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Programs like the Kosciusko Community Recovery Program (KCRP) are helping to keep the jail population low, Sheriff Jim Smith told the Kosciusko County Commissioners Tuesday.
To keep the program going with Resource Navigator Shanna Wallen in place, Sheriff’s Office Chief Deputy Chris McKeand requested permission from the county commissioners to apply for a K21 Health Foundation reimbursable grant for $168,075.84 to fund Wallen’s position.
“Two years ago, we approached K21 - it was a little over two years ago - for assistance in hiring our resource navigator for the KCRP, which we talk about in here with you quite a bit. As you’ve noticed, the KCRP, we believe this to be true, has helped reduce the population of our jail,” McKeand said.
Smith said in his first year in office, the jail was hovering around 300 inmates. It holds 305.
“Today, we’re under 200. So I absolutely believe that this program has a big part in that. Shanna Wallen, who is our coordinator, which essentially this grant helps fund here, helps us pay for her salary, to do the great things she’s doing,” Smith said.
July will mark two years the KCRP has been up and running. In that time, Wallen has seen around 160 inmates through the program, of which only 13 have come back to jail, Smith told the commissioners.
“We are super, super proud of that,” Smith stated. “I think, if I could jump up and down to drive home the point, these programs are working. We’ve found something that has taken hold. We’ve given these folks an opportunity to become the best version of themselves, and the proof’s in the pudding. They’re not coming back to jail as often or as frequent as they were.”
Commissioner Bob Conley said, “We’ve taken a look at that program. It’s phenomenal how little things make a big difference in these people’s lives. Like simply coming to jail with no form of identification, no driver’s license, no state-issued I.D. card. You work with the Bureau of Motor Vehicles, they open their doors early so you can take those people out there without being embarrassed by being around those people, and got them identification cards.”
He said it’s the little things like inmates learning to write a check that are paying dividends. He said he feels wholeheartedly that the program is worth it.
McKeand said, “Most of it is things that you and I take for granted every day, and these people, once they get exposed to it and they get help doing it, it’s like turning on a light. So I agree with that 100%.”
The commissioners unanimously approved the grant application.
McKeand also asked the commissioners for permission to apply for opioid funding of $115,000 through the unrestricted funds the county has from the national opioid settlements. The funds will be used toward the ODSecurity body scanner that is currently being installed in the jail.
Back when Smith took office as sheriff in 2023, McKeand said one of their main priorities was “to eliminate the ability of our clientele to bring drugs into the facility. We’ve utilized the body scanner that we have in place now, however, that has aged. There is new technology out there that will assist our jail staff in finding those items as they’re brought in, not just weapons, but drugs.”
He said that technology is available and they went out and sought it. An attempt to get grant funding from the K21 Health Foundation to help with the purchase of a new body scanner was not successful, McKeand said.
“In lieu of that, I began to speak with the opioid committee on what that money could be used for and this idea came forward on opioid funding could help us in attaining that item for security purposes in the jail,” McKeand explained.
Smith said it was important to note that the sheriff’s office has “skin in the game” as well, in terms of having put money down out of the commissary account on the new scanner to secure the 2025 price for it. For 2026, the pricing of the body scanner went up significantly, he stated. McKeand said they’ve already paid $57,000 - about a third of the price - toward the purchase.
Conley said he thought it was one of the best uses for the opioid money.
The commissioners unanimously approved the request.
Later in the meeting, Commissioner Sue Ann Mitchell said, “We are working on an opioid committee meeting. We’ll have that set sometime yet this week. It’ll be in the next couple weeks, and then they’ll be coming to ask for it once we get it finalized.”
She said she wanted the public to know they are working on trying to get those things set up so the county can start moving forward with some of the opioid settlement money.
“There has not been enough money to feel like we wanted to move forward with it until we knew where we were at. The money has not come in on a regular basis, so that’s what causes the issue, so we can not promise more than what we have in the bucket right now,” Mitchell explained.
Smith also sought approval from the commissioners for second and third amendments to an agreement with Securus Technologies to be compliant with new FCC guidelines for work release and the jail. The commissioners approved both amendments to the agreement 3-0.
The final item from the sheriff’s office was Lt. Mike Mulligan’s request to apply for a $58,000 reimbursable grant from the Comprehensive Highway Injury Reduction Program (CHIRP) through the state. The commissioners approved the grant application.
