Hardin jailer says he will get his money

 SHEPHERDSVILLE - Bullitt Fiscal Court will not pay for the home incarceration fees charged for a felony offender.

Citing a lack of authorization to incur the cost, Bullitt Fiscal Court voted unanimously to not pay a bill of $1,253 for the electronic monitoring of Misty Thompson.

However, Hardin County jailer Danny Allen said he will get his money.

Thompson was assigned HIP by Bullitt Circuit Court. 

When Thompson arrived to report to the program, her acceptance was denied by the sheriff’s office on the advice of the county attorney’s office. That led to several court hearings on the matter.

At the time of that court order by Bullitt Circuit Judge Rodney Burress, the HIP system had been moved to the sheriff’s office by fiscal court due to a concern over public safety.

A recent temporary injunction returned HIP to the Bullitt County Detention Center pending a trial on a lawsuit filed by jailer Martha Knox.

Burress ordered Thompson to serve 180 days on home incarceration for a series of felony pleas.

Upon Burress’ decision that there was no alternative for home incarceration by the existing county program, he ordered Thompson to report to the Bullitt County Detention Center.

At that point, the defendant was assigned to the HIP operated by Hardin County.

A bill was produced for Thompson’s tenure from October 2013 through February 2014.

After meeting in closed session for 45 minutes with KACO legal counsel Carol Petitt and county attorney Monica Robinson, the court members unanimously voted to not pay the bill.

“I was afraid this was going to happen,” said Allen.

In placing Thompson into that county’s HIP system, Allen said he was sure there was a court order.

In that situation, he said a jailer has no option but to follow the court’s order.

The jailers throughout the state work together when the need arises. This situation was no different as Knox did not have access to the county’s monitoring program at the time.

Allen said his detention provided the services and now must be paid.

“We’ve rendered the services,” said Allen, who was unaware of fiscal court’s decision until contacted by a reporter. “I plan on getting my money back one way or another.”

He will discuss the matter with his county attorney. He may also use some type of collection agency to recover the funds.