The Starke County Commissioners approved the use of a debit card for Starke County Community Corrections, but it turns out it can’t be used after all.
Starke County Court Services Director Shawn Mattraw explained that the department has run into some issues when using the debit card. The bank representatives as well as the State Board of Accounts said funds can’t be spend via debit card through the bank account. The account can only be used to collect user fees for deposit and write checks to the Starke County Auditor.
Mattraw said in some situations only credit cards and not debit cards can be used when completing some transactions, including reserving hotel rooms when attending conferences. He did say the state Department of Corrections recommends the use of a credit card for these purposes. He also indicated that other departments like his in other counties use credit cards to resolve these issues.
The commissioners asked Mattraw to provide some information on policies and procedures from other county governments on credit card use by community corrections. County Attorney Marty Lucas said that would be a good guideline to use for this type of request. The commissioners will discuss the request again when they meet again on Monday, Aug. 20.
