MOUNT VERNON — In miscellaneous business on Thursday, the Knox County Commissioners met with Bruce Malek and Avery Dyer from the Public Defender’s Office regarding the amount of money contributed by the city to the defender’s office.
“I want to make it clear that we’re not complaining,” Malek said. He said that they merely wished to point out to the commissioners that under the current three-year contract, which is set to expire, the city of Mount Vernon pays the office $5,000 per year for services.
“That’s an insignificant amount,” Malek said.
Dyer pointed out that 60 percent of the Public Defender’s Office case load came from counts involving city ordinances, while only 2 percent of their budget was covered by the city.
Malek said that they would have no objection if the city would prefer to set up their own public defender’s operation.
“They sure couldn’t do it for five thousand dollars,” said Commissioner Bob Wise.
Malek said that the Public Defender’s Office Board recommended that if the office enters into a new three-year contract with the city, it should start at $15,000 for the first year, and increase by $5,000 increments to $25,000 in the third year.
Commissioner Allen Stockberger noted that it was an ongoing challenge to balance the amounts of money received by different offices in the county government, and thus they couldn’t guarantee any results, but they did feel it was a valid issue to address with the city in their upcoming semi-annual meeting.
In other business, Kim Marshall and Dave Beck met with the commissioners to discuss plans on upcoming right-of-way issues involving the Heart of Ohio Trail. At stake is the fact that a number of archaeological studies must be conducted. ODOT will perform the studies for free if the county can provide tilled soil. Independent consultants would charge a minimum of $7,000 to do such tests. Marshall will deliver an update as soon as property owners involved in the latest concerns have been contacted.
Margaret Ann Ruhl and Jonette Curry met with the commissioners to review pending insurance renewal issues. Under the plan being implemented, county employees will receive the same insurance coverage for next year without any additional cost.
