McLean sheriff angered by proposed ordinance

Dec. 14—McLean County Sheriff Ken Frizzell is at odds with a proposed ordinance that would require his office to participate in a fee-pooling system with the county.

Fiscal court approved the first reading of the fee-pooling ordinance during its Dec. 8 meeting.

In response to the first reading, Frizzell, who was unable to attend the fiscal court meeting, made a comment under the livestream video on the "McLean County, Kentucky Judge-Executive's Office" Facebook page stating that he is not for fee-pooling and the decision to propose it is "all about the judge-executive wanting to control everything."

"Nor was this brought to my attention that this was going to be on the agenda, and I am currently in training and he knows this," said Frizzell in his Facebook comment.

Frizzell described the proposal as "under-handed politics" and that there is "no fiscal benefit" from fee-pooling.

Frizzell also accused Judge-Executive Curtis Dame of not telling the truth about the issue.

"I told the judge no when he mentioned it," he said. "I literally was informed while sitting in training by my clerk that was was on the agenda. ... Plainly the judge is lying."

Frizzell went on to say that this item was not discussed with him "in this manner."

"They are (underhandedly defunding) the sheriff's office and therefore your law enforcement," he said.

Currently, according to the ordinance, the sheriff must turn over all excess fees at the beginning of each calendar year and utilize the state advancement, thus "causing cash flow problems for the McLean County Sheriff's Office."

The budget for the fiscal court is dependent on the county's ad valorem taxes, which normally are not due and payable until on or about Oct. 1 of each year, which "causes an extreme cash flow problem for the county" for the time periods before and after tax season, according to the ordinance.

The ordinance states that the fiscal court is of the opinion that a fee-pooling system and purchase order system "would be the most economic and beneficial measure to maintain the fiscal soundness of the county."

"The Fiscal Court believes that it is good business practice to implement a purchase order system for the McLean County Sheriff's Office," the ordinance states.

In a comment thread on the same video, Frizzell said the agendas are usually emailed to him and that he did not receive the Dec. 8 agenda.

The agenda was posted on the "McLean County, Kentucky Judge-Executive's Office" Facebook page on Dec. 7 with the fee-pooling item listed.

"This was put on the agenda without my knowledge, and I am in training," he said. "I don't like airing things like this on Facebook either, but when you are not given a chance to express concerns in private, and then the issue is presented publicly, I was left with no other choice. To remain silent is perceived as agreement sometimes."

Frizzell and Dame declined to provide further comment, but said they will be meeting at a later date to come to a resolution on the subject.

THE ORDINANCE

In Section I of the proposed ordinance, it states that all net income and net fees from the McLean County Sheriff's Office shall be paid over to the McLean County treasurer and such payments should be made on a monthly basis no later than the 10th day of the month for the net income and net fees collected in the preceding month.

"Net fees" and "net income" in this instance means all income and fees collected less only approved transmittals to governmental agencies and/or applicable refunds to customers.

The expenses and expenditures of the McLean County Sheriff's Office shall be pre-approved and paid by the McLean County treasurer in accordance with the Purchase Order System adopted by the McLean County treasurer.

If the sheriff's office is delinquent in the payment of one month's fee income, no salaries or expenses of the sheriff's office or its employees shall be paid.

The ordinance also states that fiscal court would establish a purchase order system, if approved, to be used by the sheriff's office in accordance with the McLean County Administrative Code.

All bills shall be pre-approved by obtaining a purchase order requisition, which may be requested by any employee of the sheriff's office. First approval of the purchase order must come from the sheriff or, in their absence, the chief deputy.

Second approval of the purchase order will come from the judge-executive or county treasurer with an indication that the item is a budgeted item with available funds, or is not a budgeted item.

All purchase order requisitions for items over $1,000 must have a three-quote approval of the McLean County judge-executive or their designee.

As it reads now, the ordinance, if approved, would take effect July 1, 2023. The ordinance requires a second reading if fiscal court decides to move forward.

Joey Lowery, magistrate for the Southwest District, was the only fiscal court member to vote against the ordinance.