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Last updated 7:41 am CT February 09, 2010.
Money Problems Pile Up in Alexander County
So far he's had to lay off eleven workers. He gave up almost all his patrol vehicles when they were repossessed early this week.
Help on that front is coming from all over the country, but the rest of the county remains in deep trouble.
Sheriff David Barkett said he's short four deputies, after being forced to lay off staff in early September. That means most days he has only one officer to patrol more than 200 miles of county roads.
Some Alexander County residents are concerned.
"I'd be scared if I needed some help, especially in my community where I live. It [took] forever to get there even when they had cars. I can imagine now it's probably a four to five hour wait," said Timothy Lawrence of East Cape Girardeau.
It may not take four or five hours, but the sheriff admits there may be a delay.
"The response time can be slowed down by the lack of manpower. It's a large area for one man to cover out there by himself," Barkett said.
"We're doing the best we can. It's not the way I think it should be done. It's not the way I would like to do it. But I'm forced by mandate from the county," Barkett said.
The sheriff is slowly working on rebuilding his fleet, but not with county cash.
He went to Springfield earlier this week to ask for help and came back with one vehicle.
Governor Pat Quinn, (D)-Illinois, gave the sheriff’s department an SUV from the Central Management Agency. It will be outfitted with law enforcement equipment.
That vehicle makes three patrol cars in the county.
Law enforcement agencies from as far away as Rhode Island now know about Barkett’s troubles. They're offering to donate vehicles.
Barkett said he’s surprised and humbled by the response.
The problems at the Sheriff's department come as no surprise to others who work at the courthouse in Cairo.
The next thing to go may be an election.
A brand new computer that the county clerk is supposed to be using sits idle because the county is so behind in its bills to the election company.
Alexander County owes $35,000 dollars to Election Systems and Software. Without that computer the clerk and her one remaining staffer can't keep up with voter registrations.
It costs thousands of dollars to run polling places and sources say the county can't even afford to buy ballots.
"That would be bad. That's all I can say," said Nancy Joyner, a long-time Alexander County resident.
Problems go on from there. That box in the clerk’s office holds bills from everyone from office suppliers to gasoline providers to the telephone company.
The county started the day $86,000 dollars behind on its payment to Tri County Jail.
The company gave them until October 1 to come up with the money before they started turning away inmates.
Alexander County officials paid about half the amount they owed Thursday afternoon.
That's enough to grant them a reprieve for now.
By Dana Jay
djay@wsiltv.com
Now: 1265724556
