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Scott County commissioners agree to seek council appropriation to cover sheriff’s radio lease after bank default notice
Summary
County legal counsel told commissioners US Bank notified the county it intended to declare a sheriff’s lease in default; commissioners voted to request the county council authorize payment from the sheriff’s mandated budget and to present the matter to council next week.
Scott County commissioners discussed a US Bank lease-purchase agreement for radios that the county received notices about after the bank indicated it intended to declare the county in default.
County legal counsel Zach summarized the situation, saying the contract bears a sheriff's signature dated Feb. 12, 2024, and bank signatures dated Feb. 20, 2025, and that US Bank had asserted a cross-collateralization clause that could expose other county equipment to default remedies. Zach told commissioners the county did not receive the contract for pre-execution review as required by the 2024 amendment to Indiana Code 36-2-2.9-4, which now requires certain county officer contracts be submitted to the county executive or executed by that executive.
Zach warned that voiding the contract carries risk because one signature dates before the statute's effective date, and he said council and the commissioners should decide whether to void the contract or approve it contingent on an appropriation.
Commissioners discussed payoff figures presented in notices: a current payoff figure of about $11,007.80 was cited in county communications, while a larger outstanding principal of roughly $41,700 was also mentioned as the total amount outstanding on documents. Commissioner discussion focused on maintaining essential radio communications for public safety and on the statutory requirement that the sheriff's contracts be submitted to the county executive and county fiscal body. One commissioner said radios are life-safety equipment and recommended the payment be taken from the sheriff's mandated budget.
A motion to present the contract to the county council and request that council appropriate funds from the sheriff's mandated budget passed unanimously. The board did not void the contract at the meeting and instead agreed to ask the council next week to appropriate the funds necessary to keep the radios funded from the sheriff's budget.
The board directed staff to provide the council with the payoff figures and supporting documents in advance of council's meeting so councilors could decide on the appropriation.
No final legal determination about voiding the contract was made at the meeting; Zach reiterated there is risk either way and that the county should expect follow-up work from counsel and possible negotiation with the bank.
