Codington County Commission approves welfare office moving to downtown Watertown

Watertown Public Opinion
·4 min read

The Codington County Board of Commissioners Tuesday unanimously approved the move of the county Welfare Department to 7 W. Kemp Ave. in downtown Watertown as of June 1.

Commissioner Troy VanDusen, who last week voiced concerns about the move, made the motion to approve it following information provided by Welfare Director Sara Foust.

Foust said the building’s owner, Crestone Companies of Watertown, has agreed to pay for electrical upgrades and also provide internet connections to the four rooms that will be used by the four employees. One of those individuals is an employee of Inter-Lakes Community Action Program, and Foust was happy to report that Inter-Lakes has agreed to pay $100 of the $750-per-month rent for the first year.

That worker splits her time between helping the county and performing her duties for Inter-Lakes. Also in the Welfare office are a grant-funded community health worker and Foust’s assistant.

More: Highway superintendent wants to be more proactive about flooded Codington County roads

Foust had previously outlined the problems with the current office in the basement of the Watertown City Auditorium, including a lack of confidentiality for workers and clients, occasional power failures and the lack of a reliable device to give people with disabilities access to the office.

The new office’s rent will increase to $1,067 for the second and third year.

Change in access to public defenders

The commission also unanimously approved changing how the county provides access to public defenders. Currently, the county has a contract with Watertown attorneys Terry Sutton and Timothy Cummings to handle the cases of individuals who have chosen a court-appointed attorney for their legal issues.

Commissioner Lee Gabel said the arrangement has led to a situation where there are about 450 cases awaiting trials, which doesn’t allow a defendant the right to a speedy trial.

With the change, the state's Unified Judicial System would set the rate of a pool lawyer hired to provided defense for a client. Both Sutton and Cummings have agreed to cancel their contracts to implement the change, which might happen as early as June 1. Sutton and Cummings will be given two additional months to continue the cases they are already working on.

Gabel said cost to the county might initially be higher as other attorneys help with cases. Once the Unified Judicial System pool is established, though, cases should move more quickly through the courts, providing a savings to the county in the long term, he said.

New commissary system working well

Sheriff Brad Howell told commissioners the new commissary system at the county’s detention center is off to a good start. The system allows prisoners to purchase personal items such as food and clothing and even pay their legal fees. The county receives 30% of the profits, and in the first two weeks of operation the county has earned $1,426, Howell said.

Prisoners must abide by jail rules to qualify for using the system.

During his monthly report, Howell said his office dealt with 514 calls and cases during April, including 14 accidents and 86 warrants served. The jail’s average daily population in April was 70.57, the highest level since July. The county also monitored 95 non-jailed individuals through a variety of means.

In other action, all by unanimous votes, the commissioners:

  • Discussed with Waylon Blasius of Banner Engineering of Brookings and county Highway Superintendent Rick Hartley the return of some of the $8,011,852 that Nextera Energy provided in 2021 to the county for the repair of roads damaged by construction of energy-generating wind towers. The estimated unused payment is $2,933,319, but some projects are still unfinished. The county should have a final total that will be returned in perhaps a month.

  • Approved a budgeted flooring project costing $8,978 to replace damaged floor tile in one area of the jail. Midwest Grinding Inc of Hayti will perform the work.

  • Approved an agreement with Grant County to house its inmates at the Codington County Detention Center at a cost of $95 per prisoner per day.

  • Approved advertising for and eventual hiring of a deputy sheriff to fill a vacancy. Howell told commissioners one of the deputies had resigned to seek opportunities in the private sector.

  • Approved a payment of $212 to Vast Broadband of Watertown for the installation of the Welfare Department’s current telephone system into its new office.

  • Approved and signed the county’s letter of representation regarding the audit done on the county by South Dakota Legislative Audit. Michelle Burkhart, auditor in charge, said said the bi-annual audit was “very clean and as smooth as they can go.”

  • Approved a $300 malt beverage license application for Joy Ranch.

  • Approved the advertisement of bids for repairs on county roads 9B, 23-5, 6A and 17-3.

This article originally appeared on Watertown Public Opinion: Codington County welfare office will move to downtown Watertown