Sheriff Hardesty reported to the Board that there are currently 20 inmates being held in the jail.   

Hardesty said he had interviewed a few people, including someone for the dispatch supervisor position. He also said that it had been brought to his attention that some calls going to the Police Department had not been getting transferred to the Southeast 911 Communications Center in Beatrice. He was alerted that the calls were going to the Police Department, and they were taking the information instead of transferring the call to Beatrice. Hardesty spoke with Carla Zarybnicky at the call center and she was going to address this issue with Falls City Police Chief Baker. 

The Board presented the draft interlocal agreement for emergency and non-emergency dispatch services from the City of Falls City to provide to the Richardson County Sheriff. Those present from the City were Anthony Nussbaum, City Clerk; Chief of Police, Jamie Baker; Sean Fouraker, City Council Ward Three. The agreement would be effective August 1, 2024. It would require a one-time fee of $63,900 to cover the hiring and training of 2 additional dispatchers and a monthly expense of 50 percent of the net costs the City incurs in the Falls City Fund 205-E911/Dispatching and reimbursement to the City for County access to City’s mobile deployment software proportionally to the use of the user licenses. 

Rural Fire Department representatives were also in attendance: Jed Fritz and Cody Bahr of Verdon Rural Fire, Andy Dunn from Falls City Rural Fire, and Craig Coonce from the Rulo Fire Department. Discussion was held regarding the dispatch services currently being done with 911 calls.  

Commissioner Caverzagie said the County’s most significant issue that has been discussed is the location. If it stays at the current location, the County will still be paying for employees at the Sheriff’s Department to dispatch and run the jail doors, which will continue to cost $160,000. But the way it’s proposed, the County will pay 50 percent to the Police Department and the $160,000 because the Sheriff’s Department has to have staff there to run the jail doors 24/7 per Jail Standards.  

Commissioner Karas said they’re still looking at over $400,000 for dispatch.

“So we’re just better off just bringing dispatch back to the Sheriff’s Office like it was before and saving the county people that much money so as to be doing this because you want $225,000,” said Karas.

He continued by saying that the City gets over $46,000 for 911 funds, so that would put them at $272,000. 

Nussbaum said that the total cost with two additional people would be about $446,500 with a gain of about $80,000 of income, and it offset in that number to the County, so the $46,000 of that is 911 direct, and the rest is some wireless 911 that comes through landlines that comes from occupational tax. Nussbaum said it definitely won’t need to be included in the agreement, but it was left in to try to offset those costs, that it’s a city income only. 

Andy Dunn said he didn’t understand how the system operates, but he’s a farmer in the County who wanted to know how to make this more efficient. He had an instance where the Chief of the Dawson Fire Department was called and was five miles out of town before a 911 page went through. 

“That’s probably the best case scenario, five minutes worst case scenario closer to ten minutes. If you’re dealing with kids in a house fire type situation, that’s life and death,” said Dunn. “Forget your $100,000 difference in cost. Somehow, everybody’s going to have to say, how can we make this more efficient? How can we do better?”

A recent event where Verdon Fire was dispatched to a wreck and went on a “wild goose chase” was brought up. 

“We show up to a location that we got paged to and there’s nothing there at all. And I don’t know where the mistakes are coming from. But you know, somebody’s seeing that that was a cell phone call. And it pinged off of this tower. We got dispatched literally to that tower two different times one for fire, one for an accident. And the fact that the actual incident was 15 miles, the other direction, you know, we sent all of our resources the wrong way. So at some point, you’re going to have to find a way to get it all married together a lot cleaner than we answered the phone, but it’s the Sheriff’s office, or it’s the fire department, we got to get it all under one roof.”

The incident Dunn is referencing was an accident on Highway 75 on December 27, 2023 where members of the Verdon Fire Department were dispatched to a multi-vehicle accident that ended up being in Nemaha County.

Falls City Police Department Lead Dispatcher Marci Ankrom gave the Journal a statement regarding the call. 

“I understand there are some questions regarding a 911 call that the Falls City Police Department received on December 27, 2023, and I would like to clarify some information. At 12:30 p.m. on December 27, 2023, the Falls City Police Department received a 911 call about a multi-vehicle accident on Highway 75. The caller was unsure of their exact location. Unfortunately, as any 911 Dispatcher will tell you, this is an all-too-common occurrence when answering 911 calls originating from cell phones. Luckily, however, we have access to mapping software that is able to give us either 1) the location of the cell tower the call was routed through or 2) the caller’s approximate location, which is much more precise than just the tower location. This information is transmitted to the PSAP as soon as 911 is answered.

When the Falls City Police Department answered the 911 call at 12:30 p.m., the mapping software showed the location of the cell tower. In dispatching, as in all emergency services, time is of the essence. The Falls City Police Department dispatcher made the decision to dispatch agencies based on the mapped location; the first agency was dispatched within one minute of receiving the call. This type of quick dispatch saves precious minutes and cuts down on response time as it allows the dispatcher to notify the agencies and get them headed in the right direction while they focus on questioning the caller, updating the map, and searching databases to ascertain the caller’s exact location. When the caller is unsure of their location and the mapping software is not giving a precise location, this option saves time and saves lives. 

We have access to amazing, lifesaving technology; unfortunately, technology is not infallible. That’s why collaboration and communication between the dispatch center and responding units is so important. The call on December 27, 2023, was an excellent example of agencies working together to bring aid to those in need and then, upon finding out the accident wasn’t in Richardson County, reaching out to the neighboring county to offer assistance. I would specifically like to thank the dedicated volunteer members of the Falls City Ambulance Squad and the Verdon Fire Department, as well as the Richardson County Sheriff’s Department, for responding to the call.”

Police Chief Jamie Baker echoed Ankrom’s statement to Dunn during the meeting. 

Dunn continued, “On the fire side of that, we need something a lot cleaner than what we’re trying to do now. So don’t 100 percent look at the cost. Start to figure out the service that we’re doing, find a way to find a way that whoever is in charge of it if you leave it at the city desk and they’re doing everything because transferring calls to say well that’s really a sheriff’s office thing that’s a fire or that, you know because many of these times we’re all working on the same scene for the same thing. But if it’s if it’s coming from different places, we’re getting into a lot of problems.”

Dunn said that the Departments are suffering because they’re getting multiple calls that should go to 911, but they’re coming directly to the people. “And right now it’s so messed up. And the problems are so big that that’s what people are doing. We’ve got tons and tons of calls coming directly to people; I’m sure the Sheriff gets calls directly to his phone; you know that that should be going to 911. And, it’s sad that right now, a lot of people don’t trust to dial 911,” said Dunn. 

Falls City Police Chief Jamie Baker said that dispatch is as good as the information they get and that every dispatch center he’s spoken to has said they have that same problem. They’ll get a callback number, and they’ll get as much information as they can, but it’s not always accurate. 

Jed Fritz with the Verdon Fire Department asked Nussbaum, “What’s the angle that Falls City has 911?”

Nussbaum said that the City gets funding for a PCAP, and normally, it’s a county position, but Richardson County gave it up in 1980, so the City took it on. They get $46,000 in federal funding to offset staffing it 24/7. 

Fritz asked what difference it truly makes with the City having it. 

Nussbaum explained that there can only be one PCAP because of State funding. 

“There’s a Southeast 911 committee group that discusses how these things are happening and what all these different jurisdictions are doing. They essentially want to get rid of your smaller PCAPs, in the long run, to try to save some money on the state level. We’ve taken on that burden as a city,” said Nussbaum. “When it went to Beatrice, all that extra cost to have that PCAP in Richardson County remained there; we just took it off, so we put that extra funding into that without taxpayer dollars. We’re buying the power to control our area essentially. If the funding goes away we can still operate our PCAP even if the state said you have zero. $46,000 bucks split that in half; we’re done, you know, $25,000 bucks to keep our control. Otherwise, it’s going to be state-controlled, and we’re going back to where we’re at with dispatching all over the place, and who knows who’s going where, and then each of these entities aren’t getting the voice really probably heard to make sure it’s getting done. So this agreement essentially has that it has an advisory committee, so every entity that’s dispatched, like we just had this discussion right now, how this happened, what we need to do. This develops that committee so that hall this stuff can be hatched out, dealt with locally and control put into place. That’s what we’re buying together.”

Nussbaum said they’re trying to save some costs by keeping it housed where they already have the infrastructure and everything in place. 

Commissioner Karas said one of his “gripes” was that he’s been in contact with the Rural Fire Departments, and if there are issues, they don’t say anything because they don’t feel that anything gets addressed. He feels the Fire Departments need to be more involved because of how important they are, just like the Humboldt ambulance service. 

“If there’s problems, they’re going to have to be addressed, and we’ve had them because I’ve got Page My Cell. I listen to the Fire Departments and stuff all the time, so I know what’s going on, but we need something. I don’t know what,” said Karas.

Nussbaum said that something was built into the agreement, but he’s not aware of those, “maybe they just never made it that far to me.”

He said he lives outside of city limits and wants Rural Fire and anyone else to be able to have a say and make sure those procedures and things get modified to that, so the agreement creates that kind of committee. 

Commissioner Karas said the fire departments have to feel comfortable, and everybody from every fire department needs to be involved so issues are addressed.  

Nussbaum said he agreed 100 percent and that was the only way that things would get faster and kinks would get worked out of the system. 

Police Chief Baker said he invited anyone from the Fire Departments to come to the Police Department to see how the system works. He emphasized that they do have humans that operate the dispatching services and you do have times that human errors like with anything else. “whether your be a police officer, fireman, you’re going to have human error. But if there is something that you can fix, we’ll definitely do.”

Dunn said until about three weeks ago the whole system was confusing and he didn’t even know who to call and complain to.

“How messed up is all of that, that we can’t just put it where we answer the phone, we push the button and it all goes, eliminate steps in there.” He said it’s great that you have everyone working together and coming to the table afterward to say that this was bad, but if you eliminate two tears in there and put it all as one, you limit a lot of time lag and potential problems,” said Dunn.

Right now, all 911 calls go to the Falls City Police Department. If the Sheriff’s Office has a 911 call, it gets transferred to Beatrice; if it’s a fire call or Humboldt Ambulance call, it gets dispatched from the Police Department. 

Police Chief Baker said this proposal could eliminate any middle person and put it all in one department. 

The Rural firefighters asked Chief Baker if they thought his dispatchers would be up to the task of handling the Sheriff’s calls. He said they would add some stuff, and they had done it before and would be able to handle it. 

Jed Fritz of the Verdon Rural Fire Department asked Falls City Administrator Anthony Nussbaum what would happen five to ten years down the road if the City were to run out of money and the Police Department would have to combine with the Sheriff’s Department.

Nussbaum laughed.

“Laugh, but I’m serious, you never know what would happen to this 911 stuff; theoretically, what would happen?” said Fritz. 

“If the PCAP went away, the state would make that decision,” said Nussbaum.

“Could the City transfer the PCAP to the Sheriff’s office at the time?” said Fritz.

“The state is in control,” said Nussbaum.

“Okay, I’m seriously curious. I mean, you can always say something is never going to happen,” said Fritz.

The agreement is a five-year commitment and would renew annually.

Sickel asked why it couldn’t be indefinite.

Nussbaum said that would be fantastic. They put a term in there to show a commitment level they wanted to see since they were taking on additional costs.  

Nussbaum said it would now be four to six months to get the staff “up to par” where they can be “cut loose and on their own,” and not the two years as previously stated.

The Commissioners and Sheriff Hardesty discussed whether they wanted to move dispatch to the Falls City Police Department or out to the Sheriff’s Department.

Chief Deputy Jeremiah Franks said he would like to know what the “end goal” of all of this would be. He said he wasn’t here for the move to Beatrice, but it wasn’t a goal accomplished by moving there. So five to ten years down the road, “where are we going to be?”

There would be a way that the Sheriff’s Department could dispatch directly, but it would be up to the state and a five-person panel. The County would have to go in front of them and say that they want to dispatch Richardson County. They wouldn’t get state funding. So it is possible. It would be an application process and shared cost thing. 

Richardson County built a tower about three years ago; they have the capability to dispatch a console and Dark Fiber, said Sheriff Hardesty. 

The Sheriff said he wanted to take into account that the Sheriff’s Office is a storm shelter, and if a tornado were to hit the Police Department, 911 would be out. Also, The jail is housed at the Sheriff’s Department. 

“We’re talking about saving people money, but are we saving taxpayers money? Because now it’s $25,000 more than what Beatrice offered, and we’re still going to be spending paying wages for four people,” said Hardesty.

Karas said that money could be used to buy the equipment the County would need to set up 911 at the Sheriff’s Department. 

Hardesty said he wanted to look at the end goal. That maybe a partnership wasn’t the way to go, but you can’t get any better than 50/50. However, things would run better if everything was under one roof. 

“I just want to make sure when a 911 call gets transferred, we know where in the hell it’s at in the County. That’s the thing I care about, “said Caverzagie.”

A motion was made by Karas to move and retain the dispatch for the Sheriff’s Department at the Law Enforcement Center effective August 1, 2024, and to approve the purchase of dispatch console equipment from Motorola Solutions, Inc. through the State of Nebraska contract 14534 OC for a price of $246,814 with the lifecycle services provided for five years for a grand total of $332,518. Motion seconded by Caverzagie. Karas-aye, Sickel-nay, Caverzagie-aye.  Motion carried.  

Highway Superintendent, Steve Darveau, Jr. updated the Board on the maintenance being done on county roads and bridges this past week.   Discussion was held on the snow removal from the recent storms, and he reported that the crew did an outstanding job with working to get the roads opened.   

He also reported that a motor grader required a major repair from damage done while removing snow but that the equipment repairs have been made and the machine is back in working order. This incident was also submitted as a claim to the County’s insurance. 

Amanda Bartek-Ramsey, County Treasurer presented to the Board a pledge security receipt #JC92998E from F&M Bank to replace receipt #JC93046 from F&M Bank. A motion was made to approve as presented, and the motion was carried. 

Emily Sisco was appointed deputy county attorney on a contractual basis effective today, January 24, 2024, to assist the county attorney’s office with the resignation of deputy county attorney Alexandra Fleming on January 15, 2024.  

Resolution 2023-2024-29 for a subdivision located in S3, T1, R15 for Frederick Brothers Partnership, a Nebraska Corporation, was adopted. 

A motion was made and approved to pay all claims that were submitted.

The meeting was adjourned at 12:15 p.m. The Board will meet again at 9:00 a.m. on Wednesday, January 31, 2024, in the Commissioner’s Meeting Room, Courthouse, Falls City.   The agenda is kept current at the County Clerk’s Office.  

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The Richardson County Sheriff’s office collected gifts at the Sherriff’s office and during their annual Stuff the Cruiser event in Falls City on December 9, adding around 200 new toys to those collected earlier this holiday season during the Jingle Bell Ride. Gently used coats, countless stuffed animals, and pet supplies were also donated by community members. Those gifts were then added to hundreds of gifts and over 50 gift cards provided by 26 individual donors, Cooper Nuclear, Brown’s, Falls City Care Center, Dorr and Clark, the Elks, Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts, and three area churches. These gifts were combined and then distributed out of the Richardson County Law Enforcement Center this last week to make Christmas brighter for 116 children (from 50 families) in Eastern Richardson County. The generosity of donors in Richardson County was overwhelming this year! Pictured above Officer Jeremiah Franks, Commissioner Rick Karas, Kristin Morehead and Sheriff Rick Hardesty Jr.

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Their weeks are jam-packed with intense training and obedience exercises. They’re always striving to improve their skills as a team, training at local schools, fire stations, and businesses. Franks is always looking for new places to train with Freya in narcotics detection and tracking. Since June, Freya and Franks have been working together after Freya completed a year and a half of training overseas. Recently, they had their first successful operation when they assisted a Deputy on a traffic stop in Falls City. Freya’s sharp nose led to the discovery of narcotics, weapons, and other contraband. While at home, the team bonds by using their special commands, running and playing. 

With her keen senses and unwavering loyalty, Freya has quickly become an invaluable asset to the department.

Sergeant Franks said he thinks K9 units are a useful law enforcement tool that the Sheriff’s Office benefit from. 

“They detect odor that an officer can’t. With a K9, it takes drugs out of the community and, with that, the main source of other crimes that come from drugs. The more drugs you can take off the road utilizing the K9, the safer the community will be.” 

Freya is not a pet; she’s a working dog, just like a service animal. When she’s on duty, she’s highly motivated and focused. 

“They don’t come in and lay on the couch,” said Franks. “On duty, they are really motivated; they have a high work ethic. When they are working, they don’t need to be distracted.”

Franks said they always accept donations for ongoing costs with the K9, such as grooming, vet bills, food and training materials. He also said he would like to see more business partnerships. 

“I would love to do a monthly sponsorship where we bring in the K9 and post about their business. It’s an advertisement for them,” said Sgt. Franks.

If you’re interested in sponsoring the ongoing costs for Freya and Valor, you can drop off a check at the Richardson County Sheriff’s Office. Make it out to Richardson County Treasurer with “K9 fund” in the memo. You can also leave a message for Sgt. Franks and Sgt. Ractliffe to explore other possible sponsorships. Your support can make a big difference.

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During this time officers made eighty two traffic stops with twenty-four citations and fifty-eight being issued. This enforcement effort did result in one DUI arrest, two minor in possession of alcohol and four transporting open containers of alcohol citations being issued. 

Beyond the ticket activity, includes Falls City Police officers answering one hundred and sixty calls for service with five traffic accidents reported. Officers additionally made two warrant arrest, investigated six reports of child abuse, two reports of sexual assault along with several miscellaneous investigation’s including thefts and dangerous dogs. 

Falls City Police officers worked over one hundred hours of overtime during the mobilization period. The overtime cost was funded by a grant provided by the Nebraska Department Of Transportation, Highway Traffic Safety Office. 

The Falls City Police Department thanks the citizens of Falls City for their continued support and encourage all drivers to drive safely, buckle up and don’t drink and drive.

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Following an informative public discussion this past February, the Richardson County Jail Citizen’s Committee members decided to put the discussion of a 40-bed addition to the Richardson County Jail on hold for two years.

Now five months later, the Richardson County Sheriff’s Department is scrambling to find a solution to the increasing jail crowding with no end in sight. 

To date, nearly 400 people have been booked in the Richardson County Jail in 2022. 

According to Historical Corrections Statistics in the United States, 1850-1984 and Jail Inmates at Midyear 2008, The national jail population grew between 1980 and 2008 from 161,000 to 785,500. In rural areas of the country, the jail population is continuing to boom leading to overcrowding. This stems from policy changes, such as greater reliance on money bail as pretrial populations have surged. 

In Richardson County, “business” hasn’t slowed down in the three years that Sheriff Hardesty has taken office. 

“The people we arrested in 2019, 2020, and 2021, we’re still arresting in 2022,” he said. “Now there are new ones and all of the sudden, it’s not, ‘hey, you’re going to get probation.’ They keep getting arrested and sent to county jail for a year, which ties up beds.”

Hardesty said they’ve discussed doing away with work release. Inmates are working to be able to have a job when they get out of jail, but Hardesty says those would be the individuals that would be transported someplace else. 

“We don’t have to go back and pick them up and bring them back to court. Can you imagine taking somebody to Lexington that has court in two weeks? You’ll spend the whole day driving there and back. A lot of times, we can do it by WebEx, but there’s a lot of times that we can’t if their attorney requests for them to be there.”

Lexington looks to be one of two places that Richardson County will have to transport if or when overcrowding continues. At 268 miles, it would take over four hours to drive one way to transport inmates. 

Right now, Richardson County is competing for space in Washington County with Johnson, Pawnee, Otoe, and Nemaha Counties, who are also full. The Washington County facility in Blair, NE, at 126 miles, takes well over 2.5 hours to go one way for transport.

“Everyone in the area is looking to house inmates at Lexington and Blair, Nebraska. Everyone around here is taking their inmates to Blair, and not sure how long that will be an option,” said Hardesty.

Jail Administrator Kristen Morehead does a lot of “wheeling and dealing” each day to try to free up space so time on the road is limited and money is saved. 

“Right now, we’re housing for three different counties, Pawnee, Johnson and Gage,” she said.

In a strategy of “swapping the inmates,” Richardson County takes some female inmates in exchange for male inmates. 

“We took a female for them [another county] and gave them five males,” said Hardesty. 

Many places don’t have female staff, which gives Richardson County an advantage, which is why our jail often houses for other counties. We can take on female inmates when other counties can’t and free up bed space. 

When Blair’s full, they’ll have to move to Lexington. When Lexington’s full, Hardesty said, “We keep going west.”

Going to Kansas isn’t an option anymore because they’re overpopulated and the question of Missouri and Iowa, well, the inmates have to give permission to cross state lines. 

“Nobody wants to go. Because this is their home, they’ve been here a while,” said Hardesty.

Each day the staff at the Sheriff’s Department meet to go through everybody who’s booked in to figure out when their court dates are so they can send the people with the furthest court dates away. 

Facilities need to be called daily and the number of facilities called everyday changes. Morehead said she might call up to eight different places a day, Nemaha County, Nebraska; Otoe County; Washington County, Nebraska; Johnson County; Doniphan County, Kansas; Cass County, Washington County, Kansas and Brown County, Kansas. Each facility may only be able to take one inmate, so it could be an all-day process of finding a place for inmates and transporting them. And these places may not take certain inmates based on their charges. 

Richardson County doesn’t employ someone full-time to transport inmates. Someone needs to be called in off the road, or it needs to be worked around someone’s court schedule. 

“We don’t have the capability to transport like that all the time,” said Morehead. 

A couple of issues now arise—overcrowding and upsetting Jail Standards and the Fire Marshal and having no place to take those arrested. 

Jail Standards and the Fire Marshal can shut the jail down.

According to Jail Standards, 18 is full for the Richardson County Jail. 

“We’ve been over 18 since May. In the last three weeks, we’ve been floating around that 23, 24, 25 number, you know, and then we did the search warrant, the other night took four that put us at 28. Now we’re at a point where we have to do something because we can’t house 29,” said Hardesty. “And the State Fire Marshal, they aren’t going to play games.” 

This is the first year Hardesty said he’s budgeted for out of County holds. Morehead said they’ve never had to do that. They don’t know if what they budgeted for will be enough. 

In February, Richardson County had spent $13,534.63 from July 2021 to that point on safekeeping and inmate medical costs by housing inmates outside the County. If you had factored in gas (at that time $3.19) and wages (before the pay increase given to employees a couple of weeks ago), that total jumped to $17,586.83. Based on those totals, the average yearly cost to house and transport inmates was approximately $42,208.39. 

The average daily cost is still $55 but could go up because of inflation and gas prices.

Hardesty said that if we start spending $20,000 to $30,000 a year to house inmates somewhere else, it’s not counting fuel and wages/overtime wages and wear and tear on vehicles for transport. 

“The issue becomes, we don’t have any places to take them. We’re going to start looking at the cost. So instead of being arrested for felony drug possession, we’ll end up having to issue citations to them,” said Hardesty. “That’ll be anything, burglaries, thefts. The problem we’re going to run into is domestics; we have to arrest somebody. At some point, it’s just too much. Not that we want to issue citations because if people need to go to jail, they need to go to jail. But you have no place to take them. What do you do?”

Morehead and Hardesty acknowledge that they would be in the same situation had the jail addition gotten approved in February as it would have taken time to build, “but at least we would have known that we’re going in that direction,” said Morehead.

“We would have locked in a price,” said Hardesty.

“I don’t think it’s fair to the people of Richardson County to bring somebody in on a drug charge and let them out on a PR bond, you know?” said Hardesty. “I don’t know what the answer is. “We’re not going to stop arresting people until we absolutely have to. The problem is once we’re at 28, we’re done until we have to get them out.”

County Commissioner Rick Karas said he knew this was coming. 

“It was pretty obvious because those guys [the Sheriff’s Department] are proactive. And we’ve never had a Sheriff’s Department that was as proactive as them. So it doesn’t surprise me this was coming. It’s going to cost the county way, way, way more money than it would have if we would have gone through with it (building an addition). This isn’t something that’s going to go away. So I guess we’ll take that next step after every place is filled up about what we’re going to do.”

“Right now, we’d be in the same situation whether the job got approved or not,” said Hardesty. “But if it were approved, at least there would be light at the end of the tunnel. Right now, it’s just a long dark tunnel. I think that the important part for the citizens to understand is that there may come a time that we go to their house because somebody broke in and we catch them and we may have to write them a ticket and release them.

The problem is we can only do our job with the tools we’re given. So if we don’t have the tools to do it, then we’re in trouble. And that’s where it becomes an issue. We’re not going to be allowed to have the tools that we need to do our job efficiently and continue what we’re doing now. So I don’t know what the answer is at that point. Honestly, I have no idea.”

Hardesty said the Department would keep going, but there’s going to become a point where they’re not going to be able to continue to do what they’re doing. 

In February, the biggest issue raised by the public who attended the meeting was the potential for a tax increase.

Andy Fornay with public finance company D.A. Davidson said the estimated property taxes on a $100,000 property would increase $32 annually on a 15-year bond or a little over $25 annually on a 20-year bond. 

In 2019 Richardson County Jail made a total of $39,050.00 in safekeeping income by housing inmates for Pawnee, Otoe, Gage and Nemaha Counties. In 2020 the County made $52,195.00 by housing inmates for Pawnee, Otoe, Gage, Nemaha and Johnson Counties. In 2021 the total went down due to having more of our inmates. Richardson County made $37,070.00 from Pawnee, Otoe, Gage, Nemaha and Johnson Counties.

The committee members announced at the conclusion of the meeting that they needed a little bit more time to investigate this a little bit further as well as get some more statistics from the jail to support being able to whether it’s needed or not. “That was that’s what everybody within the committee came up with. Looking at the general consensus was two years to study on this before we come back,” Ray Joy said at the time of the committee decision in February.

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1. Michael Potter, 44 of Reserve, KS was arrested on 4/25/22 on a Richardson County warrant for failing to appear for a Court Commitment. Potter remains in custody. Suspect is innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
2. Jordan Lunsford, 31 of White Cloud , KS was arrested on 4/25/22 on a Richardson County warrant for Conspiracy to Distribute Methamphetamine. Lunsford remains in custody awaiting a bond hearing. Suspect is innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
3. Leo Gullick Jr, 53 of Omaha, NE, was arrested on 4/26/22 on charges of Possession of Marijuana with Intent to Deliver, Possession of Methamphetamine, Possession of a Stolen Vehicle, Possession of a Deadly Weapon During a Felony, and a Habitual Criminal charge. Gullick remains in custody awaiting a bond hearing. Suspect is innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
4. Broderick Smith, 23 of Falls City, NE was arrested on 4/26/22 on a Richardson County warrant for failing to appear for a Court Commitment. Smith is still in custody. Suspect is innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
5. Gary Prater, 66 of Falls City, NE was arrested on 4/27/22 on a Richardson County warrant for Failure to Pay Fines and Costs. Prater was released on a $30 bond. Suspect is innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
6. Jeremy Butrick, 35 of Falls City, NE was arrested on 4/28/22 on a Richardson County warrant for Felony Driving During Revocation. Butrick remains in custody. Suspect is innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
7. Jennie Worthey, 49 of Humboldt, NE was arrested on 4/28/22 on a Richardson County warrant for Contributing to the Delinquency of a Minor X 5. Worthey was released on a $200 bond. Suspect is innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
8. Christopher Nunez, 46 of Lincoln, NE was arrested on 4/29/22 on a Richardson County warrant for Failure to Pay Fines and Costs and Driving Under Suspension. Nunez was released after sitting out fines and a $1,500 PR Bond for the Driving Under Suspension charge. Suspect is innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
9. Michael Collier, 45 of Falls City, NE was arrested on 4/29/22 on charges of Possession of Methamphetamine. Collier remains in custody awaiting a bond hearing. Suspect is innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
10. Rose Foster, 54 of Omaha, NE was arrested on 4/30/22 for Driving Under Suspension. Foster was released on a $1,500 PR bond. Suspect is innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
11. Matthew Koeneke, 34 of Rulo, NE was arrested on 4/30/22 on a Richardson County warrant for Littering. Koeneke was released on a $100 bond. Suspect is innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
12. Matthew Lefler, 38 of Humboldt, NE was arrested on 5/1/22 on a Richardson County warrant for Contributing to the Delinquency of a Minor X5. Lefler was released on a $200 bond. Suspect is innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

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Following a 2 ½ hour session last Wednesday evening in the District Courtroom, the Richardson County Jail Citizen’s Committee members agreed that further discussion would be needed regarding the possible 40-bed addition to the Richardson County Jail. 

Committee members in attendance were: Jerry Duerfeldt, Ray Joy, Charlie Fiegener, June Bowers, Austin Duerfeldt, Jake Ankrom, Mark Joy and Trent Phillips. Phil Bletscher was unable to attend. County Commissioner Rick Karas, Sheriff Rick Hardesty and Jail Administrator Kristin Morehead were also in attendance. 

Curt Field with Omaha architecture firm Prochaska & Associates led the meeting, answering questions and presenting two options for the Committee to review. 

As Citizens Committees usually have the option to review and affect changes to “pre-Schematic” Design drawings, the Committee was asked if any noticeable changes should be made to the Feasibility Drawing. No modifications were suggested. Field added that options exist to enlarge the current commercial kitchen by extension into the existing Armory gymnasium area, should it become necessary, which would cost significantly less per square foot than an enlarged new constructed kitchen—this potential should add another measure of conservativeness to the current cost projection, as a new kitchen area was projected at the new $443/S.F. “Jail” rate. A South Elevation (exterior view) depicting the proposed Addition in context with the existing facility was also discussed. 

Sheriff Hardesty and Morehead have projected that Richardson County’s jail population will only continue to increase. 

Currently, inmates are escorted by sheriff’s deputies elsewhere throughout eastern Nebraska and into Northern Kansas. 

Meanwhile, Morehead said she and other Southeast Nebraska employees are constantly searching for more space for inmates.

In transporting and housing inmates elsewhere, Morehead figured the average cost to Richardson County’s between July 2021 to the present typically cost $55 per day depending on the facility; including some overtime pay (Sheriff Hardesty transports during his time off to save the County money as he is a salaried employee), and the price of gas. Totals do not include wear and tear on vehicles. 

To transport to Auburn, Nebraska: 15 round trips, drive time, wages for overtime were $27.75 and $27.00 an hour. Most transports were done during overtime, with Sheriff Hardesty taking a few. If gas were $3.19 a gallon, the approximate total price for gas would be $167.55. 

To transport to Nebraska City, Nebraska: Five round trips, wages for overtime were $27.75, $39.57 and $35.43, with Sheriff Hardesty taking a few. If gas were $3.19 a gallon, the approximate total price for gas would be $87.75.

To transport to Washington County, Kansas: two round trips, wages for overtime was $27.75 and Sheriff Hardesty took a trip to cut costs. If gas were $3.19 a gallon, the approximate total price for gas would be $59.98. When Richardson County Sheriff’s Department transports inmates, another set of issues arise. 

“They [an inmate] has to sign a waiver voluntarily; we can’t force them to go, and we can’t force them to go across state lines. So, they have to want to go,” said Hardesty.

To transport to Fairbury, Nebraska: two round trips, wages for overtime was $27.00, $24.60 and $23.62. If gas were $3.19 a gallon, the approximate total price for gas would be $62.52. 

The average length an inmate is incarcerated in another county’s jail is based on whether or not the inmate is sentenced or needs to be transported back and forth for court. The amount of time could range from two days to a month, but according to Morehead, the average would be approximately nine days.

When an inmate is in the care of another facility, any medical costs they incur will be in addition to the daily rate and must be reimbursed in full. That would include any medication, doctor’s appointments and dental. Currently, Richardson County Jail has a contract with Community Medical Center, which makes it more affordable than someone else’s facility. 

In July 2021, there were four inmates at other facilities; August, there were three at other facilities; September, there were five at other facilities; October, there were 16 inmates at other facilities, and in November, there were four inmates at other facilities. Right now, Richardson County Jail is a 24-bed facility and by Jail Standards, when there are 18 inmates, it’s considered full. 

Richardson County has spent $13,534.63 from July 2021 to the present on safekeeping and inmate medical costs by housing inmates outside of the County. If you factor in gas and wages, that total jumps to $17,586.83. Based on these totals, the average yearly cost to house and transport inmates would be approximately $42,208.39. 

During the Wednesday meeting, Sheriff Hardesty told the Committee that as of February 2, 2022, 58 people had been booked in the jail, with five being arrested that day on a search warrant. 

There is significant potential for income to be generated on 20 of the 40 beds being sought in the jail addition. The U.S. Marshals said they would pay to house federal inmates at rates that could generate anywhere between $438,000 to $620,500 per year, depending on what Richardson County Jail decides to contract with them per day. Per generated figures, after hiring four additional staff, which would be the projected number of employees needed based on jail standards requirements-factoring in their wages and insurance, the county income could be $238,792.60 to $421,293.60 per year. According to Jail Administrator Kristin Morehead, these figures are based only on housing Federal inmates, and this wouldn’t factor in any revenue the County would get from other County holds.

Committee members asked if the Sheriff’s Department could request copies of the emails from other Counties and from U.S. Marshals memorializing non-binding offers made to board outside Inmates in Richardson County. This will be needed for the next Committee Meeting.

The food costs per inmate do go down the more inmates housed in the jail. The price per meal for 1-5 inmates is $34.04; 6 to 10 inmates is $11.98 per meal; 11-15 inmates is $7.65 per meal; 16-20 inmates is $5.80 per meal; 21-24 inmates is $4.79 per meal. 

It’s estimated that the utility prices wouldn’t see much change as the lights are on a schedule, but water usage would increase. Utility bills go to the County Clerk’s office, so figures weren’t readily available. 

Field provided the committee handouts regarding projected Hard and Soft Costs in the Needs Assessment Update document. Field had given projections at the meeting two weeks prior but explained that the former copy contained projections for January 2022 Project costs, modified from available January 2021 reference material. He said that Prochaska & Associates is now in receipt of new RS Means Cost Estimating software, allowing use of actual collected cost data for the previous 2021-2022 year. The Feasibility options projected Bond costs have now been recomputed to $5,716,183, and $5,334,071, respectively. 

A comment was made that the current cost projections contain an assumption for three percent inflation for the 1 1⁄2-year time between the R.S. Means data for January of 2022 to March of 2023. Field said there was no way of knowing the actual figure at this point, so early in 2022, but the known causes for previously high inflation are now being confronted directly by the government, hopefully leading to a dramatic improvement. Raising the suggested Bond figure to $6 million dollars may account somewhat for this uncertainty and the levels of contingency factors built into the update figures. 

The Committee was shown copies of the Nickel Tax statute (NE 23-120), which allows a Nebraska County to levy up to “5.2 cents on each $100 upon the taxable value of all the taxable property in the County” without a ballot issue. Mary Eickhoff reported that the County could include this project, at a projected $6 million Bond value, within the current Nickel Tax maximum levy. 

The potential for promoting this project to voters was discussed. Some on the Committee were willing to see the project funded by the Nickel Tax, but some were concerned that there should be more transparency regarding the tax and the public should still be allowed to decide by Bond Referendum. Field said other counties who had previously opted to use the Nickel Tax had also accompanied their decisions with effective publicity and full transparency so that the County taxpayers would understand the need more accurately. Members of the Committee, the Sheriff and Commissioner Karas said they hope the public would attend the next meeting on February 16, at 6:30 pm with any questions or comments on the matter. 

The County Board must vote to place the Jail addition issue on the May Primary ballot by March 1 if the Committee is in a position to make that recommendation by then. The Committee may also opt to recommend other election dates (i.e., the November Election or a Special Election date) or other funding methods, such as the Nickel Tax. 

Field and Sheriff Hardesty discussed LB921 recently introduced by Sen. Steve Lathrop. This potential bill, now under consideration in the Nebraska Legislature, LB 921, which, if passed, would require all convictions of Class III or lower felonies with sentences of four years or less to be held in the County facilities where the arrests have been made. If passed, this will significantly impact all County inmate bed projections. Morehead was asked if a typical years’ worth of convictions in this category could be calculated for Richardson County. Also, it has been reasoned that this figure for a single year might rise at the same rate in the next 20 years as have prior Inmate projections. 

It was determined that Jail Standards staff Denny Macomber and Bond Counsel Andy Forney (D.A. Davidson) would try to attend the next Committee Meeting. 

The meeting was adjourned at approximately 9:00 pm, and the next meeting will be held again in the Courtroom at the Courthouse on February 16, at 6:30 pm. The public is encouraged to attend with any questions, comments or concerns. 

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(This interview with Sheriff Hardesty was conducted before the passing of Sgt. Jeremy Goldsberry)

We aren’t on Highway 75 more than a minute when Sheriff Hardesty’s radar begins to sound. 

He turns the car around and catches up to the vehicle. It’s going fast, real fast, like many vehicles on Highway 75. 

“We have so many fatality accidents on this road, it’s unbelievable,” Hardesty later says. 

Every fatality accident he’s worked since he came to Richardson County has been on this highway. Sure, there have been other severe accidents around the County, but they weren’t fatalities. 

Hardesty steps out into the frigid December wind approaching the vehicle as eighteen-wheelers pass by at little too fast for comfort. At a recent County Commissioner meeting, it was said that Richardson County has more traffic stops than a lot of other local counties combined. 

Sheriff Hardesty said he takes that as a compliment. 

“The hardest thing that I’ve tried to instill in our guys and why we make so many traffic stops is, be proactive. If we don’t stop her (the individual he had pulled over), she drives down the road; she might kill somebody. I’m not saying that she might, but she got a ticket and maybe she slows down,” said Hardesty. 

He  tries to tell people, getting a ticket isn’t great, but it’s better than killing someone or yourself. 

“We like to think it helps slow some people down,” said Hardesty. 

Sheriff Rick Hardesty Jr. came from a small town and was brought up knowing how important family is, but not just your family at home, your work family too. 

“These guys and gals, they’re my family, my work family. If somebody’s sick or has a sick kid, I try to pick up the slack and cover because I understand what it’s like to not be at home with family,” said Hardesty. 

Wanting to be a cop, but coming from a family of truck drivers, he ultimately decided to follow in the same footsteps as his dad, brother and uncle and got his CDL when he turned 21. The time away from his family was too much, so he went to work at the prison in Tecumseh. Finally with some encouragement from his wife, he decided it was time. 

At 39 years old, Hardesty got certified and graduated from the Academy. It was no easy feat. Training with a group of twenty-year-olds was a bit of a challenge. At one point, he pulled a hamstring, but he didn’t give up. Wanting to be a leader, he went back out and finished the obstacle course. 

Hardesty started at the Richardson County Sheriff’s office under Sheriff Don Pounds in May of 2019. Less than two months later, Pounds submitted his letter of resignation. 

After talking with his wife, she helped him with a resume for the position of Sheriff. When he got the call with the offer for the job, he and his wife were both surprised. They’d now be packing up and moving to Richardson County.

Sleeping in his chair for the first two weeks on the job, the new Sheriff first wanted the public to know that people could trust them. 

“That’s always going to be important, that we’re not going to make everybody happy all the time. But I want them to have the faith that when they call us, we’re going to be there.” 

He says he feels lucky to be in the spot he’s in thanks to County Commissioners, Terry Frank, David Sickel and John Caverzagie. 

“They gave me the opportunity and I ran with it. I’m a pretty simple guy; what you see is what you get. I’m going to show up and I’m going to do my job the best I can and we go from there.”

But he doesn’t do it alone; he credits the deputies and staff who oversee the jail for carrying a lot of the workload. 

“What separates us from everybody else is 99 percent of the guys that work here. They have the same mentality. We do a job; we do it to the best of our ability. I don’t have to sit and say, ‘hey, go to work,’ They’re at the office or doing reports; they’re researching an investigation.”

Looking at numbers at the end of each year, they set a bar and continuously push themselves to be better. 

“I want to be the best Department in Southeast Nebraska. I want people to go, ‘Hey, who’s the best Department? Oh, Richardson County Sheriff’s Office. But I want to be one of the top five or 10 in the entire state,” said Hardesty. “I’m excited about the Department we have, what the future holds.”

Today the Sheriff finds himself on the road working traffic. It’s the weekend and that’s generally when he gets to work traffic and travel through every town in the County, making sure everything looks alright. Working close to 80 hours a week, he believes being out with his guys doing search warrants; he’s leading by example. “I’d never ask them to do something I wouldn’t do.”

He responds to another call, one that the Humboldt Rescue Squad has also shown up for. He rushes in and checks it out. 

“You just never know in Richardson County,” he says as he returns, then immediately begins to praise the Humboldt Ambulance crew. “These guys that are volunteers, they make our job so much easier.” 

He talks about the good people in Richardson County during the recent windstorm and how they came out to help each other pick up debris, especially the help of current County Commissioner Rick Karas. 

“Hat’s off to Karas. He came in [to Humboldt] during the storm. I’ve got debris all over the highways. There Karas is with gloves on, gray hair and all in the trenches picking up.”

“People pulled together. That’s the best part of living in small communities.”

The Sheriff’s Department can only work one side of a situation like this. When the community helps, and is safe and smart about clean-up, it allows the Department to leave and check on others who may be hurt. 

This year has been more of a challenge for the Department than Sheriff Hardesty expected. “I thought you know what, 2021 will be a lot better than 2020.”

Sen. Steve Lathrop sponsored a bill passed in May, LB51, which increases certification and training standards for Nebraska Law enforcement officers. The Sheriff’s Office is getting everything “up to par” and accredited. They’ve also been getting used to the new dispatch done by the Southeast Communications 911 Center in Beatrice and transporting people due to the lack of beds in the jail. 

“The jail is a whole different animal,” said Hardesty.

Deputies executed 16 residential search warrants in 2021 compared to 14 in 2020. As a result of those 16 residential search warrants, deputies made 28 felony drug arrests. Over 50 search warrants were issued last year and nearly 650 criminal cases were filed in Richardson County Court. The Sheriff’s Department alone was making an average of 45 arrests per month.

The Department seized 21 firearms in 2021 (compared to 24 in 2020), explosives and numerous items of stolen property. Several fraud and forgery cases were investigated as well. Those cases resulted in numerous felony charges, including one case adopted by the United States Secret Service.

In 2021, Richardson County Deputies arrested 469 people compared to 297 in 2020. 

Knowing there was a need for more room, Hardesty went to the Commissioners to discuss a Jail addition. Last summer, Deputies were being taken off the road to transport inmates all over Nebraska and into Kansas.

Three guys went in three different directions at one point, transporting inmates. Two days later, they were on the road again headed to Jefferson County for transport. 

Washington County, Kansas would take them, but challenges come with transporting inmates out of state. Blair, Nebraska, nearly two hours away, can, at times be the closest place to transport. If an inmate is a female, the County pays overtime for a female employee to accompany an officer, the gas and $55-$80 per day for housing. 

The jail has booked approximately 1200 people from September 2019 through mid-December 2021. In 2020 with COVID, 475 people were still booked. “And none of this is possible without (Deputy County Attorney) Samantha Scheitel,” said Hardesty. 

Meth has been the biggest problem in Richardson County and something the Department has focused on since Hardesty was sworn into office. “We have to figure out some way to fix the problem. Putting them in jail, letting them out, putting them in jail, letting them out. It’s not working.”

The Richardson County Sheriff’s Department has seen it all. They’ve seen what meth can do to someone and how terrible it is. He said he’s seen how hard it is for them to get sober and stay that way, but rehab won’t fix someone who doesn’t want to be fixed. 

“Rehab is a waste of time and waste of money unless somebody truly wants help. It’s up to each individual to say, enough’s, enough.”

He feels that’s why the work on Highway 75, a road traveled on by residents of his County, matters. 

“There’s dope, large quantities that go north and cash going south. We’ve had three people that had full extradition warrants out of Texas. What happens if they go down the road and rob somebody, or you know you could prevent something else from happening?”  

The Sheriff’s Department hopes that the addition will have 40 beds and with that come’s the possibility of a contract with the U.S. Marshals who have been in contact with the office. If they take 20 beds, they could help pay the bond. A possible $438,000 per year to house inmates pretrial. 

The survey conducted by the Sheriff’s Department showed overwhelming support for the jail addition.

Though the community had raised concerns regarding the housing of federal inmates when the Sheriff’s Department asked for public input. Hardesty said inmates would be pretrial, meaning they would go someplace else once they’re sentenced, and Richardson County would only house them until they went to Federal Court.  

“The last thing I would do is bring more people here to let out to be more of our problem.” 

He said another problem that’s come to his attention is, what happens if he’s not Sheriff? He doesn’t intend on going anywhere, but he says he can’t answer that. 

Hardesty says the people in Richardson County are the people who matter most. 

“What we spend directly impacts them. The jail, I’m glad it’s going to be voted on because the jail is going to be everybody in Richardson County’s jail as much as it is the Sheriff’s Offices. We can either be the County that gets paid to house inmates, or we can be the County that pays the housing fees.”

Hardesty says they want to build for now and build for the future and if it doesn’t get done, at least he tried. He’d like to see Richardson County be a front-runner instead of a follower.

“We can’t be the last to always do something; we need to be the first. We need to be the one setting the example.”

Sheriff Hardesty said he’s always open to questions, not only about the jail but with anything. He said he’s always willing to talk if there’s a problem. 

“It’s called the Richardson County Sheriff’s Office, so it’s everyone’s Department. I just have to make decisions based on what I think is right for the people of Richardson County.”

The next meeting of the The Citizen’s Advisory Committee  regarding the proposed Jail Expansion Project will be held on Wednesday, February 2 at 6:30 p.m. in the District Courtroom of the Courthouse in Falls City. The meeting is open to the public. 

The post “I’m excited about the Department we have, what the future holds” Sheriff Rick Hardesty talks about his time in office and the need for a jail addition appeared first on THE FALLS CITY JOURNAL.

By Nikki McKim; photos by Chelsie Alexander

The Richardson County Sheriff’s Department held a Meet and Greet on Saturday, April 24 in an effort to give the citizens of Richardson  County an opportunity to meet and talk to the Department. 

Sheriff Rick Hardesty stated that he hoped to get feedback on what kind of a job the citizens think the Department is doing.

 “This feedback we will use to become a better department and provide better service to the all of the citizens of Richardson County, they are who we work for, said Sheriff Hardesty. “Our department wants to make sure we are providing the best service we can to Richardson County citizens.”

During the event, State Senator Julie Slama presented Sheriff Hardesty with the honory title of Admiral in the Nebraska Navy. 

“Your work has raised a lot of talk in Lincoln and there are a lot of people impressed with the work you and the entire Richardson County Sheriff’s Office has done over the last several years,” said Senator Slama.  

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