Franklin County Grand Jury Recommends Fixes at the Jail, Raises Jury Pay

The Franklin County Grand Jury has made a couple of recommendations after their fall session.

As they always do, the Grand Jury heard from constitutional officers and educators who described for the Jury their duties, issues, and needs.

Northern Judicial District Attorney Parks White told the members of his office’s ever expanding case load in the five counties he district covers.

In their presentments, the Grand Jury recommended extra funding be provided to the District Attorney’s office to help with expediting their caseload.

In other recommendations, the Grand Jury cited water issues at the County jail and recommended they be fixed.

It was noted the leaking water is a health and safety issue because it’s dripping into the HVAC system and causing mold to grow. They also said it’s possibly causing structural issue s,

In other duties, the Grand Jury also appointed four members to the Equalization Board.

They included Sylvia Mouchet, Curtis Burger, Janet Callahan and Larry Garrett.

Finally, the Franklin County Grand Jury was called upon to fix the compensation to be paid to grand, petit, and coroner’s inquest jurors and bailiffs.

Foreperson Adam Blakely indicated that by law, the rate of compensation must not be less than $5 nor more than $50 per day for jurors and not less than $5 nor more than $70 per day for bailiffs.

The Grand Jury then set compensation for Grand Jurors at $50 per day, Grand Jury officers at $50 per day, Petit Jurors at $40 per day, and Bailiffs at $65 per day.