Commissioners send city another dispatch/jail contract with changes

    At last week’s meeting, Chase County Commissioners Jacci Brown, Dennis Kunnemann and Chuck Vette continued to work with Imperial City Councilman Chad Yaw, Chase County Sheriff Kevin Mueller and Chase County Deputy Attorney Rory Roundtree on an acceptable dispatch/inmate agreement between the two entities.
    The group did make a few more changes.
    Wording was changed to reflect that the county would make all reasonable efforts to find housing for Imperial Police Department prisoners, after the sheriff’s office discovered it isn’t able to take any prisoner it can’t hold to the state penitentiary.
    “We don’t want to be forced to try to figure out what we’re going to do with that person,” Mueller said.
    Roundtree said there are two extremes to the situation, one being the county isn’t obligated to take prisoners and the other being it has to take prisoners.
    He said the contract wording is the middle road.
    “The county will be required to take reasonable efforts and do everything they can to try to place that person, but in the situation where it is an impossibility would be required to hold on to a (prisoner),” Roundtree said.
    Mueller recounted a recent situation where a sheriff was calling jails across the state trying to find a spot for a prisoner, and no on was able to help.
    The proposed contract will be for five years, then renew itself yearly at the end of its term unless either party would like to renegotiate. There is a 3% increase in cost each year.
    Though the commissioners had said they wanted to give the city a copy of the new contract at the city council’s next meeting, Kunnemann suggested letting Yaw take a look to see if anything jumped out at him.
    Yaw asked for clarification on several issues. He asked that the city receive more than 30 days notice, when possible, for changes in equipment or closing of the jail.
    Yaw went on to ask if the police department’s radios would still work with the county’s equipment. While the county said nothing had changed on their end, they weren’t sure what changes the city had made to the equipment.
    Yaw was hopeful his fellow council members and the mayor would accept the contract.
    After updates were made, the contract was signed by Vette and taken to the city offices for review at the Monday’s city council meeting.
    In other business, Chase County Assessor Dotty Bartels presented 451 permissive exemption applications. The public hearing is scheduled for 10 a.m. Feb. 25.
    The next meeting of the commissioners will be Feb. 11 at 8 a.m. in the courthouse.