Edgar County Jail will close starting December 1, 2019 –

The whole ambulance situation doesn’t appear to be fair treatment of the ecssa, it appears though to have been a real sweetheart deal for the county board. They if I read correctly not so long ago, were relieved of any further financial responsibility for the local ambulance service. Many years ago I worked at Paris Community Hospital, straight out of high school as an E.M.T./E.R. tech. In the early 80s, we had 3 ambulances, that were nothing fancy but got the job done. If memory serves the Ambulance Coordinator at the time was the late Norman Kahl, E.M.T./R.T., in fact I worked on many calls side by side with many very fine dedicated individuals at the Paris Community Hospital Ambulance Service. My point is the Edgar County Board fought Norman tooth and nail for the financial support that we really needed in those days, to replace outdated equipment, especially the ambulances. Seems like it was always a major frustration for Norman not to mention an embarrassment I myself experienced at least 2 major mechanical failures during emergency calls. Point is on the cover I don’t get it. If the county got off the hook with the ambulance expense, uh, why would this be the only county around without a jail for God’s sake. All these years the board whined about paying one half of the ambulance expenditures, and apparently the jail will not be a benefactor, of the generosity of Horizon Health and financial relief of that sweetheart deal the board received. Instead we’re building what ? A new Fire Dept./ Ambulance svc. Dept. All the bells and whistles shiny Showplace that would be replacing facilities that are adequate at least. I would say the board would be better served by paying the ECCSA the 300 thousand dollars the board forgot to pay them, before they were so conveniently replaced. Uh, there is a 5 bay Ambulance Garage at the hospital, or at least that’s what the building was built for in the early 80s. Maybe a maintenance shed now or a doctor condo. Coming the fancy new ambulances andf trucks sounds really awesome, but a waste of tax dollars big-time. Personally, as a long long time resident of Edgar County, registered voter who votes, taxpayer and concerned citizen, the cost of transportating our local prisoners to other area county jails seems highly impractical,and I guess Clark Co. Already said No Absolutely Not. Since 1994 the board has been aware of the inhumane filthy conditions at the jail and has been sued for it, I imagine at the taxpayers expense. I’ve been following this a bit, because I admit it, I spent a weekend myself in what was called the birdcage, during the winter. The boiler couldn’t supply the upper floors heat, so for 2 and one half days it was never warmer than 54 degrees. After my release I was very sick. But not once in all of this have u heard any concern raised about the potential additional hardship this puts on innocent citizens, yep you guessed it, the families of the incarcerated. My heart seriously goes out to these folks who have broken no laws but will now face the additional burden of going out if town to visit their loved ones. Already they are burdened with bail money, court costs , collect calls with ridiculous rates and commissary marked up 5 or 6 times the stores retail prices. Being arrested ànd or convicted of a crime justly should punish the the guilty, the innocent family members should not be punished nor should they be looked down on by public, especially the law enforcement officers for the crimes of they’re loved ones. County residents have put up with this condemned;jail since 1994. My grandmother grew up in the Edgar County jail sheriff’s living quarters, as her father, and my great grandfather Oda Sizemore Edgar County Sherrif two terms in the early 10s and 20s. So combined with my personal experience as a weekend resident in gramps’s jail, and a recipiant of my grandmother’s many stories of the happenings at the jail long ago, and most of all empathetic concerned citizen of Edgar Co.. I just think this isn’t all about the money or the budget, a new jail is about doing the right thing for the right reasons .nobody likes jail, but I certainly take difference with the discussions thusfar I have read, no reasonable mention of the burden citizens of Edgar Co. Whom have loved ones in jail would negatively impact them. I hope I haven’t mistaken any facts,and I may have. Unintentionally, nor have I any animosity for any board or county officials. I was only interested in presenting a different perspective about the human issues that i believe families may encounter if the county doesn’t replace the jail, it’s not like you couldn’t see this coming c’mon man../Brand New Ambulance/ Fire Dept.Statuon Vs. A County Jail, Jail is a no brainier. Wake up America !

It’s my understanding the sheriff has not been able to stay with in his budget and the county board has not been willing to hold him responsible for his overspending and his mismanagement of the Edgar County Jail. His over spending over the past few years was approaching 100k.

The board also has problems. Siphoning airport funds…about 60K per year….to support the sheriff’s overspending…..from the unbudgeted airport slush fund to cover it….and not applying it to debt, courthouse roof or permanent fixes….has only made our counties debt worse. What financial controls were in place?

And of course….we continue to provide 80k to run the airport as well as fund, without question, additional improvements, during a time of dire financial straights.
Remember, two aircraft were firebombed at our airport; among other lawless acts, and our miss-managed EC sheriffs Department has yet to arrest the locals that did this.
Why would Clark County want to help exacerbate the problem?

Well, Warren, hopefully not everybody has your attitude, because those prisoners have to go somewhere, and it will be years before a new jail is finished, should one be built. I posit that it should not. Many local government entities and facilities need to be consolidated. To the extent it has not already done so, the state legislature should grant authority to form multi-county entities to maintain certain costly facilities. The consolidation idea goes doubly for townships, which for the most part seem to serve as a jobs program for ne’er do wells.

Aside from 1-someone other than or beyond the Sheriff needing to do the discipline reviews/investigations and 2-the well known fact the jail is old and dirty…how could the sheriff’s department NOT be adhering to law enforcement standards listed above that have been around and commonly committed to policy by law enforcement agencies all over the U.S. ? Ok, I get it. Still, it’s hard to believe. It’s easy to see why the insurance carrier would cancel liability insurance.

This problem was discussed at the Clark County board meeting two months ago and I attended the meeting. Sheriff Bill Brown stated that he had been approached by Edgar county asking for help by housing Edgar county prisoners in our county jail. He turned them down. I talked to Bill that day myself and informed him that I am totally in support of his refusal. To help Edgar county would cost Clark County taxpayers an additional big bundle of county money because our county law enforcement is at their spending limits. Clark County Taxpayers should not burdened with the costs of Edgar county INCOMPETENCE.