Published: November 28, 2008 09:56 am      

County to use grant money for training

Commissioners also discuss what to do with material taken from Fairpark ceiling

The Henderson County Commissioner’s Court on Tuesday voted to use funds received through the 2008 State Criminal Alien Assistance Program for correctional officer training and education.

Henderson County has been awarded $17,377 through the SCAAP grant.

SCAAP provides federal payments to states and localities that incurred correctional officer salary costs for incarcerating undocumented criminal aliens with at least one felony or two misdemeanor convictions.

Jennifer Nicholson, Henderson County assistant auditor and grant coordinator, said the county had the option of applying the funds in three ways. Among them were: construction of inmate housing and prison ADA compliance; training and education of offenders as well as training of the correctional officers.

Henderson County Sheriff’s Department Assistant Chief Deputy Kevin Hanes said he preferred the correctional officer training.

“The reason I chose this avenue is we send our jailers to school when they’re hired and if they’re not certified peace officers, they never have to take another training,” Hanes said. “In theory, they could stay down there for three, four or five years and not have to take any more training.”

Commissioners also voted to allow Pct. 2 Commissioner Wade McKinney and Pct. 1 Commissioner Joe Hall to each take 8,000 square feet of material from the roof of the Henderson County Fairpark Complex for future projects in their precincts.

The 77,000 square foot tin roof is scheduled to be replaced sometime around the middle of December, Henderson County Judge David Holstein said. Commissioners are not sure how much of the old roof material would be reusable after removal.

“It may not be worth much more than scrap when they take it off,” Pct. 3 Commissioner Ronny Lawrence said. “They put tape in there and sometimes you tear the roof up trying to get it off.”

The sheriff’s department requested 19,000 square feet of the metal to build a protective covering for the vehicle impound yard.

“If you’re going to cover the impound the metal is the least of their expense,” Lawrence said. “They’re going to have to find beams and columns and build a foundation.”

McKinney said one way of disposing of the re-usable metal might be through the regular auctions where the county sells old vehicles and other items. The next auction is scheduled for Dec. 13.

Commissioners also approved the reappointment of Larry Moran and Tamara Brickey to new two-year terms on the Emergency Services District No. 4 board.

Commissioners authorized payment of bills in the amount of $147,122.61.