Board of Commissioners discusses extra security for Twardoski trial
<span>CHESTER -- In a swift meeting on Friday at the Randolph County Courthouse, the county's Board of Commissioners briefly discussed bringing in extra security for the trial of People v. Derrick Twardoski.</span>
<span>Twardoski, 34, has been charged with four counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of four children in a house fire in Percy in May 2013. He had a case management hearing at the courthouse on Wednesday.</span>
<span>The trial is set to begin with jury selection on Sept. 8 at 9 a.m.</span>
<span>"It's going to be an emotional trial and I want to make sure people are safe around here," said board member Marc Kiehna.</span>
<span>In other board action during the 22-minute meeting, the board approved general assistance claims in the amount of $2,788.94, approved 59 care center claims and discussed the billing of the Randolph County Health Department audit.</span>
<span>Board chairman David Holder said he had questions on some line items in the billing of the audit, which occurred four weeks ago, and the county was holding off paying the bill as a result.</span>
<span>"They have not responded to me yet," Holder said.</span>
<span>Randolph County Treasurer Doyle Jones told the board that property tax receipts are up more than $5 million from this time a year ago, to more than $15.2 million.</span>
<span>The county took in $10 million in 2013.</span>
<span>"We'll be getting that out to the public the first part of next week" Jones said.</span>
<span>The board also discussed the fact that assessments on multipliers are different this year.</span>
<span>"I think the big question over the past several years was how to assess your wooded areas," Kiehna said.</span>
<span>In the open comment portion of the meeting, Randolph County Circuit Clerk Sherry Johnson thanked the news media in attendance for helping to clarify her comments in regard to the board's meeting on July 18.</span>
<span>During that session, American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) Council 31 Representative Ty Petersen told the board layoffs within the Circuit Clerk's department had resulted in only $14,000 worth of fees had been collected in the past two months.</span>
<span>The department collected $18,000 in April alone, according to Petersen.</span>
<span>Johnson said she was 100 percent in agreement with Petersen's numbers, but did not agree with his opinion of bringing back a staff member just for collections.</span>
<span>"There was a question in my mind in whether those numbers included current and past due fees," Kiehna said on Friday.</span>
<span>In upcoming board news, the board is expecting to hear a priority repairs report from Quadrant Designs Architect Michael Schneider during its Aug. 15 session.</span>
<span>"He did a complete study, building-by-building," Holder said. "It's a timeline schedule of what needs to be taken care of now and what can be pushed further down the line."</span>
<span>One of the projects could be replacing the courthouse roof.</span>
<span>"This is an important thing," Holder said. "The courthouse is 40-plus years old."</span>
<span>"It takes more than a few pennies to replace the roof," Kiehna said.</span>
<span>The Aug. 15 session is scheduled for 9 a.m.</span>