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Two items presented to and approved by the Kosciusko County Commissioners Tuesday may help the Sheriff’s Office recoup some inmate medical expenses and save on fuel prices.
Sheriff’s Office Matron Michelle Hyden, representing Sheriff Jim Smith who was unable to be at the meeting, presented both items, beginning with an ordinance regarding medical co-payments from inmates and extending the amount of time the office is able to collect those debts.
“So, as of July 1, 2026, House Bill 1343 ... Indiana has increased the amount of medical co-payments for vision, doctor’s appointments from 15 to 30 (dollars), and that allows us instead of only having 60 days to try to collect those debts before they fall off or are written off, they have extended that to 180 days,” Hyden said. “So I am asking for a new ordinance regarding those so we have as much time to try to recoup some of those medical costs. Inmate medical, if you don’t know, goes directly back into the general fund. So, as much as we can recoup for the county and taxpayers, it’s better for everybody.”
After the commissioners approved the ordinance 3-0, Hyden then said Smith wanted to present on the Family Express WEX Cards agreement himself but he couldn’t be there at the meeting and didn’t want to delay it any longer, so Hyden read Smith’s statement to the commissioners.
A WEX card is a specialized payment card issued by WEX Inc. A WEX fleet card is a commercial fuel and maintenance card used by businesses to manage, control and track company vehicle expenses.
Smith’s statement first apologizes for his absence due to other obligations.
“A while ago, Family Express had reached out and spoken with both myself and the auditor’s office. Family Express had proposed some numbers in regards to discounts they could give us per gallon by using their fuel stations and their WEX Cards,” Smith’s statement said. “The sheriff’s office admin. had a few more meetings with Family Express to see if we could come to a mutually beneficial agreement.”
Emails regarding the standard discount and the agreement terms the sheriff’s office was able to procure, if the commissioners approved the change to the Family Express WEX Cards, were provided to the commissioners.
Smith’s statement continues, “To put this into perspective, the average gallons used per month by the Kosciusko County Sheriff’s Office is approximately 6,000 gallons. These proposed savings are only when we use the Family Express stations. So once the agreement is in place, I will be giving the directive to our employees to use Family Express stations at all times when fueling locally, except for in emergency situations.”
He says with the fuel market being as volatile and uncertain as it has been this year, “I believe that the Kosciusko County Sheriff’s Office has a duty to be as fiscally responsible to the taxpayers of Kosciusko County as we can be. I feel that this agreement is another way we are ensuring to do the very best we can for our community.”
Commissioner Bob Conley said the Sheriff’s Office is using WEX Cards now and asked if they’d be moving to a premium WEX Card.
“Well, what it is, we’re just using a generic WEX Card where you get a basic fuel discount, a rebate, at any station you use,” Hyden said. “With the Family Express preferred, you increase that at the Family Express stations, which we have three locally. They have agreed to turn the Leesburg one and the one on U.S. 30, a pump on for law enforcement 24 hours a day, since they don’t operate 24 hours a day. With the caveat they know where the kill switch is in case something were to happen.”
Initially, she said when they started meeting with Family Express there was the standard discount that Family Express was willing to give.
“However, through negotiations, the sheriff was able to procure a deeper discount in which he believes will make a huge impact on the budget,” Hyden stated.
Commissioner Cary Groninger asked, “Ball parkish, we’re trying to divert about 4,000 of that 6,000 gallons of usage to be able to get that premium additional discount?”
“Right. So, if you saw that email, right now we’re currently using about a thousand gallons at their station. I ran six months worth of data. Usually, 500 to 600 gallons are out of county, so the sheriff believes we will have no problem - this is just our office, I didn’t analyze anybody else’s data - I don’t believe we will have any problem reaching that 4,000 benchmark once he gives the directive for the officers to be using those stations,” Hyden responded.
Later via text, Smith estimated annual savings could be up to $10,000.
Groninger asked Auditor Alyssa Schmucker, with the WEX Card the county didn’t have to pay the sales tax, so moving to Family Express’ WEX Card would that stay intact. “It was always credited back to us, but it took a while for all of that to” happen, he said.
Schmucker responded, “Right. Right now we’re working through an issue with the June bill, so I’ve been talking to the folks at WEX about the rebate because there was an issue with Indiana not turning in their new contract with them. So, I’m kind of trying to get that cleared up before we move to the next step. But, no, the taxes will remain off so that’s the next step we need to do in the office to file the paperwork to get that back as reimbursement. So that will stay in place.”
She continued, “The only thing this does is, with it being the Family Express Card, Family Express has the ability to control the rebates on those cards, and it’s not just a standard. So, I think what we’ve talked about is, not only will the Sheriff’s Department use that, all employees will be directed to use it, along with the code that’s given, so it’s a discount for all of the employees to use their fuel for the county.”
The Family Express agreement was approved 3-0.
