County 'Shocked' By Number Of Jailers Required
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
"Shocking."
That's the word the Kosciusko County council used Thursday to describe a report from the state jail inspector saying the county would need to hire 11 more jailers for the county jail by the time the new jail is completed.
The inspector made his inspection in December and Kosciusko County Sheriff Aaron Rovenstine recently received the report.
Councilman Larry Teghtmeyer said that with the new jail, it "goes beyond my comprehension why we would need another 11 jailers."
Rovenstine said the sheriff's department has always been understaffed and now with the tripling of the jail space, that's even more true.
Council vice president Brad Tandy said the county may want to have an analysis done to see if 11 more jailers are really needed. Tom Anglin, councilman, disagreed, saying if they had an analysis done by one of the state-recommended professionals, other professionals would just agree.
Councilman Harold Jones said he thought it would be beneficial if, once the jail is completed, the council could see where "these people will be placed."
The need for 11 new jailers isn't really that shocking, said Rovenstine. When they started the Justice Building expansion project, he said, the council knew there would be a need for more personnel. Now, since Sept. 11, "all this national security and anti-terrorism is going to fall on local government."
He said he wants to make sure they do the jail right and it would be disturbing if they didn't.
Tandy said the council isn't necessarily opposed to hiring new personnel, but with the state-of-the-art facility, "I think it's kind of shocking, when you look at it. Eleven is kind of shocking."
Kosciusko County is growing, Rovenstine said, and criminal justice is expensive. "But I think that's what people want, people in jail." Having people in jail, he said, would make the residents feel safe and secure.
Rovenstine said the 11 new jailers is just a recommendation.
Like the Kosciusko County Commissioners on Tuesday, the county council Thursday approved for Rovenstine to apply for an Indiana Department of Correction Community Transition Program grant.
By participating in the program, Kosciusko County can receive approximately $15 a day per offender "above and beyond" what the county will get paid for housing them in the work release center, he said.
Under the program, Kosciusko County would accept inmates from the Indiana Department of Corrections who have 60 to 90 days of their sentences left. The inmates would then be put on the work release program. The county wouldn't accept anyone charged with a crime above a C or D felony, though the program does allow for counties to take anyone charged with up to an A felony.
C felons must have 90 days to serve on the program and will be released to the county if a court-ordered denial is not received by the offender's community transition program commencement date. D felons must have 60 days to serve on the program.
The start-up grant would give the county $45,000 each year for two years to help pay for the expenses of participating in the program. The grant would pay the costs of hiring a person to monitor the program, a vehicle for transportation of inmates and purchasing drug testing equipment.
After the initial two years, the county can reapply for the grant every two years.
The program began in July 1999. The mission of the program is to facilitate the successful reintegration of offenders returning to the community. Any offender accepted by Kosciusko County would have to be from Kosciusko County.
The offender is responsible for all medical expenses. If the offender is indigent, DOC, not the county, is responsible for medical expenses.
Rovenstine said the county should explore the program because the state may eventually make it mandatory.
When asked by Teghtmeyer how many individuals the county would take for the program, county prosecutor Chuck Waggoner said the county now gets 15 applications a month. The county prosecutor and judges have been turning them down.
"On each and every one of them, we said 'no' except for one that slipped through the cracks, and we worked with Aaron on that," said Waggoner.
He said he is in favor of such a program because it helps the offenders get on the right track instead of just being dumped back into the county.
Rovenstine said for offenders to be accepted, they must meet the county's work release criteria.
Part of the success of the work release center, Rovenstine said, is the drug and alcohol testing for the inmates involved.
Other counties, such as Allen County, that participate in the program haven't reported any problems with it.
"If it doesn't work, there is always the option of not doing it," Rovenstine said.
In other business, the council:
• Approved the county prosecutor's applications for the Victims of Crimes Assistance and STOP grants for the 2002-03 grant cycle.
• Approved an additional appropriation for the county health department.
• Approved a transfer of funds for the county commissioners for $2,000 to pay for recording fees.
• Approved a grant application procedure for county departments. The person seeking a grant must ask permission from the county council first and then the commissioners. Currently, it's the reverse.
• Approved the reappointment of Hal Strong to the Kosciusko County Area Plan Commission.
• Approved the reappointment of Cynthia J. Thornburg to the Syracuse-Turkey Creek Township Public Library board.
• Approved a conflict of interest for Rebecca Lehman. Lehman serves on the Nappanee Library board as the council's appointment but also works for Kindig & Sloat, the law firm that represents the library.
• Heard from Rovenstine the sheriff's department received 20 defibrillators for their vehicles from the K21 Foundation. By the foundation donating the life-saving equipment, the county saved approximately $60,000 to $70,000.
Members of the Kosciusko County Council present at the meeting were vice president Brad Tandy, John Kinsey, Tom Anglin, Harold Jones, Maurice Beer and Larry Teghtmeyer.
Not present was president Jim Tranter, who had a heart attack Jan. 23 while in Florida and is recovering. According to Tandy, Tranter isn't expected at a council meeting until May.
The council meets at 7 p.m. in the county courthouse, Warsaw, on the second Thursday of every month. [[In-content Ad]]
"Shocking."
That's the word the Kosciusko County council used Thursday to describe a report from the state jail inspector saying the county would need to hire 11 more jailers for the county jail by the time the new jail is completed.
The inspector made his inspection in December and Kosciusko County Sheriff Aaron Rovenstine recently received the report.
Councilman Larry Teghtmeyer said that with the new jail, it "goes beyond my comprehension why we would need another 11 jailers."
Rovenstine said the sheriff's department has always been understaffed and now with the tripling of the jail space, that's even more true.
Council vice president Brad Tandy said the county may want to have an analysis done to see if 11 more jailers are really needed. Tom Anglin, councilman, disagreed, saying if they had an analysis done by one of the state-recommended professionals, other professionals would just agree.
Councilman Harold Jones said he thought it would be beneficial if, once the jail is completed, the council could see where "these people will be placed."
The need for 11 new jailers isn't really that shocking, said Rovenstine. When they started the Justice Building expansion project, he said, the council knew there would be a need for more personnel. Now, since Sept. 11, "all this national security and anti-terrorism is going to fall on local government."
He said he wants to make sure they do the jail right and it would be disturbing if they didn't.
Tandy said the council isn't necessarily opposed to hiring new personnel, but with the state-of-the-art facility, "I think it's kind of shocking, when you look at it. Eleven is kind of shocking."
Kosciusko County is growing, Rovenstine said, and criminal justice is expensive. "But I think that's what people want, people in jail." Having people in jail, he said, would make the residents feel safe and secure.
Rovenstine said the 11 new jailers is just a recommendation.
Like the Kosciusko County Commissioners on Tuesday, the county council Thursday approved for Rovenstine to apply for an Indiana Department of Correction Community Transition Program grant.
By participating in the program, Kosciusko County can receive approximately $15 a day per offender "above and beyond" what the county will get paid for housing them in the work release center, he said.
Under the program, Kosciusko County would accept inmates from the Indiana Department of Corrections who have 60 to 90 days of their sentences left. The inmates would then be put on the work release program. The county wouldn't accept anyone charged with a crime above a C or D felony, though the program does allow for counties to take anyone charged with up to an A felony.
C felons must have 90 days to serve on the program and will be released to the county if a court-ordered denial is not received by the offender's community transition program commencement date. D felons must have 60 days to serve on the program.
The start-up grant would give the county $45,000 each year for two years to help pay for the expenses of participating in the program. The grant would pay the costs of hiring a person to monitor the program, a vehicle for transportation of inmates and purchasing drug testing equipment.
After the initial two years, the county can reapply for the grant every two years.
The program began in July 1999. The mission of the program is to facilitate the successful reintegration of offenders returning to the community. Any offender accepted by Kosciusko County would have to be from Kosciusko County.
The offender is responsible for all medical expenses. If the offender is indigent, DOC, not the county, is responsible for medical expenses.
Rovenstine said the county should explore the program because the state may eventually make it mandatory.
When asked by Teghtmeyer how many individuals the county would take for the program, county prosecutor Chuck Waggoner said the county now gets 15 applications a month. The county prosecutor and judges have been turning them down.
"On each and every one of them, we said 'no' except for one that slipped through the cracks, and we worked with Aaron on that," said Waggoner.
He said he is in favor of such a program because it helps the offenders get on the right track instead of just being dumped back into the county.
Rovenstine said for offenders to be accepted, they must meet the county's work release criteria.
Part of the success of the work release center, Rovenstine said, is the drug and alcohol testing for the inmates involved.
Other counties, such as Allen County, that participate in the program haven't reported any problems with it.
"If it doesn't work, there is always the option of not doing it," Rovenstine said.
In other business, the council:
• Approved the county prosecutor's applications for the Victims of Crimes Assistance and STOP grants for the 2002-03 grant cycle.
• Approved an additional appropriation for the county health department.
• Approved a transfer of funds for the county commissioners for $2,000 to pay for recording fees.
• Approved a grant application procedure for county departments. The person seeking a grant must ask permission from the county council first and then the commissioners. Currently, it's the reverse.
• Approved the reappointment of Hal Strong to the Kosciusko County Area Plan Commission.
• Approved the reappointment of Cynthia J. Thornburg to the Syracuse-Turkey Creek Township Public Library board.
• Approved a conflict of interest for Rebecca Lehman. Lehman serves on the Nappanee Library board as the council's appointment but also works for Kindig & Sloat, the law firm that represents the library.
• Heard from Rovenstine the sheriff's department received 20 defibrillators for their vehicles from the K21 Foundation. By the foundation donating the life-saving equipment, the county saved approximately $60,000 to $70,000.
Members of the Kosciusko County Council present at the meeting were vice president Brad Tandy, John Kinsey, Tom Anglin, Harold Jones, Maurice Beer and Larry Teghtmeyer.
Not present was president Jim Tranter, who had a heart attack Jan. 23 while in Florida and is recovering. According to Tandy, Tranter isn't expected at a council meeting until May.
The council meets at 7 p.m. in the county courthouse, Warsaw, on the second Thursday of every month. [[In-content Ad]]