Carroll County Sheriff Demands Cities Pay Fees

At a news conference Monday in Berryville, Carroll County Sheriff Bob
Grudek said he will stop providing free dispatch and jail services to
the cities of Berryville and Green Forest unless his department is
reimbursed for those services.

At a news conference Monday in Berryville, Carroll County Sheriff Bob Grudek said he will stop providing free dispatch and jail services to the cities of Berryville and Green Forest unless his department is reimbursed for those services.

Tuesday, July 9, 2013

BERRYVILLE - Carroll County will stop providing free dispatch and jail services to Berryville and Green Forest next year, Sheriff Bob Grudek said Monday.

Grudek said the county isn’t reimbursed by those two cities for central dispatch service, running criminal background checks through the state or housing prisoners before their initial court appearances.

At a news conference Monday at the Carroll County courthouse in Berryville, Grudek said he will give the Quorum Court and cities the rest of the year to figure out how to pay for those services, because he doesn’t plan to provide them next year without reimbursement.

“If we cannot force them to pay for services, why should we be offering them free services?” Grudek said.

Grudek said a half-percent sales tax Carroll County voters approved in 2000 was meant to build and equip the jail and central dispatch, not to operate it in subsequent years.

But Berryville Mayor Tim McKinney disagrees. He said the ballot wording “clearly” states that the tax was to fund operation of the dispatch center, and the tax is still being collected countywide.

“If the county thinks they need more revenue, they need to pass a tax or whatever they need to do,” said McKinney. “A ballot title is a ballot title, and nobody can change that except the voters. I certainly don’t think the sheriff can do it.”

Green Forest Mayor Charlie Reece agrees with McKinney.

“The title of the ballot specifically says for dispatch, so I don’t know where he’s coming up with that,” said Reece. “I don’t understand it. It’s a little bit confusing, the tactics being used.”

The ballot title, passed in 2000, stated, “A proposal to levy a one-half of one percent sales and use tax within Carroll County to be used to construct and equip a jail facility and sheriff’s department and to be used to operate the jail facility and a central dispatch office.”

The ballot title went on to state that any additional revenue collected through the tax “after the quorum court has appropriated needed jail and central dispatch operating funds shall be used for future jail expansion, capital improvements or county roads.”

During the news conference, Grudek said there never has been a surplus from the sales tax, and there never will be.

Grudek said Carroll County is one of the few counties in the state that has a central dispatch that’s separate from its 911 service, but when voters approved the tax, Carroll County didn’t have a central 911 or police dispatch, Grudek said.

Lamont Richie, a Carroll County justice of the peace who attended the news conference, asked Grudek to define “central dispatch.”

Grudek responded, saying central dispatch includes 911 and police dispatch.

“Regardless of what definition you use to describe dispatch, I don’t see anything in that ballot that says we can’t charge cities for services,” Grudek said.

Grudek said police departments are supposed to pay for housing prisoners until their “first judicial,” which isan initial court appearance normally held within 48 hours after an arrest. But Berryville and Green Forest haven’t been doing that. And sheriff’s deputies stand in for city police officers at those initial hearings, Grudek said.

“I just disagree with the sheriff, and we’ll have to sort it out,” McKinney said, when asked about the cost of housing prisoners before a first court appearance.

Grudek said doing background checks through the Arkansas Crime Information Center is not part of central dispatch duties, but his dispatch center has been doing those for Berryville and Green Forest without charging labor costs.

Background checks are “not a function of dispatch,” Grudek said. “It’s not a function of jail. … It’s the administrative responsibility of that police department. We, for some reason, are doing all their [Arkansas Crime Information Center] work.”

McKinney said Berryville and Green Forest pay $6,000 per year in “terminal usage fees” for the crime information center’s computer terminal. McKinney said Berryville officers seldom request background checks through the state’s system.

During the news conference, Grudek said the cities pay that usage fee, but they don’t pay for sheriff’s office employees to log in warrants and look up information.

Grudek said his office’s expenses will exceed revenue by $200,000 this year. The difference will have to come out of the county’s general fund, he said.

“The jail is getting old,” said Grudek. “Dispatch is getting old. It’s all computerized. You’re lucky if it lasts for five years.”

Grudek said he’ll have to replace computer hardware and software at the county’s expense, while providing free services to Berryville and Green Forest.

“Something has to be done,” Grudek said. “If the county goes under, every one of the cities goes with us.”

McKinney and Reece also expressed concern because Grudek has revoked the commissions of police officers in those cities to also serve as sheriff’s deputies. That means the police officers can no longer go outside the city limits when doing their jobs, said McKinney.

Grudek said he learned two officers in different cities were doing investigative work outside their city limits.

“It is clear the police departments do not have any jurisdiction outside their city limits,” he said during the news conference.

Grudek said he revoked all the commissions as a result and will give new commissions. But, McKinney said, according to a letter from Grudek, only two officers in each city will be commissioned also as deputies. Previously, all city police officers were commissioned also as deputies.

Northwest Arkansas, Pages 9 on 07/09/2013