Sheriff Gets Committee OK For Vehicles

— On his third day on the job, Benton County Sheriff Kelley Cradduck gained preliminary approval for his plans to shift his deputies from driving Dodge Chargers to Chevrolet Tahoes.

At A Glance

Other Business

At its meeting Thursday, Benton County’s Finance Committee approved:

• The county’s application for a grant for the adult drug court program.

• Spending $14,500 for the Hazardous Materials response team.

• Spending $25,000 for security equipment for the Benton County Courthouse.

• Spending $10,000 for the alternative dispute resolution grant program.

• Spending $4,000 in the 2013 budget for the National Association of County and City Health Officials grant for material to support the Medical Reserve Corps.

w Spending $2,000 for a ‘”smart board” for use in Circuit Court.

Source: Staff Report

The Finance Committee approved a request to buy 10 Tahoes for $255,000. The request will go before the Committee of 13 for discussion and if endorsed there, to the full Quorum Court for approval.

Cradduck told the justices of the peace he plans to transition from Chargers to Tahoes for patrol work and for some specialized duties. He said information from other departments indicates the Tahoes are more rugged and better handle the sometimes rough county roads.

The justices of the peace cut a request for new vehicles from the 2013 budget for the Sheriff’s Office with the understanding Cradduck would bring his own to the Quorum Court. The preliminary budget was prepared by Keith Ferguson, who left office last week after 10 years as sheriff.

Cradduck said he reduced the number of vehicles being requested from 12 to 10, which reduced the overall cost even though the Tahoes each cost about $1,900 more than a Charger. Cradduck and Maj. Rob Holley also said the Tahoes will use more fuel, but they said they expect to recover more than that cost in reduced maintenance.

The committee also endorsed a request from Cradduck to buy a Chevrolet Impala for use as a transport vehicle for the Benton County Jail. Holley said the Impala will replace another Charger and should be a more efficient vehicle since the Impala averages about 10 more miles per gallon of fuel than the Dodge.

The justice of the peace also approved a request for a high-speed document scanner for the Sheriff’s Office to use in transferring paper warrants and other information into the Sheriff’s Office computers.

The justices of the peace discussed Cradduck’s request at length, and quizzed him on plans to reorganize the Sheriff’s Office and jail staff. Justice of the Peace Barry Moehring told Cradduck he would like to see a complete package including the requests for vehicles and equipment along with the personnel changes. Moehring said if Cradduck can cut his personnel costs, as the sheriff said he will do, it would ease his concerns about spending money from reserve on vehicles and equipment.

Cradduck said he is presenting the request for vehicles now because of the lag time in purchasing and equipping vehicles. Holley said it would take at least 60 days to get the vehicles ready for use after the purchase is approved.

“I assure you I’m not going to come to the court with any fluff or anything I don’t need,” Cradduck said. “This is what I need.”

Upcoming Events