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Rockingham County commissioners allocate about $250,000 for inmate insurance, tighten sheriff—s contract controls
Summary
Commissioners said they approved roughly $250,000 for inmate health insurance after a presentation by the sheriff—s office and put an ordinance and new workflow in place after a county attorney review found four sheriff—s contracts that did not follow procedure.
Commissioner Charlie Hall said the Rockingham County Board of Commissioners allocated about $250,000 in additional funds to cover insurance for jail inmates after a presentation from the sheriff—s office.
Why it matters: County officials said North Carolina law can leave local taxpayers responsible for health-care costs for people in custody who had previously received government-assisted health care, and the board moved to cover the shortfall while also adopting new contract controls after an internal review.
Commissioner Charlie Hall said, "So we had Captain Brown from the Sheriff's Department come and present the need for some additional funds to cover insurance for inmates. And we allocated about $250,000 additional money for the jail to cover insurance for inmates." Commissioner Kevin Berger explained the legal context: "In North Carolina, when someone that is on government assistance for health care goes into custody, the local taxpayer foots the bill for their health care costs."
County Attorney Clyde Albright reviewed hundreds of department contracts, Hall said, and found four in the sheriff's department "that did not follow proper procedure." The board said it corrected those contracts and "put an ordinance and a workflow in place to handle that in the future," according to Commissioner Hall. The transcript did not give an ordinance number or record a roll-call vote on the measures.
The discussion combined an immediate budget action to cover inmate insurance and a procedural response to contract missteps in the sheriff's office. The commissioners described the contract corrections as administrative and said the county attorney led the review.
County staff and the sheriff's office did not provide additional details in the recorded remarks about the insurer, the specific policy changes, or the four contracts corrected; those specifics were not specified in the transcript.
The board did not publicly state a formal vote tally in the recorded remarks; commissioners described the allocation and the new contract workflow as implemented during the meeting.
The board said it expects the new ordinance and workflow to prevent future improper contract signings and that county officials will monitor implementation.
