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CLAYPOOL - The Claypool Town Council, as well as the town's marshal and legal counsel, held a special meeting on Wednesday, May 27 to address questions on a potential Department of Homeland Security stipend.
During a May 19 meeting, council said the town may receive a $107,000 stipend tied into an arrest recently made by Town Marshal Trevor Long, who was on routine patrol when he found an individual with a federal warrant for their arrest.
At that meeting, a motion was initially made to create a designated fund to receive the stipend but make no further decisions until questions were answered. However, after questions from residents and a request from town attorney Rama Sobhani to take the topic under advisement, the motion to create the fund was withdrawn.
Approximately 15 residents attended the special meeting. Prior to the public asking questions, Sobhani discussed two issues he saw with the current situation. The first issue was a question brought up at the regular council meeting on whether a contract being signed was in violation of the Open Door Law.
"It's kind of a yes or no answer," said Sobhani. "It is 'no' in the sense that because the council hasn't taken any action, you haven't done anything to violate the Open Door Law. However ... until the contractual authority is delegated to the town marshal, any contract signed by the town marshal is not valid. Council holds the sole fiscal and executive authority. You can, if you so choose, authorize the town marshal to execute a contract on behalf of the town. That vote has to take place at an open, public meeting."
Sobhani said the second issue was how Long's time would be allocated between his actions as a town marshal versus his actions as an agent of DHS.
"I see that there's an issue possibly with ghost employment," said Sobhani. "That's defined as accepting public money for anything not related to duties under his town marshal obligations. So, if there's a mixing of time and the town marshal was paid his regular salary for Claypool ... but for the same period of time was also paid by (DHS), then that would be a ghost employment problem."
Council asked Sobhani to put together a letter to DHS stating any contract they received involving the town is null and void.
Several residents in attendance expressed liability concerns, with resident Niki Miller stating that while the liability risk is always there, she felt it increased with federal work coming into play.
Long said the town collaborating with DHS gave the Claypool Police Department "the tools that we aren't afforded currently to look into other things that are going on. We have the ability to make sure that somebody who commits a crime, that if they have other issues going on, whether it be an immigration issue or another criminal issue, we can handle it now."
Long brought up an example of a person having a fraudulent passport and two identifying documents with two different names. He said without assistance from DHS, the issue wouldn't have been addressed as quickly.
Resident Dave Morgan asked how many law enforcement agencies partner with DHS for these matters. Long said it was over 500 in the country, with Miller clarifying that 34 agencies in Indiana do so.
Resident Anthony Garza expressed concern with the town being reimbursed by DHS for the monies.
"The federal government owes Indiana almost $10 million," said Garza. "And where does that money come from? The taxpayers. So, you might get some money eventually down the line, but where are you going to get that money in the meantime? As much as I'd love to back that money to go toward the police force, I think that's going to put a big strain on Claypool."
One resident asked for more information on documentation pertaining to the 287(g) program, which can be viewed online.
Council will continue discussions on the topic during their next regular meeting on Tuesday, June 16.
