New fencing at Etowah jail another way to combat contraband
Sheriff Jonathon Horton on Tuesday thanked the Etowah County Commission for its help with providing fencing to facilitate the constant battle against contraband getting into the county jail.
The 16-foot chain link fencing topped by concertina razor wire was added on the Ninth Street side of the James Hayes Detention Center, and between the jail and the county’s Judicial Building on the other side.
It was funded with money the county received from Alabama’s settlement with opioid manufacturers over alleged deceptive marketing practices.
Horton said the three-decades-old jail is one of the largest in the state, but has lacked protective perimeter fencing. He noted that the county several years ago helped fund X-ray machines to scan jail visitors for drugs and contraband, which he said “is always a task.” (That task was documented in 2020 when the jail was featured in Season 6 of A&E’s “60 Days In.”)
The sheriff also updated the commission on the status of pistol permit money that the county lost when Alabama dropped its requirement to have a permit to carry a concealed weapon.
He said some gun owners still get permits, either because they’ll be traveling out of state with their weapons or to show support for school resource officers (who receive funding from permit money, as do the County Commission and Etowah County Schools).
However, permit revenue for the first quarter of the 2022-23 fiscal year, Oct. 1 to Dec. 31, was down by roughly $40,000 from the previous year.
The county was reimbursed for nearly half that amount, $19,290, from a state fund set up to cover the lost revenue.
Horton said there are some estimates that sheriff’s departments could lose $9 million collectively and annually from the permit requirement being dropped. However, he called commissioners’ attention to House Bill 320, which was introduced in the Legislature last week, that would increase the state’s annual contribution to the reimbursement fund for counties from $5 million to $7.5 million in each of the next five years.
The commission amid other routine items approved agreements with Nitorco for software installation and subscriptions for the revenue office:
• Assurance CAMA/Collections Software Suite for $145,000, with a monthly maintenance fee of $3,800 after the program goes live, and an option to include prior years’ appraisal data for another $25,000 (that Chief Administrative Officer Shane Ellison said would likely be purchased);
• Assurance Motor Vehicle/TAGS Software Suite for $20,000, with a monthly maintenance fee of $2,500 after the program goes live.
Commissioners also recognized members of Duck Springs Elementary School’s robotics team, who’ll be competing in next month’s Vex World Championship in Dallas; and heard from David and Kelly Cochran on their MAXimizing Mental Health nonprofit that promotes mental health awareness and provides counseling for those who need it, in memory of their son, Max, who took his own life in 2018.
This article originally appeared on The Gadsden Times: New fencing in place at Etowah County jail
