Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
The Kosciusko County Sheriff's Merit Board reviewed statistics for 2023 and discussed a new program in the Kosciusko County Jail during a meeting Thursday.
KCSO Public Information Officer Sgt. Doug Light presented the year-end statistics to the board. For 2023, KCSO received 22,166 total calls for service. This includes 2,884 traffic stops; 1,855 traffic accidents; 1,373 citizen assists; and 1,262 animal complaints.
The county's dispatch center received 127,156 calls in 2023 and KCSO had 8,028 total training hours.
Twelve people graduated from the Jail Chemical Addiction Program in 2023 and there were a total of 269 intakes at the Kosciusko County Work Release Center. KCSO also monitors 159 registered sex offenders.
"I'm very proud of our team collectively, it's a great team all the way around," said Kosciusko County Sheriff Jim Smith.
Light also told the board Brandon Ewing, Bradley Gonzales and Mike Kyle began going to the Indiana Law Enforcement Academy on Jan. 2. KCSO is hiring for a merit deputy position, with applications being accepted until Feb. 9.
In other business, Smith gave the board information about a program he's launching in KCJ called the Kosciusko Community Recovery Program. The office was initially discussing the Integrated Reentry and Correctional Support program, which provides support for inmates with mental health and substance use disorders. They decided to steer away from IRACS but still have some type of program in place for inmates.
Smith said he will be asking the county council and commissioners for permission to apply for a grant through the K21 Health Foundation to hire a resource navigator for KCJ.
"It will be a county employee that concentrates on this program and solely this program," said Smith. "(JCAP Coordinator) Casey (Trombley) is very busy and does a great job with JCAP. It wouldn't be fair to the inmate population and the community to have her try and do both. We've had several meetings in the past with different organizations such as Fellowship Missions, LITE, Bowen Center ... and it's grown from there."
Eventually, the position would solely be funded by Kosciusko County.
"I feel this is the right move and it's imperative we get that position to focus on just that program," said Smith. "This resource navigator will be getting in front of these inmates, identify the ones who want to be helped, and then start dissecting it and getting them the resources they need. Rather than with IRACS, where you would be using one organization, by doing it this way, we can use all those organizations and resources."
The board also:
• Learned the next JCAP graduation will be at 3 p.m. Feb. 23.
• Learned KCSO Det. Sgt. Brian Nault is currently being trained to become a polygraph examiner.
The board's next meeting will be at 11 a.m. Feb. 8.
