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Board shifts salary and fringe for circuit court collections position to sheriff’s budget
Summary
The Muskegon County Board approved reallocating salary and fringe costs for a circuit court collections position to the sheriff’s department budget effective Oct. 1, 2024; court staff said the move aligns revenues and expenditures tied to jail-debt collection.
On April 16, 2025, the Muskegon County Board of Commissioners approved an amendment to reallocate salary and fringe costs for a circuit court collections position (position Q27518) so that a portion of the position’s cost is charged to the sheriff’s department budget.
The motion, listed as CPS 25/01-02, was approved after discussion and a roll-call vote in which all seven commissioners present voted yes: Commissioner McBegin, Chair Nash, Vice Chair Cook, Commissioner Cyr, Commissioner Hayescamp, Commissioner Hermann and Commissioner Cage.
Alicia Bridal, the circuit court administrator, explained that a staff member in her office spends a substantial amount of time collecting jail debt even though the revenue collected is recorded in the sheriff’s budget. “In order to follow sound accounting principles, we want the expenditures and the revenues to be attributed to the sheriff’s department,” Bridal said. She told commissioners the sheriff has reviewed the proposal and agreed the office should continue collecting jail debt, and that the sheriff’s department will “pay us 0.4 of that position,” meaning the money collected will offset 40% of the position’s cost.
Bridal described how payments are collected at the circuit court’s public cash window and how staff generate consolidated debt statements for people making payments. She said staff currently extract jail debt from sheriff’s software and compile it into a spreadsheet so it can be included on the consolidated statement and collected at the counter.
The motion included an effective date of Oct. 1, 2024, and listed dollar allocations in the agenda text: the total position amount stated in the motion was $40,269.77 (as recorded in the transcript); the motion also itemized $8,058.95 to account 1010-0132 and $32,215.78 to account 1010-0351. Commissioners asked why the change was not made earlier; Bridal said the office recently reviewed its practices and determined the reallocation was appropriate.
After questions and brief discussion, the board moved and approved the reallocation. No public comment was recorded on the item during the meeting.
