Decatur Co. Courts to do security review

May 22--GREENSBURG -- On Tuesday morning, Circuit Court Judge Timothy Day and Decatur County Superior Judge Matthew Bailey reported to the Decatur County Council about the recent creation of the Decatur County Security Committee (DCSC).

According to Day, the Indiana Supreme Court has decreed that county courthouses around the state must establish local security committees and create a plan to detail each court's security needs, the equipment and/or staff required and the most cost-effective way to implement those solutions.

The DCSC, Day told the Council, is required to submit finalized plans to the state at year's end. "We're going to hire a college student to help implement some of these things we need to do," Day said. That student assistant, Day added, will be charged with looking for grant money to help implement required security measures and compiling dollar figures regarding the cost.

The DCSC is so new, Day further noted, that it has yet to hold a formal meeting.

Day told the Daily News that, from both a personal and practical, public safety perspective, he hopes the Tree City Courthouse will ultimately institute significant changes in security.

According to recommendations made by the state, Day said, security at the local courthouse is "inadequate." State recommendations include: Public access to the building through only one door; passage through a metal detector required at the public entrance; and one officer stationed at the public access way checking bags.

Of current Decatur County Courthouse security, Day noted, "We have a security officer in uniform patrolling the building. We have a panic button in judges' offices, in the courts, and in the prosecutor's office and in some other offices, I think; but short of that, we don't have much other security."

Day added that he's aware of the expense and inconvenience of implementing such measures, but that he believes them necessary to realize and maintain a greater level of security and safety for courthouse employees, visitors and the general public.

"That's [additional security] the only way you can assure people coming in aren't carrying a gun or knife," he said.

The Decatur County Council also granted a request by the two judges to appropriate $25,000 from the County General Fund to help pay the county's court reporters' salaries.

According to Day, the request comes on the heels of a move by the Indiana State Board of Accounts (SBA) to rein in and narrow the uses of money from the county's Probation Users Fee Fund. Until recently, Day explained, the Probation Fund didn't have a lot of rules applied to it regarding the ways money could be utilized.

Following recent account audits, however, the SBA changed its policy regarding the use of Probation User fees, declaring that such money can be spent only on employees directly tied to the Probation Office. The Probation Fund generates money by collecting fees from recent criminal defendants placed on probation, Day explained.

Until that recent policy shift, Day said, paying portions of court reporter salaries from Probation had seemed reasonable, as court reporters perform significant amounts of clerical work for the Probation Office. As such, using Probation money to partially fund those salaries had been a legal, longstanding practice within Decatur County Courts.

Tuesday's approval by the Council means that the $6,250 per each court reporter's yearly salary will now come from the County General Fund. Day characterized the change as largely insignificant.

The Council agreed, unanimously granting the appropriation of money from the General Fund for court reporter salaries.

In approving the judges' request, Council President Ernie Gauck noted that the county has "over $900,000" in surplus funds, meaning that $25,000 for salaries certainly won't amount to an unsustainable budgetary expense.

Day also noted that, to make up for the additional expense from the General Fund, health insurance for three Community Corrections employees will now be paid by Community Corrections. Previously, Day said, those employees were on county health insurance, paid through the General Fund. The amount paid per year for those three Corrections employees, Day noted, was $25,000, meaning the shift of funds between the General Fund and Community Corrections to cover salaries and healthcare for the two groups of employees amounts to a one-to-one swap.

Also on Tuesday, the Decatur County Council granted a 5-year tax abatement to Decatur County's Mesco Manufacturing for the purchase of additional manufacturing equipment to accommodate the expanding business.

Greensburg-Decatur County Economic Development Corporation (EDC) Executive Director Marc Coplon and Mesco Controller Jeff Jones appeared before the Council to request the $750,000 abatement. Coplon noted that, after opening in 2011 with an EDC Small Business Loan, Mesco "hasn't asked for anymore." The company started with 25 employees Coplon and Jones reported, and have since expanded to 34.

The new machines, Jones said, will allow the company to add three additional jobs and to further expand manufacturing output. "We're needing to add three more machines," Jones explained, adding that the company has no current outstanding abatements.

Mesco intends to hire the three additional employees "prior to the end of June," according to Jones. During its first year, the abatement will require Mesco to pay zero percent of the $750,000 tax burden on the new machines; the tax bill will be 20 percent in year two, 40 percent in year three, 60 percent in year four and 80 percent in year five. In year six and each year thereafter, the tax burden on the value of the machinery will be 100 percent.

The council also approved a $2,000 allocation on Tuesday to Matt Barker and Decatur County 4-H to help pay for upcoming 4-H summer camps. In requesting the funds, Barker reminded the council that the Decatur County 4-H had endured a $3,500 funding cut this past winter, and that the group's only other income source is $5 of each $20 fee paid by new members, with the remainder of that money going to Purdue University, per agreement.

Decatur County Commissioner Jerome Buening also appeared before the Council Tuesday morning to report that the county hopes to work in conjunction with the City of Greensburg to create a revised Comprehensive Plan for the area. City and County officials took a similar approach in drafting the area's last Comprehensive Plan in 2007.

The city, Buening said, has already approached the county about working together to create a new Plan. As such, Buening will appear before the Decatur County Area Plan Commission at its June meeting, whose approval is required to initiate the process.

The next regular meeting of the Decatur County Council will be at 9 a.m., June 17, at the Decatur County Courthouse.

Contact: Rob Cox 812-663-3111 x7011; robert.cox@greensburgdailynews.com

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