Commissioners approve transport vehicle, cruisers and equipment purchases from reinvestment and special funds

The Richland County Board of Commissioners voted May 13 to authorize several purchases and contract changes affecting the county fleet and jail facilities.

The Board approved a sheriff's request to purchase a jail transport vehicle for $58,065 from the sheriff's Evercom fund. "Motion that we authorize the sheriff to purchase a transport vehicle for jail. This is, 58,065. This is from a non general fund. This is their Evercom fund," the presiding commissioner said during the meeting.

The Board also moved forward with a previously budgeted purchase of six police cruisers. Commissioners discussed the county fleet inventory and were told by Captain Swett that an earlier-listed inventory of 91 vehicles was overstated and that a more accurate count is about 70–71 vehicles; staff said 12 vehicles have been or are being disposed and another eight will be disposed.

Equipment purchases tied to those cruisers were approved as well. The Board authorized the sheriff to buy four cruiser laptops totaling $12,300 from Decision Point and funded from the Richland County Reinvestment Fund.

Facility work approved included change order number 3 for restroom renovations (an increase described during the meeting as approximately $3,345.40) to relocate existing conduit and data lines, to be paid from the Reinvestment Fund. The Board also approved a vendor quote for jail shower repairs; the meeting transcript contained a vendor amount that could not be read clearly in the record and staff later indicated the expense will be charged to the jail supply line item.

Budget context and discussion: Commissioners discussed the long-term costs of maintaining and replacing cruisers. One commissioner said the county spent about $2,000,000 over the first seven years of a prior period to modernize the fleet and that future cruiser purchases are not guaranteed; the Board indicated there "may not be a cruiser approval for 2026" and that future counts and purchases will be considered in budget planning.

Votes and next steps: Motions for the transport vehicle, cruiser purchases, laptops, change order and jail repairs were put forward, seconded and recorded as approved during the meeting proceedings. The transcript records affirmative votes by named commissioners on several motions; some roll-call entries in the record are abbreviated but the meeting proceeded with purchases authorized.