Latest news with #DavisonCountyCommission
Yahoo
a day ago
- Health
- Yahoo
Spurred by fear of drug-induced deaths, Davison County purchases vital sign monitoring units for jail
Jun. 13—MITCHELL — If it comes to life and death for an inmate in the Davison County Jail, county leaders have approved a high-tech purchase to potentially save lives. The Davison County Commission voted earlier this week to purchase five units of a contactless vital sign monitoring system that will be located in different parts of the jail. The commissioners voted 4-0 in favor of the purchase, which will cost the county $2,700 a year. Davison County Sheriff Steve Harr recommended the purchase, with a specific urgency in installing the equipment due to a recent law change that he sees as having unintended consequences. Harr said that as of July 1, South Dakota state law will be changed and ingesting drugs will be a misdemeanor instead of a felony. Because of that, if law enforcement catches someone with a baggie of meth or fentanyl, he said, the individual will likely swallow it to avoid having it in their possession, which remains a felony offense. "It's an unintended consequence but people are going to die from it," Harr said. Harr told the commissioners of a recent instance on Interstate 90 where this scenario played out and deputies had to use three doses of Narcan to save the person's life. Narcan (and its generic name naloxone) is the overdose medication that can reverse the effects of an opioid overdose. Harr said the county is trying to avoid deaths of individuals who are taken into custody, because the county is responsible for their care when they are in jail or being held. Harr said the spending on the monitoring system gives the county a better chance of saving that person's life and also could protect the county from having to deal with a lawsuit. The units have radar-based technology that can detect heart rates, breathing rates, movement and general presence without cameras or microphones. The units, which can fit in a person's hand, can detect abnormal vital signs and alert staff if there's an emergency. Commissioner Chris Nebelsick said he felt that nearly $5,000 in maintenance costs for the units was high but Harr countered with his belief that it could be a preventative measure. "What kind of check are you going to write if someone dies in jail?" Harr asked. "I think it's important to commit to the technology for our staff. It's $900 per unit per year to maintain them. We can't afford not to," Commissioner Mike Blaalid said. The cost of the units is $25,000, although Davison County expects to be able to get the hardware and installation costs covered by settlement funding from South Dakota's share of the national opioid settlement. More than $50 billion in settlement funds was distributed nationally to state and local governments after drugmakers settled lawsuits related to how addictive and deadly opioid painkillers were. Specific funds have been set aside for law enforcement use, Harr said. Davison County would be responsible for paying for the annual costs related to maintenance and monitoring for the units, which would be $900 per unit per year, or $4,500 for the five units. Davison County received the sales pitch from Darin Young, of Combined Public Communications. Young is now a sales person for the company but formerly served as warden at the South Dakota State Penitentiary and spent more than 30 years in corrections. Young said as a former jail administrator, there's plenty of practical uses for how it could be used. "It's designed for your high-risk inmates. Putting my sales hat on, I could sell you one for every cell but as a warden, you want to be watching your high risk inmates, your people with mental issues, your intoxicated individuals, drug overdoses and people with medical issues. ... This will help monitor that." Davison County jail staff makes rounds in the facility to check on cells every 15 to 30 minutes. Harr said he expects to put the monitoring devices in four locations in the jail's general population pods, plus one in the holding area, commonly known as "the drunk tank." "We get people in (the jail) that have health issues. It's something we want to be on top of," Harr said.
Yahoo
15-03-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Car parts, washing machines and trash bring criticism for unincorporated community of Loomis
Mar. 14—MITCHELL — It's time for a clean up in Loomis. The Davison County Commission sounded off recently on the state of the small unincorporated community, which was maligned about the status of many of the properties in the burgh located northwest of Mitchell. Davison County Planning and Zoning Deputy Administrator Karen Wegleitner said recent calls and complaints have shed light on the poor status of properties at the townsite. "There was trash everywhere, houses that have windows broken out of them," Wegleitner said of a recent visit. "There's car parts, washers and dryers outside. ... But it's unincorporated, and there's not much we can do about it right now." The town is less than a 1/4-square mile in size and has about 30 residents, according to the most recent U.S. Census data. It's not officially an incorporated town, meaning the territory is generally treated like any other rural part of the county, although there are some variations for Loomis because it's zoned as a platted town site residential district. Wegleitner said the issue started with a complaint to the Mitchell Fire Department about the fire risk in Loomis about a specific property that had a large trash pile and was potentially going to be burned. That was passed on to the Letcher Fire Department, which is responsible for fire coverage in Loomis. "He has neighbors all around him, and there would have been a problem with the fumes and the smell and the fire risk overall with how dry it has been," Wegleitner said. The commissioners, discussing the issue on March 11, were not impressed with the status of the community's upkeep. "Loomis has been like that since I was a kid," Commissioner Denny Kiner said. "There's probably three or four that are in good shape." "With Loomis, you've got a whole town, except for two or three houses, that have issues," Commissioner Chris Nebelsick said. "We have to clean it up." Nebelsick said it's not a problem that is exclusive to Loomis, citing a rural Ethan property that has dilapidated property and old cars that have been sitting in one place for 20 years, he said. "We've got nuisance properties around the county and we don't have any teeth to have anyone to clean it up," Nebelsick said. "The townships can send notices and get lawyers involved and spend this money and nothing ever happens." Commissioner John Claggett believes the county should have a stronger nuisance ordinance. He recalled that when an attempt to enact one about 25 years ago occurred, citizens protested about it being too overreaching about what had to be cleaned up. "I think when they wrote it back then, they were too loose," Claggett said. "Nuisance ordinances have more applicability today that they didn't have back then because people don't want you to have their junk in their view." "Whatever you do will affect the county," Kiner said. "It's a tough nut to crack." "That's what we have to watch," added Commission Chairman Randy Reider. "There's an awful lot of places that have four or five cars out there on their property and a tractor but most people wouldn't consider that a nuisance. And I don't think that's what we're considering here." Wegleitner said she has not yet taken action on the property with the trash and burnpile because the resident there has vowed to get a dumpster. She said any further recourse likely would need to be handled by the state, she said, and in this case, by the South Dakota Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources. "Since we're in the process of changing, or potentially changing our ordinances, I figured I would bring it up so we can discuss if there's a way we can have a little more say for nuisances," Wegleitner said. "I get that you're in a rural area, but they're still residences. They're in a residential area." She added that the best policy still remains giving the property owner ample time to correct the issue before having to get the state or county government involved. Wegleitner expects the potential ordinance changes regarding nuisances to continue to get discussion with the Davison County Planning Commission and the County Commission, but no timeline has been discussed to officially consider those changes.
