Sheriff's Department Bails Out County To Keep Taxes Down

Bob Moore took a deep breath and then nodded his head.

“Jail Standards told me this is where we’d be. (Madison County Sheriff) Vern Hjorth told me we would, too. So, yeah, it wasn’t surprising how quick we were getting calls from people wanting to house inmates here,” the Antelope County sheriff said last week. “We’ve pushed maximum capacity often because we take in other inmates, and that brings in money for the county.”

Sitting in his office at the county law enforcement center that opened in 2015, Moore said the facility holds up to 33 inmates and averaged 27.9 inmates per day over the course of the last year. That’s a far cry from the five inmates the previous jail held.

While Moore said the law enforcement center was built primarily to comply with Jail Standards, improve safety and to upgrade 911 communications, the funds generated by housing other inmates from other counties that actually helped cover unexpected expenses that otherwise would have been paid via taxes.

Among those expenses were the $39,000 insurance premium increase for full-time county employees and the $93,746.66 to Stratton, DeLay, Doele, Carlson & Buettner, who served as defense attorneys for Darryl Lierman, who was convicted last January of eight counts of sexual assault.

“No taxes were spent on either of those ​— Lierman’s defense or the insurance increase,” Moore said. “We footed those bills, so Antelope County taxes didn’t have to. Why did we pay the insurance increase? We have low wages, and our staff works nights, weekends and holidays. We need benefits to keep employees.”

Income From Jail
Records show Antelope County had 195 male and 54 female inmates last year, many of which were from other counties. Stanton County Sheriff Mike Unger said Antelope County is one of five jails he utilizes.

“I average 20 incarcerated a day,” Unger said. “Antelope County has a nice facility, and it’s well run. It’s a benefit to Northeast Nebraska, not just to Antelope County.”

Unger also sends inmates to jails in Madison, Pierce, Thurston and Platte counties. He said Antelope County is his No. 1 choice for housing female inmates, which is an issue for most jails since state statute 47-111 requires 24-hour supervision of female inmates. The Jail Standards Board requires at least one female employee on duty when a female inmate is housed and at least one male employee when a male inmate is housed.

Records show 288 males and 105 females were booked into the Antelope County jail in 2018. Male inmates stayed 7,919 days in the Antelope County jail while females stayed 2,312 days. Of the males, 195 stayed more than 23 days while 55 females stayed that long or longer.

Moore said since all but two of his jailers are female, multiple counties in the area now utilize Antelope County to house their female inmates. Unger said that’s an example of how Moore works to help other departments.

“Sheriff Moore has assisted us greatly. He absolutely bends over backwards to help the other sheriffs in the area, and we all appreciate that,” Unger said.

Moore admitted it hasn’t been easy to keep qualified staff due to the low wages and difficult hours.

“When I bring someone in for an interview and they find out they work weekends, nights, holidays and get a low wage, it’s a tough sell,” he said. “But having good benefits helps me get good employees.”

Moore said benefits aren’t just key to his staff, they’re important to all county employees from the roads department to the courthouse. Had the sheriff’s department not paid the insurance increase, cuts may have been made. As for the Lierman costs, those likely would have been paid from the county’s general budget, which is funded by taxes.

Many of the sheriff’s department expenses are actually funded by the jail — not taxes. According to the county reports, taxpayers are only paying for salaries, insurance (other than the premium increase), electricity, water and the bond payment.

That means besides the insurance increase and Lierman defense, the jail fund is paying for inmate medical expenses, food, clothing and hygiene, as well as staff uniforms and vehicles.

Expenses From Jail
But building the jail hasn’t come without expenses. Jail Standards require staffing based upon size of the facility, not number of inmates incarcerated at that time. Whether the jail has six inmates or 30, the same number of staff is required.

Personnel costs have increased 16 percent — or $92,000 — in the three full years since the facility opened. Moore said he has cut his budget in other places to lessen that burden on taxpayers.

Despite the increase in staff due the Jail Standards, the annual report shows  expenditures have only increased $133,741 since 2013-14 — when the department was in the smaller facility with less workers.

“I watch the budget very closely. If we overspend in January, we’re trying to cut corners in February to try to bring it back down,” Moore said.
How has Moore cut expenses? Looking at the 2013-14 budget compared to 2017-18, supplies and materials went down nearly 40 percent and capital outlay expenses decreased nearly 75 percent.

Moore said he can’t predict if the county will have major medical expenses or court cases that lead to above-average defense costs from court-appointed attorneys. But if that happens, Moore said he hopes the income from housing other inmates can cover those costs.

“This jail wasn’t built to make money. It was built because Antelope County recognized the need for improvements in safety and 911 communication,” Moore said. “But we have the ability to bring in some income by housing other inmates, and we are doing that and using those funds to keep other taxes down as much as possible. We are trying to be good stewards.”

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