Judges, law enforcement officers and victims of domestic abuse can opt out of the Beacon Geographical Information System under a new state statute. Kosciusko County Commissioners voted this morning to enact the change locally, at an administrative fee of $25. They cut the fee in half from the original proposal after discussing whether it would be a financial hardship for some people. Beacon is a public records system accessible through the county’s website, kcgov.com, allowing access to real estate, ownership, burials and other information. The online system is used by cities and counties in more than a dozen states. Only judges, officers and abuse victims can opt out under the new state law, by paying the administrative fee and filling out a form. Commissioner Ron Truex noted the $50 fee, meant to cover the cost of changing and monitoring the records, is lower than neighboring counties, but said they don’t know if it will be enough since they can’t anticipate whether eight or 300 people will choose to opt out. Commissioners also remarked on the fact that those people’s addresses will still appear on other online maps. “I still don’t think it helps much because you could Google anyone on the face of the earth,” Commissioner Brad Jackson said. Also this morning, commissioners approved a $331,000 bid from Clint Davis Construction LLC, Leesburg, to construct a storage building for the county sheriff’s department and other agencies. The 60-by-150-foot building on county highway department property will be used to store impounded vehicles from investigations as well as house classrooms and an evidence lab. And commissioners approved a speed limit change from 55 mph to 25 mph on CR South 750W, starting 350 feet south of Swick Road, south of Beaver Dam Lake. Truex remarked before the vote, however, that 25 mph seemed difficult to enforce and that 35 mph would be more realistic.
