Committee approves small grants and a district attorney funding gap; several items cleared by voice vote

The Washington County Public Safety Committee approved several funding items and scheduling requests during its April meeting.

District attorney funding: The committee considered a funding gap of $13,020.88 for a district attorney position for the remainder of 2025. A motion was made to request that the finance director provide means of funding the position for the balance of 2025; the committee approved the motion by voice vote.

Municipal radio grants: The committee approved two municipal public-safety radio grants: $38,000 (item 3g) and a separate $31,000 grant for the Miller-to-Salina fire department. Both motions were made and carried by voice vote.

Emergency-management equipment: The committee approved use of strategic-priority funds, recommending $6,000 for emergency management equipment and computer/hardware replacement tied to the new emergency-management coordinator’s transition and digitization work. Committee members discussed whether departments typically budget for such equipment and were told departments commonly include IT lines in their budgets and that some purchases are recouped through grants.

Annual safety/jail walkthrough: The committee discussed the annual walkthrough/inspection required by state statute for the justice center and agreed to schedule that walk-through immediately after a regular committee meeting (a proposed date noted was after the May meeting); staff said they would coordinate with facilities and insurance and invite the full county board.

All four funding items were approved by voice vote; the transcript records committee members saying "Aye" and "Motion carries" but does not provide a roll-call tally for yes/no votes.

Ending: Committee members approved the requested funding and scheduling items and directed staff to coordinate implementation details with finance, IT and facilities.