By Rich Wicks | Times Vedette
During the Oct. 8 regular weekly meeting of the Guthrie County Board of Supervisors, the supervisors talked with Sheriff Marty Arganbright and Deputy Jesse Swensen regarding the revenues and expenses related to housing inmates from other counties.
“I have a great staff. The jailers do a great job. The jail administrator, Jesse, does a great job. The whole department works hard,” Arganbright said. “We’re taking outside inmates to offset the costs and make revenue. That was my plan all along when we built the new facility. We have very little problems.”
Supervisor Mike Dickson asked for more detailed data to clearly show the costs and revenues specifically resulting from housing and serving outside inmates.
“We just need to know that Guthrie County tax money isn’t going to pay to house Polk County inmates or any other county’s inmates,” Dickson said. “I just need to see those numbers.”
Arganbright said he will work to provide the data requested.
The supervisors voted unanimously to approve the appropriation of the next 25% of funding for the Sheriff’s department in the 2024-2025 budget.
“It’s hard to run a department at 25% of your budget, but we’re doing our darndest to make it happen,” Arganbright said.
Regarding the ongoing schedule of informational meetings about the upcoming ballot measure on a countywide EMS service, Supervisor Steve Smith reported the meetings were going well, but he added that attendance at some of the meetings has been lower than was hoped.
Health Service Director Jotham Arber provided a quarterly report on his department. Arber said the transfer station is on pace to set an all-time record for total annual tonnage of materials received.
The next regular meeting of the supervisors will be Tuesday, Oct. 15. The public is welcome to attend in person or via remote technology. To join remotely, call 323-792-6123, then use meeting code 547029216#.