Editor,
Thank you for the opportunity to respond to your story of April 1, 2014. This response is offered as we were unable to speak with each other prior to the article and a constituent recently forwarded the article to me.
Please allow this format to offer my comments in the story, or as Paul Harvey used to say: “The rest of the story.” Unfortunately, to offer a complete explanation, this must be lengthy.
First let me address the Sheriff’s Office Budget and “Additional Appropriations.” An Additional Appropriation request comes to the fiduciary body or County Council when an elected official has no funds left in an appropriated line or incurs an unexpected expense from their previously approved budget and must ask for more monies. My request to move inmate medical, postage and repairs money are “Additional Appropriations” by definition only as we manage our tax dollars well and are not “out of money.” Rather, we have programming in place to recoup some of the monies we spend on our inmates.
Inmate medical expenses were over $400,000 in 2006 with an average inmate population below 100 inmates. Beginning my term as your Sheriff in 2007, we looked hard at the Budget as we promised and made significant changes. While our medical program for inmates continues to be robust and meet the required standards of the State of Indiana, with our new providers and on-going scrutiny, we have reduced inmate medical costs 63% per capita. Those savings are projected near $2M dollars. (Our current medical budget is approximately $185,000 with a daily inmate population of 150 inmates.)
Part of our cost savings is requiring inmates to pay a medical co-pay of $10 as you and I do to see a doctor or get a prescription. These monies we voluntarily collect must go to the county general fund and, in order for me to place them rightfully in the Inmate Medical Fund, I must ask for an Additional Appropriation. (This is a required procedure by the State Board of Accounts. We have also verified through the Boone County Auditor and the State Board of Accounts that this is the proper and legal procedure.) We have not run out of money, but are merely attempting to move the voluntarily collected monies from the inmates to the Inmate Medical fund. In this case, the “small amounts” of money that Mr. Thompson considers “ . . . . a waste of everyone’s time, or maybe I should say those small transactions are unnecessary” now total over $30,000 in inmate medical alone during my seven (7) years as your Sheriff. I do not find that to be a “small amount.”
We do similar requests when an inmate claims to be indigent and we are required to provide them postage. When friends or family bring them commissary monies (for soda, candy, etc.), we bill their commissary account for the postage fees you provided them with and ask those monies be returned to the Postage line in the Sheriff’s Budget. Again, this is voluntary on our part. We merely ask the County Council to move these monies. The expense, according to the County Auditor, is approximately $3.00 for us to do this.
Again, a similar procedure is follow if an inmate damages jail property. The cost of the item is deducted from their commissary account and attempted to be appropriately moved to the Repairs line.
As to the “revenue as the expense of the inmate” claim by Mr. Thompson, again the full story is not being shared. Commissary and inmate telephone calling has been regulated by state statute for many, many years. The Legislature allows the Sheriff control of the commissary accounts and forbids the County Council from controlling it or reducing the Sheriff’s Budget and forcing the Sheriff to spend commissary. (The statute is clear on this and I have repeatedly explained it to Mr. Thompson.) The commissary account is closely audited by the State Board of Accounts annually and we have received outstanding reports. The monies are used according to Indiana State Statute and a more restrictive Boone County ordinance. Finally, should the Sheriff’s not be allowed to profit off the commissary and use these monies according to statute, the taxpayers would be funding more programming and services. We find it proper for the inmates to pay for some of their services.
As to Mr. Thompson and his questions, I have no issue with questions. However, as other elected officials, department heads and members of the public have noticed, his questions are often asked in a belittling and disrespectful way and come across as Mr. Smith pointed out as trying to have a “gotcha moment.” I served a term as a County Council member and I understand asking hard questions; however many could be answered prior to the meeting and reduce meeting times and also allow the elected official or department head the opportunity to research and provide a better answer. Mr. Thompson and I discussed our disagreements one morning and he agreed to offer up the questions in advance so I could be better prepared to respond. Unfortunately, he chose to not stand to that agreement.
The Sheriff’s Office will continue to be good stewards of the county tax dollars and do our best to continue to offer the best public safety services we can so Boone County continues to be a great place to work, live and raise a family.
Should you have any questions, please feel free to contact me at (765)482-1412 or [email protected].
Sheriff Ken P. Campbell
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