 |
| The inner workings of the Bates County Jail |
The Sheriff’s Office has 55 full time employees and 15 part time employees. These employees often work in multiple divisions with the Sheriff’s Office. Those Divisions are as follows:
Administrative Division
*Sex Offender Registry
*Civil Process
*CCW’s
Patrol Division
Criminal Investigations
Special Operations Division
*Drug Task Force
*K9 Unit
*Sheriff’s Emergency Response Team
*Crisis Negotiation Team
Jail Division
*Cell Extraction Response Team
*Inmate Extradition and Transport
*Inmate Operations
*Courthouse Bailiff and Security
*Medical
*Food Service
911 Communications Division
*Information Technology
Sheriff’s Posse
The 911 Communications Center received 91,051 calls. Collectively all Law Enforcement, Fire and EMS in Bates County responded to 18,678 calls for service. Of those calls the Sheriff’s Office was directly responsible for 7150 of them. The Sheriff’s Office also handled approximately 2200 calls as an assisting unit to other emergency agencies within the county. Our Deputies logged over 500,000 miles patrolling the county roadways and neighborhoods. The K9 division had approximately 70 deployments including deployments for other agencies. Our Civil Process Division served 1033 Civil papers for the courts and performed 222 random home checks on our 65 registered sex offenders. Our deputies and staff participated in numerous community programs to include, teaching DARE in 90% of Bates County Schools, K9 demonstrations, K9 searches within the schools, public speaking at various civic groups, Dunk tank for the county fair, and our yearly shop with a Deputy program.
The jail had an average daily population of 137 inmates. The jail processed 1018 subjects with 408 being booked in by agencies other than the Bates County Sheriff’s Office. The kitchen served over 150,000 meals and the medical staff conducted 832 medical visits with inmates. The Inmate Transport Division logged over 75,000 miles to pick up inmates on warrants, take inmates to doctor appointments or to transport to and from court hearings.
2019 has been a year with a lot of change and upgrades. In August the expansion of the jail was completed and the jail started receiving inmates immediately. Approximately 30 inmates that were being housed in other jails were brought back to Bates County. This expansion added 85 beds for dormitory style housing for lower risk inmates. This addition brings the total jail capacity to 195. The 911 Communications equipment and staff were moved from the jail control room to a new, much brighter and design specific area. Once the equipment and staff were moved to the new location, there was a complete redesign and remodel of the jail control room. Separating 911 communication and jail controls allow for more effective and efficient operation for both divisions thus providing better services to the Citizens of Bates County. Outdated equipment in the jail for inmate management was upgraded along with our CCW equipment. For the last seven years the Sheriff’s Office used an older ambulance donated to us by the hospital as an emergency operations and command vehicle for major incidents. In early 2019, the vehicle began to have engine issues and the vehicle was removed from service. The vehicle was replaced with a low mile retired Kansas Highway Patrol command vehicle. After some equipment upgrades the vehicle was put in service in late June. The military surplus armored vehicle was also retired and transferred to the Henry County Sheriff’s Office. That vehicle was replaced with a much smaller and versatile armored vehicle which saw its first call for service in June and has been deployed on multiple high risk situations in Bates County and surrounding counties for requested assistance.
A new security system and protocols were initiated at the courthouse. The system included securing all the doors and requiring all subjects to enter through a single security checkpoint. Cameras and alarms were installed in the courthouse along with full time security personnel.
Employees salaries and benefits were evaluated to address recruitment and retention issues that all law enforcement has been experiencing. Base salaries were adjusted for the first time in six years for all employees of the county.
As stated in the beginning of this snapshot report the Sheriff’s Office receives funding from the Law Enforcement Fund. Since 2009, under my direction, the Sheriff’s Office has consistently ended each year under budget. This year the Sheriff’s Office again ended the fiscal year under budget by $650,452.00. Coming under budget each year is only possible because the employees understand that they owe it to the Citizens to always run effective and efficient. The employees understand that we are obligated to be good stewards of the money we are entrusted with. The jail expansion and several other projects completed this year was the result of good working relationships with other office holders including the County Commission, County Clerk and the County Treasurer. Most of all none of this would be possible if it weren’t for the community support for the Sheriff’s Office.
On Behalf of myself and all the staff at the Sheriff’s Office we want to Thank You for the opportunity to serve you and the whole community.
Sheriff Chad Anderson
