County Council approves transfer of funds for county court and sheriff's office

Scotts Bluff County commissioners this week approved moving some money into the county's general fund to help two agencies stay in the black during the current fiscal year.

Management accountant Lisa Rien explained to the Board that the General Fund budget included a $200,000 line item intended to serve as a reserve to keep the agency's budgets on track if necessary.

Nothing explained why the first recommendation was for additional funds for the county court. “We have court-appointed attorneys (for indigent defendants). That’s why I’m sure we’ve moved $120,000 so far (last year),” Rien said. “It's just wishful thinking that the fees are lower, when they were just as high back then. So we need to transfer $110,000 from the general fund to the county court.

Another part of the discussion involved $20,000 for the sheriff's office, which had to pay for additional vehicles due to accidents, and started the fiscal year with a slightly lower budget than initially requested. Nothing and Sheriff Mark Overman noted that the additional funding may not be necessary, since the agency is slightly understaffed, but that it would be better to have the money available just in case.

Commissioners unanimously approved the position transfers.