Bill Watson, director of court services, told the Vigo County budget committee that the juvenile detention center’s medical coverage has been paid from the sheriff’s budget but will return to day-to-day court control on Jan. 1 and that the county must decide how medical costs will be funded going forward.

Watson said the existing jail medical arrangement was “kind of excessive” — he referenced a figure of about $246,000 cited during prior discussions — and proposed shifting to an LPN (licensed practical nurse) who would be cross-trained as a custody officer and overseen on contract by a family nurse practitioner to reduce costs.

Watson said the juvenile center’s medical coverage “had always been a part of the sheriff’s medical budget coverage,” and that Judge Mulligan wants day-to-day operation to return to the court. He said the council had resisted using the juvenile nonreverting fund to cover the payment earlier because some members believed the cost was already covered under the sheriff’s contract.

Explaining the proposed staffing model, Watson said, “We can hire an LPN nurse to do what is being done in there now by an RN and a nurse practitioner to oversee that nurse,” and that the family nurse practitioner could be a part-time contracted oversight role. He added that the LPN would be cross-trained as a custody officer so the nurse could “move freely through the center and do those things that she would have to have a custody officer do.”

Watson estimated the alternative staffing model would “probably somewhere in the $100,000 range” for salaries and related costs but said he had not finalized exact figures. He also said the family nurse practitioner could perform required examinations that the current physician provides under the jail contract at lower cost.

Committee members and staff discussed funding options. Watson said the nonreverting juvenile fund had supported both a full-time position and medical costs and that “it will not sustain that $190, 246, whatever it is,” noting the fund’s balance and revenue have declined because the facility now houses more local juveniles and fewer out-of-county juveniles that previously generated revenue.

No formal action was taken at the meeting. Watson said Judge Mulligan and county staff would continue to refine the LPN/model and return to the council with a recommendation and specific numbers for appropriation if needed.

The discussion included repeated references to the timing of the operational transfer to court control (Jan. 1) and the need to determine whether the medical expense should remain in county general or be moved to the juvenile nonreverting fund. Staff members said procedural rules about published budget items will affect where the appropriation must be placed if pursued before adoption.

Ending: Committee members asked staff to continue refining cost estimates and funding options and to bring formal appropriation requests and contract language back to the council for consideration.