Court gets update on ‘Rocket Docket’, sheriff’s office Narcan training
Magistrates Jerry Hahn, left and Jeff Lear, right, examine documents with County Engineer Brad Spalding at the Tuesday, Feb. 21, 2017 Nelson Fiscal Court meeting.
By JIM BROOKS
Nelson County Gazette / WBRT Radio
Thursday, Feb. 23, 2017, 1 p.m. — Nelson County residents who find themselves facing jail time for a low-level drug offense are taking advantage of a program that helps them get treatment and reduces their time in jail awaiting their day in court.
The “Rocket Docket” program — started last fall with seed money approved by Nelson Fiscal Court — is also saving taxpayer money by reducing the number of jail inmates incarcerated awaiting trial.
In a presentation to Fiscal Court Tuesday morning, attorney Thomas Hamilton told the magistrates the program has saved $59,000 since it was launched several months ago. The county contributed $15,000 as its share of the costs of launching the program.
Magistrates Sam Hutchins and Keith Metcalfe talk prior to the start of Tuesday’s Nelson Fiscal Court meeting.
The Rocket Docket program operates in Hart and Nelson counties.
Twenty cases have completed the rocket docket program in Nelson County, Hamilton said, with others currently progressing through the system. So far, approximately 20 percent of eligible drug cases are participating in the program.
NARCAN TRAINING. EMS. Director Joe Prewitt reported that all of the Nelson County Sheriff’s Office deputies have completed training to administer the opioid antidote Narcan.
Sheriff Ed Mattingly said a deputy who completed training Friday afternoon responded to an overdose call and administered Narcan four hours later.
Training for Bardstown Police Department is scheduled for this week.
RURAL SECONDARY ROAD PROGRAM. Representatives of the Department of Transportation presented the fiscal court with the state’s rural secondary road improvements planned for 2017-2018.
The roads slated for improvement include:
KY 1858 Stringtown Road – asphalt resurfacing from US 62 to KY 55, 4.3 miles.
KY 332 Nazareth Road – from KY 245 to Sterling Court, 8/10 of a mile.
KY 1066 – from US 62 to Chaplin-Taylorsville Road, 1.7 miles.
KY 458 Chaplin-Taylorsville Road, KY 1066 to county line, 2.9 miles.
The state provides the county with “flex funding” that allows counties to direct some of their rural secondary road money to address county road maintenance. That list of county roads slated for resurfacing include:
1.5 miles of Holt Ridge Road beginning at KY 458.
1.4 miles of King Road from Whitesides Road to KY 48.
1.5 miles of Pottershop Road from Ed Brent Road to the Mill Creek bridge.
1/2 mile of Newton Valley Road beginning at KY 52.
SURPLUS PROPERTY. The court also declared a number of vehicles surplus property and directed for their sale. The list includes four EMS ambulances; five sheriff vehicles (two are wrecked); a Ford F-750 dump truck; a D-7G CAT dozer; and a jailer’s car. A surplus air handler removed from the Nelson County Jail was also added to the surplus list.
BULKY ITEM PICKUP. Bulky item pickup begins next week, beginning in the areas east of US 31E north of Bardstown, and east of KY 49, Loretto Road, south of Bardstown.
In other business, the court:
— gave Judge Executive Dean Watts approval to sign a contract with Cedar Creek Quarry to provide the quarry operation storage space for the dirt they remove from the quarry in exchange for giving the county permission to use some of it for use as cover in the county landfill. The court agreed with the general terms of the contract, and once County Attorney Matthew Hite completes his review, Watts may sign it.
— briefly discussed zoning changes requested by the planning commission’s regulations committee. The changes will be brought before the court at its next meeting.
NEXT UP. The next regularly scheduled Nelson Fiscal Court meeting is March 7, 2017
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