The Athens Police Department paid $4,400 it owed the Southeast Ohio Regional Jail for two months of inmate housing.
The payment was made after the jail's board said Wednesday that it would not accept inmates from Athens until the bill was paid.
Linda Walls, an administrative assistant for Athens Police, said the department owed the jail for the months of November and December to cover a total of 88 prisoner days. Athens was charged $50 per prisoner day, which equals one prisoner housed for one day at the jail. The total number of inmates housed from Athens was 51 for that period.
APD Chief Richard Mayer said there was a lack of funds available in the end-of-the-year budget, causing a delay in the processing of the payment.
The purchase order didn't have enough on it for the month of December
Mayer said.
However, city Auditor Kathy Hecht said the problem was not the money, but that the paperwork had been sitting untouched on someone's desk.
The bill was received by APD and confirmed, and then sent to the Mayor's Office, where a voucher for the bill was written. The auditor was then responsible for writing the check, Mayer said.
The city paid the bill Wednesday at 4 p.m., hours before the midnight deadline, meaning the transfer of inmates was never affected.
The decision to refuse inmates if the bill was not paid occurred during a closed executive session of the board earlier that day.
The SEORJ board placed Warden Jeff Gillespie on paid administrative leave for an undisclosed reason. Athens County prosecutor C. David Warren and Nelsonville Police Department Sgt. Edward Kurtz said an investigation is ongoing but declined to comment.
Deputy Warden Jeremy Tolson has replaced Gillespie as acting warden. Gillespie still will receive his $54,075 annual salary, while Tolson continues to receive his $45,423 salary. 17
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Rebecca Black
