Sheriff's department has new truck, cameras

By BRYCE KELLY

Mt. Pleasant News

It was a packed house at the Henry County Board of Supervisors meeting on Thursday. Henry County department heads all gave updated reports concerning their divisions.

First to go was Henry County Sheriff Rich McNamee with the Henry County Sheriff?s office. Currently the general population of the Henry County jail is 18 inmates, with the lowest population this month being 13.

The sheriff also reported that Henry County law enforcement officers now have some new equipment to work with. A new half-ton truck was purchased under the department?s new budget along with a new camera that can attach to an officer?s chest. This new device will allow video recording to capture anything that the officer encounters while executing various tasks like building searches and assailant confrontations.

?This [camera] is a new trend in law enforcement across the nation,? said McNamee. ?We are still experimenting with it but I think it will do wonders for our law enforcement in the future.?

McNamee also reviewed a couple of major drug busts in Henry County. One such bust involved a case in which a male was arrested for illegally selling large quantities of marijuana, which he had bought in another state before transporting it to Winfield to sell.

Another major case that was successfully completed after a six-month period involved an individual from Burlington selling crack cocaine in and around Mt. Pleasant. After a search warrant was obtained, the Burlington home in question was searched and a little less than 10 ounces of crack cocaine was recovered along with a large amount of cash, the suspect?s vehicle and a sizable amount of marijuana.

?Although it doesn?t sound like much, it was quite a handful,? said McNamee. ?It ended up being about $20,000 to $30,000 worth of drugs.?

The sheriff also mentioned that his team of law enforcement officials have put in excess of around 100 hours of overtime the past couple of weeks due to Old Threshers and Salem Old Settlers. The sheriff?s department also recently hired nine new employees to fill both full-time and part-time positions in various departments.

Shirley Wandling and Ana Lair gave reports concerning the Henry County Recorder?s office and the Henry County Treasurer?s office. A general consensus between both offices was the need for more staff as business has been booming.

Wandling is currently in the process of making a decision to hire part-time help while Lair says her office is very busy with tax collection. ?We have been very busy with property tax collection and we have had some staffing issues,? said Lair. ?But we have tried to work through that. Hopefully we are back to being 100 percent again but we did have some issues.?

Lair stated that due to some of the staffing issues, administering drive tests has been tricky and people have had to be turned down. However, according to Lair this week should be much better.

Walt Jackson from Henry County Emergency Management also reported that things have been busy the past few weeks. One upcoming project for HCEM is a hazardous material clean-up at Mt. Pleasant Public Works.  This is a by-appointment-only event and Jackson says that people have already started signing up.

Also on the books for HCEM is a softball tournament sponsored by Healthy Henry County Communities. All proceeds from the game are going to Healthy Henry County Communities. Various high schools in the area have teams in the tournament.

Lastly mentioned by Jackson was a reminder for people to begin preparing for winter weather. ?Start thinking about and preparing for winter storms,? said Jackson. ?My team is already preparing and is asking people to have safety kits in their vehicles.?

John Pullis, conservation director for Henry County, reports that campgrounds and cabins are booming and that the nature center is booked with programs for the month.

?The nature center is staying busy. We are averaging about 20 people every Saturday and Sunday,? says Pullis.

Pullis also praised the new addition of the memorial patio on the north side of the Nature Center. ?I have seen a lot of interest in that. People are interested in making a donation or establishing a memorial,? he said. ?It?s been a really great addition.?

Shelly Barber reported 313 absentee ballots for the Sept. 13 school election. This is up drastically from last year?s tally, which was just over 65 people voting both absentee and in-person. ?Needless to say there has been a large turnout and I expect a large turnout on the day of the election.?

The second to last item on the agenda was the signing of a contract agreement for the County Substance Abuse Prevention Service. Sarah Berndt presented the contract.

Finally, the signing of a resolution for a notice and hearing on the proposed sale of

county real estate lots 2A, 3A, 4A and 5A at Crossroads Business Park was completed.

The next Board of Supervisors meeting will be Tuesday, Sept. 9, at 9 a.m. inside the Henry County Courthouse.