Commissioners approve ordinance moving drug-court drug-screen fees to Clerk’s Office

Vigo County commissioners voted to approve Ordinance 2025-6, which moves collection and accounting of drug-court drug-screen fees to the Vigo County Clerk’s Office.

The ordinance, introduced by Taylor Trinkle, coordinator for Vigo County Veterans Court and Vigo County Drug Court, creates a distinct fund and routing so payments for drug-screening — currently taken in cash at the drug court office — will be received and recorded through the Clerk’s Office.

Taylor Trinkle said screens cost $20.95 each and participants typically take two screens per week. "We have about 30 participants right now," Trinkle said, and monthly deposits have ranged "anywhere from a $100 to $2,000 a month." Trinkle described the current practice as an outlier: drug-screen payments were being collected in her office while other user fees for drug court and veterans court are paid through the Clerk and accounted for there.

A county legal reviewer said that if the drug court were to cease operations, the ordinance provides that remaining money would revert to the county general fund. Trinkle told commissioners the change will standardize accounting and stop cash collections at the drug court office at 653 Ohio (address as given in the meeting).

The ordinance was moved and seconded and approved by voice vote. The commission did not record a roll-call tally in the transcript.

Why it matters: moving the fee receipts into the Clerk’s Office centralizes financial handling for court-related user fees and screens, aligning drug-screen receipts with other court payments and removing a cash-handling burden from the drug court coordinator’s office.

What’s next: The ordinance takes effect as approved; administrative steps will follow to set up a Clerk-held fund and routing for monthly invoices and participant payments.