A potentially lifesaving piece of equipment could soon be coming to the Starke County Jail. Sheriff Bill Dulin told the county commissioners last week that he’d like to get a body scanner, to help address challenges with the intake process for jail inmates.
“They are either ingesting drugs or putting them in other places, and once they come in, they can overdose or give it to the other population,” Dulin said. “It’s been an ongoing issue.”
Dulin said the scanner could cost up to $220,000, but the only real alternative would be to take every incoming inmate to the hospital for an x-ray. “Actually, we’ve been pretty lucky, to be honest with you,” he added. “But we have Narcan in the jail, and jail staff administers it.”
The sheriff asked to use some of the county’s share of American Rescue Plan money for the purchase. But Auditor Rachel Oesterreich noted that there’s plenty of money in the Jail CEDIT Fund and it would be much quicker to use.
In the end, the commissioners agreed to support the purchase out of the Jail CEDIT Fund. The request was later approved by the county council, but in an amount not to exceed $175,000.
