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Last updated on Wednesday, August 27, 2014
(BEDFORD) - Lawrence County Community Correction Director Doug Horton is resigning from his position.
His last day will be Friday.
Replacing Horton will be community correction and probation officer Chad Shew.
Horton will now serve as the Lawrence County Domestic Violence Coordinator. Joe Dibert, who held that position, is retiring.
But before Horton made his announcement at the commissioners meeting Tuesday morning, he presented the commissions with the Community Corrections annual report.
The county had 653 residents serve on community corrections and 391 were placed on home detention. Horton says that this saved the county $1.6 million dollars. That is money the county would have spent if the offenders had spent time in jail.
In other business:
The commissioners opened bids for road salt. What they found were not bids but papers from Morton Salt and North America stating they would not submit bids.
"That means they will not guarantee a price on the salt they will provide," says Commissioner Bill Spreen. "This just reinforces my point on not using salt or using limited salt on our county roads."
After last years bad winter and the extensive damage done to roads and bridges in the county from the use of de-icing materials the commissioners have challenged road crews to use as little salt as possible this winter.
"We don't have the facilities to store other materials to keep it dry," Spreen says. "The problem is if we use something else it will freeze in it gets wets and we can't spread it in the trucks. Its just not a simple as saying we are not using salt."
Commissioner President Dave Flinn agreed.
"We are concerned about the damage the salt is doing to the roads and bridges, but we also have to consider the safety of motorists." Flinn added, "we are just going to have to wait and see what this winter brings and hope for the best."
* Charles Reed, of Shelbyville asked about purchasing property at 675 Meridian Road. The property is currently owned by the county.
Reed owns property on both sides of the lot and would like to purchase it. However Commissioner Spreen says another resident is also interested in purchasing the land.
The commissioners agreed to look into the situation and offer the property to the highest bidder. They will advertise the lot for sale and then accept closed bids on the property. The highest bidder will then be able to purchase the lot.
* Sheriff Sam Craig reported there were currently 94 inmates at the jail, which shocked commissioners because numbers have been high this year. Of those inmates 17 were females.
Craig says one reason numbers are down is because currently the jail is not holding any Department of Correction inmates and many are now being placed on house arrest and being sentenced to community corrections.
* The commissioners also addressed an issue about a hand rail at the north entrance of the courthouse. Commissioner Chris May had received a complaint from a visually impaired residents about the issue. Sheriff Craig addressed the problem.
* Circuit Court Judge Andrea McCord asked permission to preserve and reframe the portraits of circuit county judges that are displayed in her courtroom.
"Acorn Framing has agreed to re-frame the photos for $88," Judge McCord told the commissioners.
There currently 5 judges portraits hanging in her courtroom - Judge Chester Davis, Judge H. Wayne Baker, Judge Linda Chezem, Judge John Plummer II and Judge Richard McIntyre - but she would like to have two extra frames for newly elected judges so all the frames will match.
The commissioners took the request under advisement.
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