Fiscal Court hears 1st reading of ordinance repeals, jail report

The second ordinance in question went into effect in March 2012 and prohibited the possession or sale of a variety of specific types of cannabinoids. Again, Winchester said the state’s marijuana laws would supersede any local ordinance. The court will vote on the second reading of both ordinance repeals at its next monthly meeting on Feb. 15.

Jailer Ken Claud delivered his annual report, stating that the jail booked a total of 1,575 (355 females and 1,220 males) in 2022. He said 1,596 (357 females and 1,239 males) were released during the year. Of the 1,575 bookings for 2022, Claud said 31% were Calloway County Sheriff's office arrests; 25% were Murray Police Department arrests; 6% were Kentucky State Police arrests; 1% were Murray State University Police arrests; 4% were Probation and Parole; 10% were Graves County Sheriff's Office arrests; 8% were Mayfield Police Department arrests and 15% were categorized “other.”

Claud said the average daily population in 2022 was 171 inmates. As of Wednesday afternoon, Claud said the current number of inmates was 145, with around 55% being state inmates. He added that Calloway County receives a per diem from the state of $35.34 a day to house state inmates, which amounts to about $1.2 million a year.
Claud said there were 297 completions of evidence-based life skills programs for inmates, which was up from 169 in 2021. Payments from the Kentucky Department of Corrections for completions totaled $253,600, which was up from $117,00 in 2021.

Discussing medical needs, Claud said 63% of the inmates in 2022 were on medications. There were 27 transfers to the emergency room and two days in the hospital. He said 330 were triaged for mental health, there were 36 practitioner sick calls, 381 protocols and 1,520 nursing sick calls. Claud said $251,945 in offender fees were collected in 2022.

Inmates in the Restricted Custody Center participated in the county litter abatement program, state litter abatement program, city cemetery mowing and mowing of Murray Electric System substations, Claud said. Inmates also worked for a few weeks in January and early February in Graves County to help with the cleanup efforts after the Mayfield tornado. Inmates also assisted on several smaller projects around the community to help other government agencies and non-profits, and several private employers also hired a few inmates, Claud said. In addition, five inmates participated in a deckhand class at McCracken County Jail.

In other business:

• Murray Art Guild Executive Director Debi Henry Danielson spoke to the court about the guild’s recent recognition by the 2022 Governor’s Award in the Arts. Each year, the Kentucky Arts Council solicits nominations and coordinates presentations for nine separate awards on behalf of the governor, and the MAG was awarded with the 2022 Community Arts Award after being nominated by Constance Alexander. The award recipients were announced on Jan. 4, and Gov. Andy Beshear presented it to Danielson at a Jan. 10 ceremony in Frankfort. Danielson said the public is invited to attend a community reception from 4-6 p.m. Friday, Jan. 27, at the guild, where the art work for the award will be on display.

• Greg Steele with ESG presented the completion of the company’s energy savings contract with the county. He said all the work on the project has been accomplished, so ESG will now begin monitoring the cost savings for the county.

• The court approved the appointments of newly elected District 1 Magistrate Ricky Stewart to the Calloway County Board of Health and the Purchase Area Development District (PADD) Transportation Committee and the Murray-Calloway County Hospital nomination of Steve Owen to the hospital board.

• The court approved an invitation to bid all road work/materials for upcoming year, with applications being due March 13.