A hearing will be held in Jasper County today on Linda Belork’s request to have a court-imposed Temporary Restraining Order removed allowing her to return to her duties as the Starke County Treasurer. Belork has been out of the office since August 13th after being removed by the County Commissioners following the issuance of a State Audit showing thousands of dollars in discrepancies.
The money has been found, but Belork has been blocked by the order from returning to office. Objecting to her return are the Starke County Commissioners. Judge John Potter will be seeking pertinent information from Belork’s attorney, Ethan Lowe, and Martin Lucas, attorney for the commissioners, during today’s hearing.
Calling the future of IU Health Starke Hospital and the decision to be made on the Starke County Jail the two most important issues over the next five years, Commissioner Kathy Norem said a night should be devoted to providing information to the public on both issues.
The hospital administration was to attend the September 19th regular meeting of the Commissioners, but Norem thought the presentations would be more important than just being discussed with other county business.
Starke County Commissioner Kathy Norem recently led a group of county officials to a National Institute of Corrections Conference in Denver, Colorado where they studied the procedure for identifying jail needs and how a project moves along after a decision is made.
Norem also led officials on tours of other jails. One thing we have not heard is what the price range might be of a new jail. She talked about how she viewed the make-up and price of the Miami County Jail.
“Miami County was probably more suitable for something that we would want to see locally and that was around $12 million or $14 million.”
One thing the group heard in Colorado is that there is a danger with a jail in the condition of the Starke County Jail because of the possibility of lawsuits. The Jack Haut Class Action lawsuit is still moving through the legal system. Even though Kathy Norem has never expressed guilt in the suit, she has mentioned that there might be others that are brought with merit.
“Basically, that lawsuit is alleging his constitutional rights are being violated and we deny that. That is not true. We do not believe that to be true and we intend to vigorously defend that. However, that doesn’t alleviate us from addressing ongoing issues within that jail. One thing that we need to do is take a look at how other people are doing their facilities and what some of their policies and practices are and try to adopt some of the best ones here.”
Chief Deputy Bill Dulin of the Starke County Sheriff’s Department will be in to discuss jail issues with us tomorrow.
Sheriff Oscar Cowen, Councilman Dave Pearman, Chief Deputy Bill Dulin, Starke County Commissioner Kathy Norem, Jail Commander Greg Hewitt
Starke County Commissioner Kathy Norem has led a delegation from the County to the National Institute of Corrections Conference in Colorado. Joining Norem on the trip is Starke County Councilman David Pearman, Sheriff Oscar Cowen, Chief Deputy Bill Dulin, and Jail Commander Greg Hewitt. Continue reading →
Starke County Commissioner Kathy Norem will lead a delegation from the County to the National Institute of Corrections Conference in Colorado. The conference, transportation, and lodging is paid by the Institute.
Joining Norem on the trip will be Starke County Councilman David Pearman, Sheriff Oscar Cowen, Jail Commander Greg Hewitt, and Chief Deputy Bill Dulin.
Starke County Commissioner Kathy Norem described the jail tour made by the Commissioners last week as worthwhile. The Commissioners and Sheriff Oscar Cowen toured the Marshall and Miami County jails and although both used the same “footprint”, Marshall County rolled more equipment into their bond issue.
Norem wanted it known that the trip was not made because of the Jack Haut class action suit against the County, claiming deplorable conditions in the Starke County Jail.
A Starke County Commissioner, Kathy Norem, who is the former CEO of Starke Memorial Hospital, now known as IU Health Starke Hospital, is in today with an update on a committee’s early efforts to evaluate the possibility of upgrading the county’s ambulance service to include paramedic service, also known as Advanced Life Service.
