 COUNTY
JAIL CLOSING - CITY/COUNTY ENTER DISPATCHING AGREEMENT
Update: January,
2016:
Jail
Costs Increasing (01/05/16)
Update: February 2,
2016: Rising Jail
Costs (01/13/16)
County Making 911 Transition
March 11, 2013 CT
The Livingston County 911 lines were being routed to the Grundy County Law
Enforcement Center today (Monday) as the 911 system is moved from the
Livingston County Sheriff's Office to the Chillicothe Police Department.
Non-emergency calls will still go to the police department and the
sheriff's office for the remainder of the week.
Livingston County Sheriff Steve Cox stated that callers should not see any
disruption in their ability to make a 911 emergency call, but should a
call not go through they are asked to contact the Sheriff's Office at
660-646-0515 or the Chillicothe Police at 660-646-2121.
COUNTY COMMISSION ASKS PROPERTY OWNERS TO DISPLAY ADDRESSES PROPERLY
Thursday, March 14, is the target date for the Chillicothe Police
Department Dispatch to go live receiving all 911 calls for Chillicothe and
Livingston County. The CPD Dispatch will then also be responsible for
dispatching the sheriff's department staff, rural fire, first responders,
storm alerts, and all other dispatching duties. "We are still working on the final procedures for the
sheriff's office, as our building will not be staffed 24-hours-a-day
starting Friday, March 15, 2013," Cox stated.
The Livingston County Commission and City of Chillicothe made a
contractual agreement to combine all the 911 equipment and dispatching
services. "At this time, none of our dispatchers will be reporting to work for the
City of Chillicothe," Cox said. The county commission is providing a severance package to the current
dispatch staff, just as they provided to the former detention officers
when the jail was closed.
"I would personally like to commend our dispatch and emergency 911 staff
for the professional job they have historically done, and continue to
perform, in collecting and disseminating vital information, [keeping]
accurate records, and [ensuring] safety to our citizens and law enforcement
officers," Cox said. "This entire process has been difficult on our staff, but they have
remained dedicated and loyal to serving the citizens of Livingston
County," he continued. "It has been my pleasure and an honor to have
worked with these fine people, which also includes our past detention
staff."
The Livingston County Commission is the supervising authority of the
Livingston County 911 System, as it was voted on by the public.
Any questions, concerns, or comments may be made to the Livingston County
Commission, Sheriff Steve Cox, or Chillicothe Police Chief Rick
Knouse.
Sheriff's Office To
Be Occupied Periodically Starting Thursday
March 13, 2013
Beginning Thursday,
March 14, 2013, the Livingston County Sheriff's office will only periodically be occupied by the sheriff and/or deputies.
The complete countywide law enforcement, fire, and emergency medical
dispatching services will be done from within the Chillicothe Police
Department at 613 Walnut Street.
"The unfortunate side of this is no one will be here to answer the
telephone calls and foot traffic which comes into our
office," said Sheriff Steve Cox. "As much as we dislike automated answering services, we
have no choice but to have this at the LCSO.""
When no one is in the building to answer the telephone, the caller will be
directed to hang-up and dial 911 for an emergency, or basically to select
a voice mailbox to leave a message for a specific employee. If callers
need a deputy dispatched for non-emergency matters, they are asked to call
the Chillicothe Police Department dispatcher at 660-646-2121.
All doors of the
sheriff's office will be locked if the building is unoccupied by the sheriff or a deputy. A sign on the front door will
direct visitors to call the above number or report to the Chillicothe
Police Department dispatch to report their needs.
"Please share with your family, friends, and neighbors to place the above
information to help expedite any need for emergency medical, fire, or law
enforcement services anywhere within Livingston County," Cox said.
The sheriff expressed appreciation for the public's understanding and
assistance. "This is the best we can do with the options we currently have available
to all of us," he said.
City, County Enter
Dispatching Pact
February 5 2013
By DREW VAN DYKE, C-T Writer
CAPTION: Livingston County communications officer Andrew Perkins (shown) is one of six persons who will
lose their job due to the consolidation of the Livingston County and City of Chillicothe 911
dispatch offices at or before April 1, 2013. The county officially agreed
to enter into the consolidation agreement with the city on Monday.
C-T PHOTO
Livingston County entered into a contract agreement with the city of
Chillicothe to form a consolidated 911 dispatch center during an emergency
county commission meeting Monday morning. "It was just more
efficient," said Livingston County Presiding Commissioner Eva Danner Horton today, of the consolidation.
"[The services] can all be done from one center, with less taxpayer money. The
[current] 911 fund wasn't sufficient to pay for all of the
[county's] dispatchers."
The agreement calls for the Chillicothe Police
Department's dispatch center to host the consolidated effort, with supplies (notably
"'Viper' communication equipment") from the Livingston County
Sheriff's Department center just across the street (Webster) transferring to the CPD center.
The anticipated start-up date for the consolidated dispatch center is
April 1, 2013. "It may be earlier," said Chillicothe City Administrator Ike
Holland Tuesday. "It's mostly being driven by AT&T. [They] have to switch over
some telephone lines and services. Worst-case scenario, we're hoping for April
1," he said. "Our target date is definitely April
1," Horton agreed. "A lot of it is when we can get this equipment
moved."
Horton also noted that there are currently 19 counties in the state
without 911 services and that there has been talk of state funding coming
through for cellular phone services. "Eighty percent of calls that come in [to
911 are] from cell phones," she said. "There needs to be more funding from cell phones.
We've been told that, for that funding to come about, we're going to have to run more
efficiently." Thus, she said, the consolidation.
The contract is for 10 years, county through city, with no termination
possible within the first year. It calls for the city of Chillicothe to
pay for 63 percent of the dispatch center's cost, while the county takes
on the remaining 37 percent. These figures are based upon 2010 United
States Census data regarding population of citizens within the city
(city's percentage), and population of citizens of the county who are not
also a citizen of the city (county's percentage). "That will be reviewed each
year," Horton said.
A 911 advisory board shall be established, per the contract, in an
advisory role only. The city of Chillicothe will have
"final line authority." This advisory board will consist of the county sheriff (Steve
Cox), the city police chief (Rick Knouse), the city administrator (Ike
Holland), the fire/EMS chief (Darrell Wright), the city mayor (Chuck
Haney), and one county commissioner.
A termination clause is included within the contract, citing the
possibility of the state of Missouri requiring a 911 board be established,
instead, to use allocated state funding for a dispatch center.
"That's pretty common among other states," Holland explained.
"That would either be passed by the state legislature, or they would
say that it would have to be done county-by-county. That money is divvied up
county-by-county. The citizens wouldn't see or feel anything different [if
that were to occur]." "The city and county would both need to contract
[with the 911 board]," Horton said. "If that would lead to a sales tax other than a hard-line
fee, this contract would be obsolete."
All dispatch employees shall remain employees of the city of Chillicothe,
per the contract. Six county dispatch positions will be eliminated, via
the consolidation. Staff at the current county dispatch center noted
that they have not been given a definitive date of termination, but said that,
instead, the aforementioned "at or before April 1" date has been used for
such. Thus far, none of the county employees have been offered positions
at the consolidated center. Holland said that it is still undecided
whether or not additional dispatch positions would be produced by the
consolidation. "We're looking into that," he said.
"We already have dispatch officers, and they are city
employees."
The city is also responsible for establishing the chain of command and
staffing levels of dispatch officers, as well as the qualifications and
training of their personnel.
The city "shall remain responsible for universal addressing and road
street signs within the territorial limits of the
municipality," the contract notes. Those road signs and pieces of universal addressing data
"for residents within the County but extraterritorial to the municipality
shall remain the responsibility of the County Commission." The Commission,
per the contract, must maintain and upgrade this information on a timely
basis, and supply it to the city, and the dispatch center.
Dispatch services shall be provided seven days a week, for 24 hours on a
daily basis.
General services, such as radio, call outs, and notifications to the
sheriff, shall be assumed by the consolidated dispatch center. Also
included in the duties of dispatch officers at the consolidated center
shall be expeditious and accurate data entry into the Missouri Uniform Law
Enforcement System (MULES) and National Crime Information Center's (NCIC)
database, dispatch of Sheriff's office personnel to service warrants
and protection orders, prompt notification of arrests, maintenance of accurate
records, prompt providing of records and tapes from city to county (with
fees waived), dispatch of rural fire departments, computer mapping
assistance, weather alert and other alert notifications, administrative
telephone answering assistance, fulfillment of the prior mutual aid backup
commitment currently held with Grundy County 911, and the providing
of monthly road patrol schedules from the Livingston County
Sheriff's office to the CPD and dispatch personnel.
Both parties have agreed to hold each other
"completely harmless and without fault for any civil, criminal, or
administrative liability whasoever, including reasonable attorney fees, litigation expenses, fines,
and court costs" that may result from county government activities or city
dispatch services. Both agree to "promote in good faith the positive
public image of the other party" within the contract,
including complaints received from the general public or the media about their counterpart, or
any complaints or grievances they may have in regard to the agreement or
operation of the consolidated 911 dispatch center.
The contract is signed and dated
February 4, 2013 by Eva Danner Horton, Presiding Commissioner; Ken
Lauhoff, Eastern District Commissioner; Todd Rodenberg, Western District Commissioner; and Sherry Parks,
Witness. Two lines have also been provided, for "Charles E. Haney,
Mayor" and "Attest: Rozanne Frampton, City
Clerk", which remained blank as 10 a.m. Tuesday morning. Frampton confirmed that she was aware that
the signatures had yet to be made, as she had only just received the contract Monday. She noted
that the lack of signatures did not signal opposition to the contract, and
said that such would be done when Mayor Haney entered the office. She said
all were in agreement with the wording presented.
Holland said that he initiated the contract, the wording of which was
approved by the county's attorney on Friday afternoon. An emergency
session of the Livingston County Commission was called on Monday morning
to sign the contract, due to training scheduled for the remainder of the
week.
City, County Move
Closer to Dispatching Agreement
January 29, 2013
The city of Chillicothe may take over dispatching duties, something that
currently is handled through the Livingston County Sheriff's Office.
City council members, in a closed executive session Monday evening,
approved a draft agreement presented by City Administrator Ike Holland.
That agreement was to be presented to Livingston County commissioners
Tuesday, January 29, 2013, for their consideration. If the agreement
meets the county's approval, the transition could be completed by April 1. The physical transition
- including information technology services and a telephone service changeover
- could take several weeks, Holland stated.
Livingston County Presiding Commissioner Eva Danner said this
morning that she had not yet seen the final draft from the city. She said
the commission and the city had been working together on the proposal, and
that she believes an agreement could soon be reached.
Talks about transferring dispatching, including 911 dispatching, to the
city follows last month's closure of the Livingston County Jail.
City Enters
Agreement with Daviess DeKalb Regional Jail
January 29, 2013
The city of Chillicothe has entered into a one-year contract with the
Daviess DeKalb Regional Jail to house prisoners for the city, now that the
Livingston County Jail has closed.
Police Chief Rick Knouse told City Council
members during their regular meeting Monday evening at City Hall that the city has used the Daviess
DeKalb Regional Jail in the past. He said he was satisfied with the
service, and that the price for housing inmates has remained stable for
many years. The city typically has few individuals in custody, the chief said.
Offenders are often released, issued citations and ordered to pay a fine,
or charged by the state. Once charged by the state, the offenders become
the responsibility of the county.
The contract, approved by the council, calls for housing city prisoners at
a rate of $30 per day, per inmate. Aside from an initial $25 transportation fee, the regional jail will transport offenders for court
appearances at no extra cost. Knouse stated that the Daviess DeKalb Regional Jail provides benefits
- such as transportation - that other facilities may not. There is a
regional jail in Kingston, about 35 miles from Chillicothe.
"A lot of jails are closing," Knouse stated. "It is very expensive to have
a jail and provide services."
Sheriff's
Office Cleans Out, Closes Storage Units
January 31, 2013
The Livingston County
Sheriff's Department has taken advantage of additional storage space due to the
closing of the jail. Deputies were legally able to shred approximately three large pickup loads
of old records, ranging from old bank statements, checks, jail activity
and visitation logs, time sheets, receipts, uniform crime reports, and gun
permits. The LCSO has also been able to close three storage units they had
been renting for about $1,500 a year, according to Sheriff Steve Cox.
"We moved all the old records and property from the storage units into the
jail area for safe keeping," said Cox.
In doing so, the LCSO went through the stacks of paperwork and were
legally able to shred those documents, which were mostly from the 1970s
and 1980s. All of the shredded documents were confirmed with the State of
Missouri as eligible to be destroyed.
County Jail Nearly
Empty
Dec. 20, 2012 1:15 p.m.
(CT)
The Livingston County Jail is nearly empty as of 4:30 Wednesday afternoon.
Most of the detainees were sent out around 10:00 a.m., and the last few
were sent to Daviess DeKalb County Regional Jail after completing
Court appearances Wednesday. The Sheriff's office has kept the trustees there
for a few more days to clean and prep the jail for shutting down areas to
save utilities, and they are utilizing some of the jail for storage for
the county.
Tuesday evening, the sheriff talked with the detainees and reported what
was taking place. They did not experience any problems during the
move except a few choice words from a few male inmates Wednesday
morning, and a couple destroyed some books and tried to trash the area while officers
were shackling and attending to other detainees.
Jail Closing
By Catherine Stortz Ripley, C-T Editor
Dec. 19, 2012 12:30 p.m.
 CAPTION: The Livingston County Jail, constructed in 1978, will stop
housing inmates, and the jail will be closed by the end of this year.
Costly repairs, staffing needs and federal mandates were cited as primary
reasons for closing the jail. The county is contracting with the Daviess
DeKalb County Regional Jail in Pattonsburg to house inmates for Livingston
County. The transfer of inmates began today (Wednesday).
The Livingston County Jail is closing indefinitely, and the 25 inmates now
housed at the facility were being transferred today (Wednesday) to the
Daviess DeKalb County Regional Jail in Pattonsburg.
Livingston County Commissioners and Sheriff Steve Cox made the
announcement jointly during a news conference Tuesday afternoon in the
commissioner's room at the courthouse. Extremely costly and critical
repair needs were cited as reasons to close the facility, as well as
staffing issues to safely and securely run the jail. "We do not have adequate revenue or reserves in Law Enforcement Sales Tax
or general revenue to properly address any of these
issues," Presiding Commissioner Eva Danner stated.
Local officials also took into consideration the unfunded federal mandate
of the Prison Rape Elimination Act (estimated by the feds to be a $50,000
annual additional expense for Livingston County, beginning with 2013)
and the expected loss of reimbursements on prisoner per diem from the state of
Missouri. In 2010, reimbursements for prisoners by the state was nearly
$160,000, while for 2012, it appears to be approximately $110,000.
"All of us are in agreement that, at this time, we are not willing to ask
our citizens to support an additional bond or tax issue to cover the
significant costs to properly repair and staff the current jail
facility," Danner stated. The commissioners and sheriff stated that the best solution is for the
county to contract its jail needs with the Daviess DeKalb County Regional
Jail located in Pattonsburg about 60 miles from Chillicothe.
"This agreement is expected to permit us to live within our means and not
ask for additional revenue," Danner stated. "This will also free up
additional staff hours for the deputies and sheriff to conduct law
enforcement work and investigations instead of guarding
detainees."
The five full-time detention officers at the jail have been notified their
positions are being eliminated in the near future.
The commissioner stated that the county will periodically review this
matter for future considerations of other alternatives. East District Commissioner Ken Lauhoff stated that jails are too costly
for counties to operate and that some type of a regional jail might be
pursued sometime in the future. "It's very difficult for any one
county to have a jail anymore because of the tremendous overhead to build
it and the tremendous overhead to staff it," he said.
"It is just virtually impossible for a county to have a jail, staff it, and run it.
We're talking about millions and millions of dollars."
At this time, the county plans to continue its 911 dispatch service.
Citing the challenging economic times, Cox said that he
didn't believe that now was the time to ask for a bond issue. He stated that it was a
difficult decision, but that it was the right step at the right time.
"It's not good to let people go," he said of his detention staff members
who will soon be without jobs. "But, if we don't do it, we
won't be able to live within our means." He also stressed safety of detention officers as a concern, adding that
one employee is off from work after having surgery on his shoulder due to
an incident at the jail involving a violent inmate. "Our people are in danger at all
times." he said.
He said sheriff office employees, including deputies, have been spending a
lot of their time assisting with jail issues when they need to be serving
the public in other ways. Without having the demand to staff the jail,
sheriff's deputies will have more time to devote to law enforcement
issues, rather than using their resources transporting inmates to court
and dealing with jail-related issues. He provided information about the
events of a recent day. "We had 27 inmates to come to circuit court, up on the third
floor," Cox said. "On those law days, we still have a deputy or two at the metal
detector on the first floor, we're still required to put a bailiff in the
courtroom, but there were five of us on and we were consumed all day with
nothing but inmate issues. If we had a significant call, that was the only
thing we could respond on." "But, we had people who called in and
they may have had a trash dumping - it may be trivial to someone else, but
it's important to them. They deserve a response from us."
Plumbing issues appeared to be among the largest dollar items for repair,
but other issues were prevalent as well, including the camera system and
interior fixtures. Part of the jail will be maintained as a temporary
holding facility that could be used during law days.
The Daviess DeKalb County Regional Jail has a capacity of 300 inmates. The
facility be responsible for transporting Livingston County's inmates to
and from court appearances at no extra charge, and the county will be
charged $30 per day to house an inmate, which is less than the $40 rate
the Livingston County Jail had charged other agencies for housing their
offenders. There is a one-time $25 transportation fee per inmate.
He noted that the regional jail has video capabilities to assist with
court appearances to possibly reduce the transportation needs of the
inmates, and to also provide a convenience for visitations.
Livingston County Jail to
Close
By Catherine Stortz Ripley
Dec. 18, 2012 4:58 p.m.
The Livingston County Jail is closing indefinitely and the 25 inmates now
housed at the facility will start being transferred tomorrow (Wednesday)
to the Daviess DeKalb County Regional Jail.
CAPTION: Livingston County Commissioners and the sheriff announced Tuesday
afternoon that the Livingston county Jail would be closing. From left:
Commissioner Ken Lauhoff, Sheriff Steve Cox, and commissioners Eva Danner
and Todd Rodenberg.
The Livingston County Jail is closing indefinitely, and the 25 inmates now
housed at the facility will start being transferred tomorrow (Wednesday)
to the Daviess DeKalb County Regional Jail. Livingston County Commissioners and Sheriff Steve Cox made the announcement jointly during a
news conference Tuesday afternoon in the commissioner's room at the
courthouse. Extremely costly and critical repair needs were cited
as the reason to close the facility, as well as staffing issues to safely and
securely run the jail.
"We do not have adequate revenue or reserves in Law
Enforcement Sales Tax or general revenue to properly address any of these
issues," Presiding Commissioner Eva Danner stated. Local officials also
took into consideration the unfunded federal mandate of the Prison Rape
Elimination Act (estimated by the feds to be a $50,000 annual additional
expense for Livingston County, beginning with 2013) and the expected loss
of reimbursements on prisoner per diem from the state of Missouri. In
2010, reimbursements for prisoners by the state was nearly $160,000, while
for 2012, it appears to be approximately $110,000).
"All of us are in
agreement that, at this time, we are not willing to ask our citizens to
support an additional bond or tax issue to cover the significant costs to
properly repair and staff the current jail facility," Danner
stated. The commissioners and sheriff stated that the best solution is for the county
to contract its jail needs with the Daviess DeKalb County Regional
Jail located in Pattonsburg about 60 miles from Chillicothe.
"This agreement is expected to permit us to live within our means and not ask for
additional revenue," Danner stated. "This will also free up additional
staff hours for the deputies and sheriff to conduct law enforcement
work and investigations instead of guarding detainees."
The five full-time detention officers at the jail have been notified their positions are
being eliminated in the near future. The commissioner stated that the
county will periodically review this matter for future considerations of
other alternatives.
East District Commissioner Ken Lauhoff stated that
jails are too costly for counties to operate and that some type of a
regional jail might be pursued sometime in the future. At this time, the
county plans to continue its 911 dispatch service.
The Daviess DeKalb County Regional Jail has a capacity of 300 inmates. The facility be
responsible for transporting Livingston County's inmates, and the county
will be charged $30 per day, which is less than the rate the Livingston
County Jail had charged other entities for housing their offenders. Cox
stated that it was a difficult decision, but that it was the right step at
the right time. "It's not good to let people go," he said of his
detention staff members who will soon be without jobs.
"But, if we don't do it, we won't be able to live within our
means." |
