The Guthrie County Board of Supervisors met in regular session Tuesday.
Sheriff Marty Arganbright addressed the Board on overcrowding in the County Jail. There are currently seven inmates in the jail and the facility can hold ten. Arganbright informed the Board he would have to move an inmate to a neighboring facility to help spur the overcrowding. Arganbright commented on the increase in inmates over the past few years. “It’s changed a lot in the last ten years. When I came here, sometimes we were empty. We would be empty for a few days or weeks. Not anymore. It all goes hand-in-hand with mental problems, and drugs, and thefts, and burglaries.”
Arganbright also disclosed detailed information regarding Sunday’s assault on Deputy Kent Gries in Casey. Arganbright explained the incident with Michael Cole Joint and how a bystander aided the scene. “They went down on the ground. He (Deputy Gries) had his body camera on for a while and then it fell off. Then someone from Wisconsin videoed the rest of it with his camera and also he helped to keep him (Joint) down on the ground.”
Both the Deputy and Blaine Ashton of Milwaukee were not seriously injured after the incident. Another bystander also aided the deputy. Joint is currently in jail under a $9,000 bond. Arganbright also mentioned that Guthrie County Hospital will be the new food service provider for the jail, starting December 12th.
The Board then approved the following action items: the fiscal year 2016-2017 annual financial and urban renewal reports, principal and interest payment on a general obligation bond for wind farm tax increment financing, and an appropriations resolution for the fiscal year 2017-2018 Guthrie County budget amendment.