This Week In Washington County

MARIETTA, OH — This week's Washington County Board of Commissioners meeting was a short one. Commissioner Charlie Schilling was absent from this meeting. President Kevin Ritter noted that the county bills totaled a little more than $400,000 for the week, which isn't an unusual amount.

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They also moved to create a new fund for grant money pertaining to adult probation services. The State of Ohio is shifting away from handling local adult probation, meaning the counties are going to have to do it. Ritter said that the state's been urging this for a few years. "What we created today is for grant funds by the state, so we can hire our own local parole people." The county has received $450,000 and they are in the process of building a probation department.

Commissioner James Booth says the move will lead to a more efficient probation system. "We'll have three people working on alternating shifts. So you won't just have an 8-5 presence. We will have a seven-day-a-week presence." He also said that since the state is moving away from the cash bond system, this local probation presence will come in handy.

The commissioners also met with a representative from the state auditor's office, the OSU extension office, and received a routine update from the Humane Society.

The other matter of business had to do with a statement made by Kevin Ritter pertaining to the insurance provider for county employees. The full statement can be found here, but the gist was that there have been a number of issues. And that some feel they might deserve better service considering the sizeable insurance premiums they pay. They are going to create a survey for all county employees so they can better gauge how county employees feel about their health insurance.

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