Delegation hears first‑quarter budget good news and new large liabilities from jail hospitalizations and a norovirus outbreak

County leaders told the Strafford County delegation that while the first quarter of the 2025 budget largely tracked plan, two unanticipated events are creating material downside risk for the year: (1) an extended, high‑cost hospitalization of a convicted but not yet sentenced inmate that required round‑the‑clock deputy security and (2) a norovirus outbreak at the county nursing facility that forced use of expensive per‑diem nursing staff.

The jail incident: Superintendent and medical staff from the Strafford County House of Correction described a case that began with a January 19 hospital admission and resulted in multiple transports to high‑level care, including open‑heart surgery at a Boston hospital. The inmate was revived after a critical episode and returned to care; medical and custody needs continued. The superintendent told the delegation: “Every time an individual goes out, it requires 2 deputies to go out and be with that individual. And that requires overtime.” The county said Plymouth County assisted early on “out of courtesy” but that the prolonged stays ultimately…