Commission raises prisoner per diem costs

The Randolph County Commission recently approved a rate hike in per diem prisoner fees in the midst of state reductions in payments to counties.

The rate for housing prisoners was increased to $40, up from $35. The cost for prisoners with special needs went up to $50 per day. Presiding Commissioner Susan Carter said there is an added cost for caring for prisoners with special mental, medical, or physical needs and the rate increase helps relieve some of the burden the county incurs. This revision will begin August 1.

Carter said average prisoners cost approximately $40 to $50 per day to maintain in the county jail. The state had reimbursed the county at a rate of $22 but with the tightening of the state budget belt, this amount dropped to $19.58.

Representatives from Services for Independent Living, an organization that helps persons with disabilities to live as independently as those without disabilities, spoke to the Commission about opening offices in Randolph and Montgomery Counties. Based in Boone County, SIL is determined to help people in need to feel that they can take care of themselves to the best of their ability but to also have help close by if they need it.

Much needed road work and trimming down of fallen trees has been done over the past week. County Road 1660 has recently been ground up and made safer for passing vehicles and area residents. Also, due to the storm that passed through Randolph County, many branches have fallen and made some roadways impassible. Trimming of these branches has been done and the roads are now safe and ready to be used. A few more road revisions have been made, the county is cleaning ditches, and roadsides and making an effort to put crowns in the road. To be able to do this, ditching may occur in front of county residents’ homes.

Jim Johnson talked to the Commissioners Thursday about his family-owned business, United First Aid and Safety. UFA sells and installs First Aid cabinets to businesses and follows what the ANSI, American National Standards Institute, recommends should be placed in first aid kits. OSHA, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, requires that every work place have a first aid kit, especially if they are three or more minutes away from any trauma center. United First Aid and Safety offers everything from standard kits, small truck kits and trauma kits. Aspirin and other painkillers are wrapped in individually wrapped tablets in these first aid kits to eliminate cross-contamination.