Todd County court approves transfers, funds jail feasibility studies and names ethics committee replacement

Todd County fiscal court approved a series of budget transfers to cover public-safety and program accounts, authorized incentive pay for three county employees who completed training, voted to fund two jail feasibility studies totaling $14,000 from the general fund, and appointed a new third member to the county ethics committee. The county clerk announced a KDLA grant that will pay for restoration of aging records.

During financial discussion the court reviewed recent transfers that had been made and agreed to further moves to cover public-safety and program needs. The court reported earlier transfers of $50,000 and $42,000 to jail accounts and $20,000 to dispatch; at the meeting the court approved additional transfers described in the record as at least $100,000 to the jail, $120,000 to ambulance services, $25,000 to dispatch and $11,453 to the county’s CDBG (Community Development Block Grant) senior citizens account. A motion to approve the transfers was made, seconded and approved by voice vote.

The court also approved incentive pay for three county employees — the judge’s office employee, a county clerk employee and the jailer — after confirmation they had completed required training. The court recorded the motion and voice vote approving payment of those incentive fees.

On the jail, court members discussed two feasibility-study proposals that had been placed in the meeting folder: one from a firm identified as Compass and a second from consultant Kelly White. Court members voted to proceed with both proposals so the county could compare findings; the record indicates the county will transfer funds from the general fund to pay for both studies with a combined cost of $14,000. The record shows Kelly White is expected to make at least one on-site visit as part of his proposal. A motion to hire both consultants and appropriate funding was made, seconded, and the court approved the action by voice vote.

The county’s jail report presented population and revenue figures: the jail reported 14 inmates incarcerated at the time of the report, a count of 44 county inmates and 70 state inmates in custody overall, and an average daily population of 64 inmates for December. The jail reported receiving $129,372.42 in housing revenue for the referenced period; it also received $8,470 from House Bill 556 funds for educational programming, $6,385.48 in jailer fee claims for inmate transports and $6,983.08 in third-quarter LCAF receipts.

On personnel and committees, the court accepted the resignation of Alan Franks from the ethics committee and appointed Will “Bill” Joe as the third member by motion and voice vote (recorded as Order 25-3 in the packet). The clerk also briefed the court that the clerk’s office received a KDLA (Kentucky Department for Libraries and Archives) grant of $38,913 to fund book restoration; the clerk said KDLA staff already picked up records for restoration.

Other operational notes in the record included a scheduling update: emergency management director interviews will begin the following Monday and a driver’s-license pop-up that includes required vision screening will be held in the courthouse on a Tuesday beginning at 9 a.m., per a recent Kentucky law that requires vision screening for certain license transactions. The court discussed purchasing a dedicated laptop for meeting streaming but did not record a final procurement vote in the meeting minutes.