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Sheriff seeks vehicle trade-ins to update fleet; commissioners approve
Summary
Madison County Sheriff requested approval to trade in three older vehicles to purchase replacements for jail and special-deputy duties; commissioners approved the trade-in plan and noted replacement funding will come from fee revenue and an existing jail tech fund.
Madison County Sheriff Doug Belts asked the commissioners to approve using three older department vehicles as trade-ins to offset the cost of replacements, and the commission approved the request by voice vote.
"We have two Dodge Chargers we're requesting" for trade-in, Belts said, identifying a 2014 Charger with 158,000 miles and a 2016 Charger with 133,000 miles. He said a dealer (Ed Martin) offered $3,200 apiece for each Charger. Belts also described a 2018 Ram truck with about 155,000 miles; the truck requires extensive maintenance and a dealer offered $3,500 for trade-in.
Belts said the department intends to purchase a 2018 Ford Taurus (a former Anderson Police Department vehicle with 45,000 miles) for about $9,900; any difference will be paid from a restricted fund that collects fees from registered offenders, not from the sheriff's general operating budget. He added the jail has an existing multi-year tech grant that has provided approximately $25,000 a year and that the jail has not spent the full grant balance.
A commissioner moved to approve the trade-ins; the motion passed by voice vote. The transcript does not record a roll-call tally.
Next steps: the sheriff's office will complete trade-in paperwork and proceed with the vehicle purchase using the offender-fee fund and available jail tech grant money.
