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Hancock County finance panel approves switch to Sidwell GIS, orders forensic audit and allocates audit overage
Summary
At its July 9 meeting in Carthage, the Hancock County Finance, Fees, and Salaries Committee voted unanimously to switch the county's GIS contract to Sidwell, authorized pursuing a forensic audit of sheriff's office receipts, and charged one-third of a single-audit overage to three county departments.
The Hancock County Finance, Fees, and Salaries Committee on July 9 voted unanimously to change the county's geographic information system vendor to Sidwell, authorize staff to pursue a forensic audit of sheriff's office records, and allocate one-third of a single-audit overage to three county entities.
Chair Wayne Bollin opened the meeting at 9:00 a.m. in the Hancock County Courthouse in Carthage. Keara Weber, identified in the meeting as the circuit clerk, distributed the circuit clerk package and said fines were running above average; she also noted jury trials planned for next week. Mark Menn reminded the group that Juneteenth is not a paid holiday for county staff.
Michael McVey reported that Sidwell offered an additional reduction of $10 per hour per document through 2026, bringing the quoted price to $6,290. Joe Boyes said the competing GIS company had not followed up after a conference call and appeared unresponsive; Boyes moved to switch the county's GIS work to Sidwell, and Harry Douglas seconded. A roll-call vote was taken with all members present voting yes, and the committee instructed staff to send a letter terminating Schneider's GIS services.
The committee also discussed the county's audit. Kris Pilkington said the audit was emailed July 1 and that the highway department, Hancock County Public Transportation and the health department together pushed the county over the threshold that triggers a single audit. Steve Lucie moved to charge one-third of that overage to those three entities, and Alex Blythe seconded; the motion passed on a unanimous roll call.
On the sheriff's office review, members were told that credit card receipts from 2023 and some from 2024 have not been turned in. Harry Douglas moved to hire a forensic auditor and to first contact Adam Pulley, CPA, by Zoom to see if he would take the assignment; Alex Blythe seconded. The motion passed on a unanimous roll call, directing staff to pursue retention of a forensic auditor to examine the records.
Judge Clark and Alex Whitman told the committee they would provide $50,000 from the public defender's grant to the county to assist with payment for a conflict public defender; the committee recorded that transfer as an informational item.
Administrative matters included approval of claims (motion by Harry Douglas, seconded by Joe Boyes; unanimous roll call), distribution of budget-preparation materials from Justin Greeley of Bellwether with an August 1 return deadline, and acceptance of a $15-per-banner bid from Robert Steinman for two bicentennial banners (motion by Dennis Castlebury, seconded by Alex Blythe; members voted to approve the bids).
Pilkington said she may hire someone to begin training to replace Shannon Kissinger. Committee members were told that current medical costs are about $80,000 lower than last year while prescription costs remain about the same. The committee recessed and adjourned at 10:35 a.m.
Next steps: staff will send the termination letter for Schneider's GIS services, pursue contacting Adam Pulley about the forensic audit, and hold scheduled budget meetings with officeholders in August.
