Standoff continues between sheriff, County Commission

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I find this quite amusing.. I know that this same infighting and bickering over, what else? money.. is going on in cities, counties and states around the nation..

Read and enjoy the soap opera we are being treated to over county cash here lol

Click here for the source if you prefer..
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By Susan Redden news@joplinglobe.com The Joplin Globe Thu Apr 28, 2011, 10:03 PM CDT

CARTHAGE, Mo. — The standoff between Sheriff Archie Dunn and the Jasper County Commission continued Thursday, with commissioners phoning their counterparts in area counties to tell them no money had been budgeted for housing overflow inmates from the county jail elsewhere.

No more inmates have been moved beyond the 40 who were relocated as of midafternoon Wednesday, but Dunn said more transfers are planned.

“We’ve been checking for available beds; our count is down to 188 inmates,” he said. He has said the jail was designed for a capacity of 153 inmates.

Dunn said he was not concerned about contacts the commission was making regarding reimbursements for inmate housing costs. But he said he sent a copy of the presentation he made Tuesday to the commission to Sheriff Ron Peckham in Vernon County, after questions were raised about the 20 inmates who were moved there.

Peckham said he wanted to discuss the issue with the county prosecutor before commenting, but the Globe’s efforts to reach Peckham later in the day Thursday were unsuccessful.

Bonnie McCord, presiding commissioner in Vernon County, said she alerted the prosecutor and the sheriff after getting a call from Darieus Adams, Western District associate commissioner in Jasper County.

“We wanted to make sure the sheriff was aware of this,” she said. “We don’t have funds to house another entity’s inmates without being reimbursed for it.”

John Bartosh, presiding Jasper County commissioner, said the panel was attempting to find out how many inmates had been transferred, and where, but Dunn had not responded to his emailed question.

Bartosh said he hand-delivered a letter to Dunn’s office on Wednesday, saying inmate transfers planned by Dunn could cost the county $100,000 per month, and that expenses would have to be approved by the county auditor. The letter said the commissioners “will not condone nor pay for a taxpayer-funded room and board plan.”