DeKalb Gets Grant for Video Arraignment System at Jail and Courtrooms (VIEW VIDEO HERE)

November 23, 2018
By: Dwayne Page

When DeKalb County Jail inmates are scheduled for arraignment they have to be escorted by deputies from the jail to the courthouse for their first appearance in court. That will soon change thanks to a grant the county has received to purchase and install a video arraignment system.

During Tuesday night’s all committees meeting of the county commission, County Mayor Tim Stribling said the total cost of purchasing and installing the camera equipment for LIVE video chat between the jail and in the general sessions and criminal courtrooms comes to $39, 391 but the county applied for a grant through the Tennessee Administrative Office of the Courts and was funded at $35, 407 dollars with a 10% local match of $3,984. Stribling said former Circuit Court Clerk Katherine Pack and he wrote the grant and submitted the application several months ago.

(VIEW VIDEO BELOW OF ANDERSON COUNTY’S SYSTEM)

With the video arraignment system, a judge can have the formal reading of criminal charges to a defendant without them being in the room. The inmates will be beamed into the courtroom through video chat rather than physically being transported to the courthouse.

Stribling said the video arraignment system still preserves the rights of due process for inmates without incurring the risks and expense of inmate transportation back and forth between the jailhouse and courtroom. It can also enhance safety and security in the courthouse.

“This video arraignment system is something Katherine Pack and I talked about getting for a couple of years. Last year we applied for a grant for bullet proof benches and panic buttons in both courtrooms. We received $17,000 for this upgrade and also courtroom security training. This brought our courtrooms up to minimum courtroom security standards thus allowing us to apply for the video arraignment system. The judges and Sheriff Patrick Ray were in favor of us applying for this grant. We are pleased and very fortunate to have received funds for this system. With only a 10% match, it lessens the financial burden on the county of installing a $39,000 system like this,” said County Mayor Stribling.

“I am very thankful for the video arraignment grant. Transporting inmates from the jail to the courthouse is very dangerous. It is a time that inmates may try to escape or try to pick up contraband and bring back into the jail. There are also safety concerns for the inmate. Someone may try to take out their anger on an inmate for the crime he or she has committed during this time. This is a safety concern for the jail staff also, “ said Sheriff Ray.

“We transport around 25 to 30 inmates on General Sessions court days and around 35 to 49 inmates on Criminal Court days. The video arraignment will cut down on transporting inmates for first time court arraignments also. We have to do inmate transports from other jails to the courts here in DeKalb County. We are hoping this system can be used instead of doing the transports. If a jail has a system like this, the inmate will remain in the county they are incarcerated at and the judge will be able to see them in the courtroom here in DeKalb and do their arraignment over the video system. This will save a lot of time and money and also free up sitting space in the courtrooms and bed space at the jail,” added Sheriff Ray.

Since defendants have a right to face their accusers, the video system cannot be used in every stage of the judicial process.

November 22, 2018
By: Dwayne Page

Local emergency service providers and other volunteers found another way to serve their community Thursday morning by making sure a few of the most needy and underserved among us had a hot delicious meal for Thanksgiving.

More than 400 food trays were prepared and delivered by dozens of volunteers. Recipients received a meal of  smoked turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, dressing, green beans, cranberry sauce and rolls along with a homemade dessert.

The project was organized by members of the DeKalb Emergency Services Association in partnership with local businesses and volunteers.

Cooking and food preparation started early Thursday morning at the county complex kitchen and went faster than expected with so many volunteers showing up to help resulting in home deliveries starting sooner.

IMG_2875 from dwayne page on Vimeo.

“Last year was our first year doing this and we served 270 food trays. This year we are right at 400 food trays which were delivered on 170 routes so we’re moving up. This community has come out and supported this. We have had so much help this morning and we really appreciate everybody who has had a hand in this. The outpouring has been great,” said Blake Cantrell, DESA President.

Those wanting to be served had to call to get their name on the food delivery list.

Cantrell said another round of meal deliveries will be made on Christmas Eve and volunteers will be needed for that effort. “If you are interested in coming and helping, bringing desserts, delivering a route, etc we encourage you to come out and help us,” he said.

November 22, 2018
By: Dwayne Page

Director of Schools Patrick Cripps updated the County Commission Tuesday night on the Board of Education’s latest move toward replacing Smithville Elementary.

In October, the Board voted unanimously to pursue a plan to build a new 98,000 square foot elementary school for up to 800 students in pre-kindergarten to 2nd grade to be built on the campus of Northside Elementary School. An estimated cost of $20 million without the purchase of additional property.

During an all-committees meeting of the county commission Tuesday night, Cripps explained that the board of education voted unanimously at its regular monthly meeting on November 8 to hire Upland Design Group to proceed with a schematic design (site study) for this proposed new school. The cost of the design project is $40,000 to be funded from the board of education’s budget.

Cripps said the board will be able to provide more details of the project and be in a better position to answer questions of the county commission by bringing in Upland Design to do this study.

“At the last board meeting we went into contract with the Upland Group to do a schematic design for a future building project. They will come in and we will start developing an educational plan with them. We will design how large we want the classrooms to be and how many we need. They will also bring in engineers to test the site over by Northside to determine the feasibility as to whether a school will even fit over there and whether the ground will hold up over there for another school.  The Tennessee Department of Transportation will also be brought in because there is a concern about space and getting traffic off the road.  We may also look at land around that property in case we need to purchase more. I know you  (county commissioners) were looking for answers at your last meeting but we had to hire somebody (architect)  to help find out these answers. We have been meeting for a little over a year to try and come up with a concept (building plan). We feel like the pre-k to 2 concept is the most financially responsible  at this time. It meets a need for our community,” said Director Cripps.

Although the county commissioners seem supportive of a construction plan, several questioned why the school board chose this one (pre-k to 2^nd grade).

Fifth district County Commissioner Jerry Adcock called it a band aid approach and said it made more sense to build two pre-k to 8^th grade schools and convert Northside Elementary to a pre- k to 8^th grade school on the Northside campus.  This he said would address both the elementary and middle school issues and create more space at the high school by making use of the existing middle school campus.

Director Cripps said such a project would be much more expensive to build and costly to maintain with that many more buildings and it could potentially tie up funds which could be used for other needs like raising teacher pay.

“Financially for the school district and county I don’t think you realize the millions of dollars that would cost. We all know we need schools and we have a plan to continually replace buildings but we can’t do it all at once because there are other needs to be met as well. Our employee pay is below state average. We lost 10% of our staff this year because of teachers leaving for better pay and benefits elsewhere and we will never keep up with communities around us in pay and benefits with the tax dollars we have right now if we sink everything into buildings.  That’s why I am very tight with our budget and try to be as fiscally responsible as I can,” said Director Cripps.

Still some commissioners are concerned that a new pre-k to 2^nd grade school doesn’t serve the greatest immediate need.

“I am just trying to be responsible to the taxpayers and get the most bang for the buck. I have had people from my area say a pre-k to 2 is not feasible, tax raise or no tax raise. It is not what they want. I am speaking for my district. They would much rather go with two schools and get some relief for the high school and have a tax increase. That is coming from my people under the hill,” said First district Commissioner Julie Young.

“I represent that same district and my people that I talk to are not in agreement with what she (Young) is saying. I know you guys (director and school board) have worked on this thing for a long time and I have to respect your decision. You are a whole lot smarter on that stuff than I am,” said First district Commissioner Dennis Slager.

“There are some people up here that have gotten in touch with me that feel the same way she (Young) does. They are out there. It’s not just one way. There are people and I am starting to get phone calls from them. I have said to them you need to go to your school board meetings to voice your opinions because while we are the funding body they are the ones that come up with those things (construction plans). There are some out there who are going to pay for an increase on their property tax, possibly a wheel tax, and feel like we could have done another school. They are willing to pay more to have more. There are more people that want that than you think. They look at a pre-k to 2 and think if you are going to raise taxes then build another one,” said Third district Commissioner Jenny Trapp.

Fourth district Commissioner Janice Fish-Stewart said she wants to know what the school board’s long range plans are for addressing school construction.

“What is the timeline to progress forward? I  have had a number of calls about schools from people in my district and they are sick and tired of the county putting band aids on things. We need to know what is our plan. What is our five and ten year plan?. How are we going to get where we are going?. Smithville Elementary is in bad shape but go over to the middle school and see how those kids are having to learn in that open classroom environment. What are we going to try and accomplish?  I also agree that our teachers are underpaid. Our kids are the most important thing to us and we have got to do the right things for our kids because they are the future of our county and if we can’t see that then we are all blind. We have to fix this problem,” said Commissioner  Fish-Stewart.

“Our plan at this time is to build a pre-k to 2 and pay it off as quickly as we can maybe within 10 years and then we would like to take on the high school and go from there. We would like to purchase the land behind Northside and put a high school there and after the high school start working toward the middle school replacing that. I would like to see schools all on one campus so buses are coming to one area if there is enough land there but just with a high school you need 50 acres for everything including sports fields, etc,” said Director Cripps.

Second District Commissioner Myron Rhody asked if the school board had considered using the existing middle school campus for new construction which he said would save money by not having to build new athletic facilities.

“I was thinking the same way. Clear out the middle school and have a building pre-k to whatever grade . That would free up the middle school for high school use or you could destruct. You already have the property and $10 million worth of ballfields. Build the high school back there (middle school campus). Has that been discussed” asked Commissioner Rhody.

“Yes that has been talked about. Maybe if when we did build a high school take half of that (existing) property and build a new middle school there and you have your sports facilities already there for the middle school,” replied Director Cripps.

“I am just trying to save $10 million worth of ballfields” added Commissioner Rhody.

Fourth district Commissioner Scott Little said the county ‘s building program for schools will benefit over time as current debt for previous projects are paid off.

“If you raise the revenues to pay off the $20 million school in 10 years and with other debt service rolling off over the next 10 years we would have the funds to build the high school after 10 years without revenue enhancements,” said Commissioner Little.

Seventh district Commissioner Bruce Malone said while he has reservations about the school board’s proposal he commends them for their effort to get something done.

“The school board has made its decision and we need to go with that. We are the funding body and they are the experts on what is needed for the kids. I think at this point we need to let it go to the budget committee and try to figure out a way to fund it. I do commend you guys for taking the bull by the horns and spending your own money (for the schematic design study by the architect). I have a different opinion but I respect what the school board came up with,” said Commissioner Malone.

The schematic design by Upland is expected to be completed within 60 days.

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