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Sheriff asks council to fund full‑time transport officer; council approves 27th pay
Summary
The county’s law‑enforcement official asked the council to create a full‑time transport position to handle federal inmate transfers and discussed reimbursement rates; the council approved a previously budgeted 27th payroll for the sheriff.
An agency official responsible for jail operations asked the Rush County Council to consider funding a full‑time transport officer to manage federal inmate transports, saying current staffing and short notice for transfers make the function difficult to cover.
The official described the workload: the jail handles multiple transports a week, some trips last roughly five hours round trip, and federal reimbursements were discussed as a revenue offset. The transcript records a referenced federal transport reimbursement of about $33 per hour per transport officer and a stated facility revenue figure of $91 per inmate; the official said reimbursement and mileage are available but that staffing uncertainty complicates planning. "We are struggling to keep up with the federal transports," the official said, and urged council to consider using incoming funds to support the position.
The official and council discussed who would pay salary and benefits if the position is funded from incoming LIT or general county revenues; staff said commissioners would need to allot the funds. The starting salary number discussed in the packet was $48,608 for a beginning jailer; benefits and payroll‑tax examples were also reviewed in the meeting. The official noted that while some transport time is reimbursable, the number of reimbursable hours will vary because transports occur on short notice.
Council members then moved on a separate personnel/compensation item: a motion to approve a budgeted "27th pay" for the sheriff (an extra payroll period included in the budget process) was seconded and carried on a voice vote.
Council asked staff and the sheriff’s office to return with specific cost estimates, and to identify whether funding would come from county general or other revenue sources before formally creating a full‑time transport position.
