County to hear jail study details, vote again on administrator Monday

Published 3:00 am Saturday, July 7, 2018

A third–party organization will be presenting their findings Monday about what Pike County will need in a new jail facility.

TCU Consulting Services will bring the information forward Monday night at the Pike County Commission meeting after months of analysis and discussion with stakeholders.

The County hired the firm to conduct the feasibility study in September and they have been working on a thorough analysis of the county’s situation since.

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But Chairman Robin Sullivan said that the county is far from moving forward on any decision with the jail.

“We’re nowhere near ready to say when or where we’ll build a jail at,” Sullivan said. “They’ll present a few different scenarios of what we can and can’t do is what I’m expecting. It really means we’ve still got a long way to go. Whatever these findings tell us, it will give us a place to start.”

The firm has been studying numerical data about jail population, court proceedings, crime and other factors to determine a jail that will be able to adequately meet the county’s needs for years down the road.

The county will also likely be making a second attempt to hire a new administrator after two votes at their most recent meeting ended in ties. The commissioners first held a tie vote on the hire of Dr. LaKerri Mack, president of the board for the Pike County Boys and Girls Club, and then on McKenzie Wilson, head of personnel and safety at the county. Sullivan, Russell Johnson and Chad Copeland voted for Wilson while Charlie Harris, Homer Wright and Jimmy Barron voted for Mack.

Sullivan said the item can remain on the agenda for three more meetings, including the Monday meeting, before commissioners will either have to vote to keep the item from rotating off the agenda or potentially go back to the drawing board.

The commission will also start the meeting off with a public hearing on two grant applications for the resurfacing of roads 7749 and 2256. County Engineer Russell Oliver said the same grants were nearly awarded last year, but simply lost to some stronger projects. He advised that these grants were still strong candidates to be awarded.

The public hearing will begin at the start of the work session at 5:15 p.m. The business meeting will follow at 6 p.m. Both meetings are held upstairs at the Pike County Health Department.