June 10, 2021 at 1:12 p.m.
Sheriff Burch to negotiate for additional jail beds
Currently, Cass has a contract with Crow Wing County to house 40 inmates at the jail in Brainerd.
With Tuesday's authorization, Burch first will try to negotiate with Crow Wing for a 60-bed contract. If that is unsuccessful, he will seek a contract with another neighboring county.
Cass' original contract with Crow Wing was for 60 beds when that jail first opened, but the number of guaranteed beds was reduced during intervening years when Cass was seeing fewer inmates.
Now, the number of inmates has risen again, leading the county to seek more housing for its inmates at neighboring jails.
Burch said any contract with neighboring counties will cost Cass significantly less than reopening portions of the older, less efficient Cass jail.
Burch also won board approval Tuesday to increase the pay rate for sentence-to-serve prisoners from $10 to $12 per hour. He said Cass' pay rate runs lower than that of other area counties and fails to recognize professional grade of work many of these inmates do.
Much of the pay they receive goes toward paying off court-ordered fines.
The board approved using $7,000 from the county's tax-forfeit revenue designated for recreational uses to match a grant Woodtick Wheelers All-terrain Vehicle Club received from Polaris to purchase a rescue bed that can be carried on the back of an all-terrain vehicle or trailer to carry injured people out of remote areas not accessible by motor vehicles.
Woodtick Wheelers will donate their interest in the equipment to the county.
Burch said he plans to keep the rescue equipment in central Cass where it can be available for rescues throughout the county.
Through the Minnesota DNR, Cass County will receive a $7,548 federal boating safety supplemental equipment grant to be used for the local boat and water safety program.
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