County and sheriff’s staff updated the court Sept. 5 on jail staffing, overtime and medical expenses. The sheriff reported 14 open positions in the most recent pay period, five new hires beginning training on Aug. 25 and 13 active applications expected to produce additional hires by the end of the month. Despite new hires, staff said they continued to see unallocated overtime (an estimated ~300 hours when accounting for vacancies and scheduled leave) and that courthouse security details occasionally increased overtime needs.

On medical spending, staff reported payments to outside providers for jail inmate medical services totaling $95,775 so far in 2025. The court discussed hospital bills routed through United Regional and noted United Regional’s billing threshold and reimbursement arrangements; one example discussed was Fresenius dialysis claims where county staff pursued insurance coordination and expected reimbursement (the presenter said efforts could recoup roughly $14,000 in one case if paperwork is completed and insurance is billed).

Staff said they would produce a more detailed report showing outside‑agency and hospital spending for the sheriff and the court. Commissioners discussed how identifying inmate insurance could reduce net county medical outlays and noted that billing processes for outside providers are improving as staff pursue insurance documentation and provider resubmission when appropriate.

No formal actions were taken. Staff said they will return with a detailed payment summary for jail medical costs for the year, continuing recruitment updates and overtime management plans.

Ending: The court requested periodic updates on recruitment, overtime mitigation and a detailed accounting of outside agency medical spending for inmates.