New jail computers now just a click away

The Warren County Jail will soon be upgrading its computer system even though the $25,000 required to purchase the equipment was not included in the 2006-2007 budget.

Some of the machines will be utilized as replacements, while others will be used to provide equipment for the new offices and areas of the jail expansion, according to County Executive John Pelham.

?We have 18 separate workstations,? said Pelham. ?These will be replacing older machines that are worn out, and we have new offices at the completed jail expansion they?ve been unable to occupy because they haven?t received the computers needed for them.

?Two of these workstations will be going in the new booking section,? Pelham continued. ?Six of them will be going in the detectives department, and the other 10 will be going in the sheriff?s office and to replace computers in other offices.?

Sheriff Jackie Matheny explained why he felt it would be unwise to wait until the next budget year.

?The need is definitely there,? Matheny said. ?We?ve got to have those computers. We have to upgrade our system. I?ll give you an example. Our system where we take a computer picture of a person being arrested is so out of date that if anything malfunctions we can?t even get it replaced. So we?ve got to go to new programs and we need new computers to do that.?

In a tight budget year, and in an effort to avoid a property tax increase, no money was set aside for jail computers during budget talks last year. After requesting the computers, and being informed the funds were not available in the general fund, Matheny looked at the jail budget and found that in some areas spending had fallen below estimates at this point in the fiscal year.

As a result, he was able to transfer funds within his own budget, as well as use funds remaining in his office equipment budget, to purchase the units, something commissioners commended him for at a recent Safety Committee meeting where the budget transfers were approved unanimously.

?I certainly appreciate the sheriff?s willingness to work within his own budget,? said committee member Les Trotman.

The move then had to be approved by Budget and Finance, which also voted unanimously to approve the transfers at its meeting last Wednesday.

Since the transfers are within the same budget the action did not have to go before the full county commission for approval. Bids have already been submitted, with a low bid of around $25,000 from a local company being accepted. With the funding secured, officials say the computers could be ordered as early as this week.