At the Sept. 5 Wichita County Commissioners Court session, the sheriff’s office reported routine facility maintenance activity, several pending equipment and roof issues, and continuing budget pressure from jail medical costs and overtime.

Maintenance and roof warranty
The sheriff reported 121 maintenance work orders during the prior two-week period and said the agency has identified more serious roof issues than previously known. Court staff obtained warranty documents for the courthouse roof and described the warranty language as limited; the sheriff reported the warranty terms reference wind speeds (55 mph) and do not clearly cover impact damage. County staff said they would submit the matter to the county’s insurance partner (TAC) for review and possible inspection. The sheriff also reported ordered replacements and repairs for laundry equipment and HVAC parts and said the facility had repaired a gun-range HVAC unit.

Jail medical and staffing
The sheriff updated the court on staffing and overtime: the department had 14 open positions at the most recent pay period, had started five employees who were still in training, and was processing additional applications. The sheriff said overtime remains notable: a calculation that subtracts open positions and vacation still leaves roughly 300 workforce hours requiring coverage. On medical costs, finance staff reported about $95,775 spent year to date on outside medical bills associated with jail inmates; the sheriff and staff noted that some bill amounts are reduced when providers bill inmates’ third-party insurance and that several prior high-dollar claims have been resubmitted with insurance information. County staff said United Regional billing remains material until the county meets an insurance threshold that changes how the hospital invoices the county.

Why it matters: Facility maintenance, uncertain roof warranty coverage and jail medical expenses affect operations and the county budget. The court directed the sheriff and staff to work with insurance and warranty providers, pursue TAC review and continue more systematic tracking of outside medical bills and insurance billing to recover eligible amounts.

Ending: Commissioners will follow up on warranty review, TAC inspection and staffing progress; no budget vote was taken during the Sept. 5 session.