Jail population drops due to Marathon County change
Taylor County jail numbers are lower than they have been in recent years. The drop has more to do with economics than a sudden shift in people being law-abiding.
For many years, the county jail has housed inmates from Marathon County due to lack of space in the Marathon County Jail. This brings in $40 per day per inmate in revenue for Taylor County.
However, Marathon County recently signed an agreement to send the bulk of its inmates to Waupaca. The sheriff in Waupaca is charging Marathon County $38 per inmate per day.
Sheriff Corey Dassow told members of the county’s law enforcement committee last week that prior to learning of Marathon County’s change in where they are sending inmates he was going to ask for an increase because of the additional cost related to housing the inmates here. However, with Waupaca undercutting Taylor County any increase has been put on the back burner.
Dassow said he expects the amount of inmates from Marathon County to slowly build back up due to the fact that Medford is closer than Waupaca when it comes to the transportation side for bringing inmates for hearings and court appearances.
The current jail population is 34 with 11 of the inmates from Price County and four from Marathon County.
In other law enforcement business, Dassow reported that there will be changes coming to the enhanced 9-1-1 system. TDS Telecom, which is the current provider for the 9-1-1 system in the county has announced that it will no longer be supporting that service and the county will need to switch to a different provider with the next generation 9-1-1 system.
According to Dassow, the only option for this area is to switch to AT&T for the service. Dassow said he was told by AT&T representatives that there would be “little to no cost” in the switchover.
“That is what they say,” Dassow said, noting he anticipates there being an expense to the county. He noted that Clark County and Grant County are in the same situation as Taylor County.
In other business, committee members:
• Received word that the ambulance service is operating on budget and is nearly fully staffed. “Year to date we are doing really well,” said Bob Kirkely of Aspirus Medevac. He said the county is on track for transport volumes to be at 929 for the year. He noted that total revenue is up a little compared to last year while salaries are 2.36% under budget for the year.
• Were formally introduced to Sgt. Chris Kauer who was promoted to the position while deployed with the Wisconsin National Guard. He has been with the department for five years and previously served in Dane County. He has 17 years in the National Guard. In his role as a sergeant he will be working typically an afternoon into evening and be there to provide additional guidance to the typically younger officers who work the later shifts.
• Received and update that Stacey Doriot will be transferring internally within the department and the county will be hiring a new data records person. “She will be pulling double duty,” Dassow said, until the position is filled and a person trained.
• Approved formally writing off $8,976 in outstanding debt owed by 14 former inmates who are confirmed to be deceased. Dassow noted that some of the amounts were 20 cents while others were $3,000. In many cases these people were on payment plans and died before paying what was owed. While the county could file claims against estates, this would create additional cost for the county with little chance of getting money returned.
• Gave advice for residents, especially in the Esadore area, to lock their vehicles overnight. There have been reports of an individual going through unlocked vehicles at night searched for money to steal.
