The following letter was dropped off at the WROY/WRUL Studios by Usery. It has not been altered in any way and is shown below as written.
To the Citizens of White County
I was at the WROY/WRUL Form the same as most of the White Co. Board members. This letter is not about any candidate for or against. It’s about the jail and dollar numbers quoted that night. Some were right some were misleading, Sheriff Maier quoted in the past decade he deposited 7.4 million in the General Fund that is true. But he failed to mention that he spent close to 9 million to deposit 7.4 million. Quote from the Villagers Voice word for word Sheriff Maier rebutted with his belief that his records showed that the jail was consistently under budget. The numbers that I have pulled form the Co. Clerk’s office and her numbers are RIGHT the Jail and Sheriff combined for the last 10 years up until that night were over budget the sum of $1,440,720.00 One Million, Four Hundred Forty Thousand, Seven Hundred and Twenty Dollars. If you have any doubts go to the White Co. Clerk’s office and get them yourself Freedom of Information Act. That was the same numbers Mr. Williams Quoted.
Now the Sheriff also quoted that if the County Board closed the jail it would cost $600,000.00 more, than to keep it open. That is not right either, the Budget Committee explained to me, that it would cost the County $600,000.00 if we closed it and thats about $280,000.00 more than it “LOST” last year. So as you see the jail is not the money maker as many of you has been led to believe. It is breaking the County, I would call it a “Money Pit” and it is. The County Board is between a rock and a hard spot, we are backed up against the wall on the jail and there is NO GOOD WAY OUT. If it was run more like a business I feel it could break even. The County buys one or two TV’S at $299.00 every month the inmates break them so “YOU” get to buy them new ones. Myself I don’t care if they have any or not. Those TV’s are just one example they are just an ice-cube on an iceberg. I have pulled invoices on the jail for over a year if anyone wants to see for their self they are available for you to look at call me 618-383-2177!
Then 2 jail breaks and cost the TAX PAYERS of this County the amount that it does is a disgrace to every citizen of White County. I was elected by the Citizens of White County, and the Citizens deserve the truth. I submitted this to the Carmi Chronicle, I guess they have a hard time printing facts.
Thanks, Kenny Usery
Dist. 3 White County Board Member
