With income for housing prisoners in Allen County’s jail on the wane, county commissioner Gary McIntosh said Tuesday morning that commissioners “collectively ought to talk with the sheriff (Tom Williams) about taking prisoners.”
Williams said in a report published in the Register Monday he was reluctant to recruit prisoners from metropolitan counties, for fear their presence would encourage an element to come to Iola that he preferred not to have in the area.
Commissioner Dick Works noted, “it is our responsibility to provide the jail, the â¨sheriff’s to run it.” Counselor Alan Weber confirmed Works’ observation, and added that “you have to budget enough for him to run the jail.”
“There are no easy answers,” when revenue problems crop up, Weber added.
Income banked this year from housing prisoners through Aug. 31 totals $74,413. Debt service this year on jail revenue bonds is $222,508.
When the 76-bed jail opened in 2005, the anticipation was that prisoner income would meet each year’s debt service, and it did initially.
The charge for out-of-county prisoners, depending on contracts with each county, is $35 to $40. Currently the only metropolitan county within reasonable driving distance of Iola that doesn’t have enough local jail space to deal with prisoners is Sedgwick, which has a $30-a-day limit on charges it accepts for housing prisoners. New jails in area counties also have cut into prisoner availability.
COMMISSIONERS were told that substantial investment would be required to bring up to snuff the building the county owns at 510 N. State St., which USD 257 wishes to use for housing buses.
Scott Stanley, director of operations for the school district, said either repairing or replacing the roof would be expensive, the sewer line running from it appears to have collapsed and large overhead heaters don’t work.
USD 257 is seeking an arrangement to use a portion of the building, which once housed James Implement and later was a warehouse for Heartland Electric, for a bus barn. A part of whatever agreement that might be struck would include construction of a large fenced compound west of the building where buses would be parked.
Commissioners haven’t decided whether they might lease the building or sell it.
If sold, it apparently would be by bids.
“Maybe that’s what we should do, set a minimum bid and auction it off,” McIntosh said.
Brian Pekarek, superintendent of schools, said the district wasn’t in a hurry to reach accord.
“There’s no time crunch,” he said.
The district has about $900,000 in its capital outlay fund, Pekarek observed, which could be used to purchase the building and make repairs, although “we don’t want to spend it all.”
Commissioners will have the sewer inspected before they make a decision.
They approved spending $750 to provide flu shots to 30 part-time employees who don’t participate in the county’s health insurance program.
Bill King, director of Public Works, said a grant being sought from the Kansas Department of Transportation for fueling and apron improvements at the airport would have the county pay $23,180. KDOT’s share would be $92,720. The work would occur in the state’s fiscal year 2013, which starts July 1, 2012.
Home Detail, 8 W. Madison, had the lowest of three bids at $1,065 to install new carpet in District Court offices.
