Montgomery Councilman Steve Loy has one year of sitting on the council and he is ready to look into the funding of the county’s criminal justice financial picture.
At Monday’s Montgomery County Commissioner meeting, Loy expressed his desire to take a look at all aspects of the criminal justice system since approximately $10 million of the county’s $14 million budget is related to the system.
“I would like to get everyone together and take a deeper dive into our criminal justice system,” he said. “I believe our people are doing a good job, but I would like to see what is going on between the sheriff, public defender, prosecutor and the courts.”
Loy proposed a joint meeting with all departments involved to discuss what the county is doing and to see if the system can be improved. He wants it to begin with gathering and analyzing data.
“I think we need a strategy and we need to get folks together to see what makes sense,” Loy said.
Commission President John Frey knew Loy had been looking into the topic and had looked at what other communities are doing and that he thought it was a good idea.
Presently, the county has a Justice Reinvestment Advisory Council that is charged with conducting reviews of local justice system components.
“I think it would be good if we all meet with them (JRAC) to see what can be improved, if anything,” Loy said.
Loy plans to present his idea to his fellow county council members today at their regularly scheduled meeting.
In other business, commissioners opened three bids from road construction contractors for the 2024 Community Crossings grant projects. Milestone and Rieth-Riley, both from Lafayette, and Howard Construction of Indianapolis submitted bids. All bids were passed on to Montgomery County Highway Superintendent Jake Lough for review. His recommendations will be presented at the Jan. 22 meeting.
The road projects are for Concord Road from Crawfordsville city limits to C.R. 400N, C.R. 150S from Ladoga Road to Nucor Road, C.R. 700N from U.S. 231N to C.R. 100W, C.R. 600S to New Market town limits and C.R. 600S from New Market town limits to U.S. 231S.
Commissioners also approved Montgomery County Sheriff Ryan Needham’s salary agreement of $112,000.
Commissioners approved a $40,000 contract with DLZ Engineering to develop design plans for the Nucor Road Overpass Project.
Commissioners also approved the following service provider contracts for 2024:
• Animal Welfare League in the amount of $92,774 for services provided to the county.
• Taylor, Minette, Schneider and Clutter, P.C. hourly rate of $235.
• Amy Woodall in the amount of $53,300 for section corner stone perpetuation.
• Purdue Extension Services in the amount $128,805 for services provided.
Frey was elected commission president and Jim Fulwider was elected vice president for 2024.
