Ten Commandments monument headed to private property
</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[If the money can be raised, the Ten Commandments monument discussed in recent months by the County Board has a home on private property.
Scott Riggs of Clearwave -- not to be confused with the company itself -- is donating property next to the clock tower near the Courthouse, Building Committee Chairman Danny Gibbs said.
The monument would be purchased through private funds from Project Moses for $5,000, plus about $300 shipping. Project Moses is using proceeds from selling Ten Commandments monuments to erect a 24-foot tall Moses and Ten Commandments monument in Washington D.C., Gibbs said.
Gibbs said he hopes to present the monument to county residents on Easter Sunday just before a scheduled resurrection dance downtown.
A foundation is being set up by Bill Bethel to accept donations, Gibbs said. Checks may be written to Project Ten. Sandra Smith of Wabash Capital is putting together a steering committee. Anyone interested in serving on the committee or making a donation may stop by Smith's office at 9 S. Webster St., Harrisburg, or call 252-2449.
Gibbs plans to challenge local churches to make donations by passing the plate so the coordinators are not handling scores of small checks, he said.
The plan originally had been to erect a monument on Courthouse property, but talk of a lawsuit and a visit by Rob Sherman, an atheist activist, put those ideas to rest. Building Committee members agreed county money should not be sacrificed in a prolonged lawsuit.
"I've had several people come to me and say they would fund the lawsuit. I said, 'we need a $200,000 check to start,'" Gibbs said.
Needless to say, Gibbs said, there were no $200,000 checks written.
Housing inmates
Joe Jackson, chairman of the Judicial Law Committee, apparently came away from a meeting with Sheriff Keith Brown scratching his head over how to raise more money by housing federal and out-of-county inmates.
Annual revenue from housing out-of-county prisoners has dropped in recent years, from an average of $417,000 several years ago to an average of $277,000 in the last few years. Jackson had hoped there was a simple solution to getting more inmates from other places and raising money, but found only more problems, he said. Only two federal inmates were in the Saline County Detention Center last week when Jackson and Brown met, Jackson said.
"Keith advised us they are not out there. Most of the inmates were meth inmates and they aren't there anymore," Jackson said.
Jackson recently read the amount of methamphetamine-related arrests is rising again. However, arrests are nowhere near the amounts seen in the meth epidemic that swept Southern Illinois in the previous decade.
In any case, federal inmates are few and far between right now, Bruce Tolley said. The other day he heard there were only 30 available inmates in the Southern District of Illinois and jails were clamoring for them because of the revenue stream that comes with federal inmates, Tolley said.
Brown also pointed to the increase in "weekenders," or people who are serving weekends in the jail. Judges are sentencing more people to weekends than ever before. That causes the Detention Center population to rise on weekends, which means the jail goes closer to capacity. Correctional officers have to consider the jail population to be 15 to 18 people higher when deciding whether or not to take out-of-county inmates.
"If anyone can get the judge to stop the weekend thing, then maybe (we can house more inmates)," Jackson said.
During the meeting, someone mentioned one inmate, due to circumstances beyond the county's control, takes up more space than usual.
Budget
The county will end the month with a $30,000 negative balance in the General Fund unless money arrives from somewhere. The county has plenty of reserve funds, but Treasurer Danny Ragan hopes not to raid reserves to balance the General Fund.
Last month, Arclar paid over $20,000 in coal royalties; two months ago the total was over $40,000. If some royalty money arrives soon, some of the problem will be alleviated.
Two income tax checks from the state arrived recently, "So the state is catching up. I hope that continues," Ragan said.
The state is now behind $283,000 in payments to the county.
A plan to collect back fines by State's Attorney Mike Henshaw and Circuit Clerk Randy Nyberg is going very well, Henshaw said. The men contracted with a company to collect extremely overdue fines at no cost to the county. People contacted by the company are now starting to pay, Henshaw said. A fine from 1991 was collected recently.
Judge Todd Lambert has agreed to hold a periodic court for people who continue not to pay back fines despite being contacted by the company. The State's Attorney's office plans to ask Lambert to jail those who continue not to pay their fines, Henshaw said.
The board decided to table action on renewal of a mineral lease. The company holding the lease did not renew when the renewal became due and is now offering $1,500 for the lease instead of $3,000, Gibbs said.
Tolley said multiple companies are buying leases in Saline County. One of the companies plans to make a better offer on the lease soon, Tolley said.