Beth Rumsey, Staff Writer

The Ripley County Sheriff’s Office requested permission to purchase new inmate uniforms at the Ripley County Council meeting held on Monday, September 21. According to Sheriff Tom Grills, the new uniforms will be color coded according to each classification of crime committed.

Sheriff Grills explained that the color coding system would allow outside agencies, such as EMTs, to better identify which inmates are the most dangerous, therefore providing an additional layer of safety within the jail.

According to Sheriff Grills, most of the inmate uniforms need to be replaced and that the funds to purchase them will come from the inmate commissary account. The council approved the purchase of the uniforms with a vote of 6-0-1 with councilman Bill Dramann abstaining.

Questions were posed to the sheriff regarding some expenditures from the commissary account, required to be reviewed by the council every six months. According to councilman Ed Armbrecht, items such as flowers and memorials are not allowable expenses as per guidelines set by the state board of accounts.

Sheriff Grills noted that he was following the examples of past sheriffs. He assured the council that the requested changes will be immediately implemented.

In other business, the 2010 budget for Ripley County was read and approved. The budget total for all offices is $6,600,264.00 Those interested in a complete breakdown of the budget can request that information at the auditor’s office.

The salary ordinance for the sheriff’s office was approved as corrected with the exception of the maintenance position until receipt of the job description.

Ripley County Parks requested two appropriations of $500 for rental deposits and $3,325 for payment for the show mobile operators. According to Ripley County Parks and Recreation Director Julie Brancamp, the show mobile was rented more this year than last year. The council unanimously approved both appropriation requests.

Brancamp also requested the transfer of $1500 from the new equipment account to the special events account. The council gave unanimous approval.

The Ripley County Health Department received unanimous approval to transfer $4000, funds from a H1N1 grant, to the communication equipment account.

All council members were in attendance along with county auditor Mary Ann McCoy and council attorney Neil Comer to advise. The next meeting will be on Monday, October 19 beginning at 7 p.m. in the courthouse annex.