to the county district map.
Metcalfe County’s population per the 2020 census was 10,286 and the new district populations are as follows:
District 1 – 2,693 (lost 63 people to District 2)
District 2 – 2,439 (added the 162 people)
District 3 – 2,513 (same population)
District 4 – 2,641 (lost 99 people to District 2)
Equipment Issues
Road Supervisor Chris Compton introduced Travis Shirley from Kimball Equipment who presented the option to purchase a hydraulic hose repair kit. The kit is being offered at a one-time discount price of $4,891.59 and includes a crimper, dies, 50 ft. each of commonly used size lines, and a 42-piece fitting assortment. Shirley stated that he also stops regularly to resupply items.
Currently, when a hydraulic hose is needed someone has to travel to the dealer to get a replacement and that takes quite a bit of time and wait for it to be made. With the approval to purchase this kit, the repairs can be done by the county employees with less lost time. The court voted to approve the purchase.
Other Items
The removal of .64 miles of Ferguson Road from the county maintenance list and possible closure was approved by Road Supervisor Compton, Dwight Smith, and Stanley Burris who looked at the road situation. The next step will be a public meeting notice and signage at the location.
The Metcalfe County Sheriff’s Office with the tax settlement and Precision Engineering with the bid award for Bowling Park food pantry were both on the agenda, but not present. They will both be added to the next fiscal court meeting agenda.
The budget, inter-fund transfers, and claims were approved.
The road and DES reports were submitted to the Magistrates for review. The recycling report was not available.
The next meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, July 25th at 9 a.m. and this meeting can be viewed in its entirety at the county’s Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/search/top?q=metcalfe%20county%20fiscal%20court
