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Commissioners delay JMUD jail grant approval, request workshop and sheriff's-office participation
Summary
Commissioners heard a staff summary of a state-mandated jail grant (roughly $331,000) and agreed to hold a workshop to get details from jail medical providers and sheriff's staff before approving the application.
The Curry County Board of Commissioners on April 15 discussed a state-related jail funding opportunity intended to help the county meet a mandate for medical care and medication-delivery in the jail.
Ted Fitzgerald, director of county operations, said the grant would fund equipment and personnel required to administer certain medications to people housed in the jail and that the county was considering a request in the range of roughly $331,000. "We're looking at a total of 300 and I will right now, we're looking at $331,000," Fitzgerald said.
Commissioners and staff said they want more detail before approving blanket signature authority or accepting the grant application. Commissioner Brad Alcorn said the county previously asked to schedule a workshop with the jail's medical providers and did not receive the contacts needed to set that meeting. Several commissioners expressed the same concern: that they have not received caregiver contact information, billing plans, or clear answers on whether the county will enroll the jail in Medicaid or use third-party billing vendors for reimbursements.
Hollinger said the jail needs funding but emphasized the county also needs leadership and transparency from the sheriff's office to ensure proper oversight. "We need a sheriff to step up to that podium and tell us the ins and outs of this grant," he said.
The board did not approve the grant at the meeting. Instead commissioners directed staff to schedule a workshop that includes the nurse or medical provider who would administer the medications and to seek a formal plan from the sheriff's office showing oversight, billing arrangements, and risk-management steps before any signature or acceptance of the grant.
Why it matters: County staff said the grant would help the jail comply with a state mandate for treating jailed inmates and could reduce deputy time spent on medical tasks; commissioners said the jail also faces long-running facility and staffing issues and they want detail about liability and billing before committing county authority or funds.
No formal motion to accept the grant was approved at the meeting; commissioners asked staff to reconvene the discussion with named participants present.
