The Marshall County Sheriff’s Department now has a budget for spending revenue generated out of its Commissary Fund.
During Monday morning’s Marshall County Council meeting, Sheriff Matt Hassel approached the fiscal body about the prospect of adopting a budget for certain purchases that hopes to improve the department. The Commissary Fund is the account where money gained from the sale of products to inmates incarcerated at the Marshall County Justice Center is placed.
Hassel says he doesn’t plan any big changes compared to previous years.
“The way I ran those numbers, I basically went through the last three years 2015, 2014, and 2013 and looked at what we spent, kind of categorized them and put that amount in there,” says Hassel.
The aim is to expedite the purchases of certain items throughout the year. Until Monday, the Sheriff’s Department would be required to seek approval from the County Council prior to spending monies out of the Commissary Fund.
This way, the County Council is aware of the anticipated costs throughout the year, and it speeds the efficiency of making those purchases for Sheriff’s Department personnel under $1-thousand.
Hassel says the only thing to watch for is future changes in Federal Communications Commission policy, which may affect the account’s future revenues.
“The only change that might be forthcoming is with Telmate and the new FCC regulations on how much they can charge for the phone usage by the inmates,” says Hassel. “I’m not sure where that’s going to fall on us, but Telmate is all up-to-date on it and they’re working on it.”
The Sheriff’s Department is allowed, under law, to charge a certain mark-up on the products available to incarcerated individuals.
The Marshall County Council approved the Commissary Fund budget for 2016, unanimously.
