Election ‘sheriffs’ to return to polls in November
The Brown County Election Board has decided to once again have “sheriffs” at polling places to monitor the “chutes,” the area where voters line up to get ballots.
Election sheriffs are county residents chosen by each political party. They are responsible for maintaining order at the polls and may call the appropriate authorities if laws are violated, according to Indiana Election Division training materials.
The parties also choose people to act as election inspectors, judges and poll clerks, who all have specific jobs to perform at the polls on election day.
Brown County Election Board member Brenda Woods suggested bringing the job of sheriff back. Fellow election board member Rick Kelley said sheriffs could act “like a sergeant-at-arms,” watching as people enter the voting area and helping to answer questions.
After the primary election, questions were raised at the Jackson 1 and 2 combined polling place at the Fruitdale Volunteer Fire Station about where candidates and candidate supporters were allowed to be in the area of the chute.
“As long as they perform their duties, it’s a role that has some merit,” said Republican Party Chairman Mark Bowman from the audience.
Adding sheriffs at the polls would cost the election board about $3,300 extra for this election, Woods said. They will be paid the same as a poll clerk, which is $85 for election day, $25 for meals and $25 for training, she said. Kelley said it’s possible that if an election sheriff couldn’t work the whole day from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., two people could split the job.
The election board passed the recommendation 3-0.
Community Corrections office may move into town
The Brown County Community Corrections office could be moving from Deer Run Park to the Nashville Police Department.
Commissioner Diana Biddle said Sept. 6 that the commissioners were contacted by NPD Chief Ben Seastrom who offered Community Corrections space at his station at Willow Street and Hawthorne Drive.
Community Corrections is mostly grant funded, and the Nashville Police aren’t looking for a monetary trade, but rather a trade of services, like providing NPD with IT assistance, Biddle said.
Moving Community Corrections to the Nashville police station would provide more security for that department and give them more space. It would also put staff in the police station daily and fill excess office space there. “It will be kind of a win-win for both,” Biddle said.
She said she spoke with Brown County Parks and Recreation Director Mark Shields about the possibility of then moving the parks and rec office to the Community Corrections space, which is in the basement of the Veterans Hall at Deer Run Park.
Parks and rec’s current office is a modular home at Deer Run which has mold and flooding issues. “Basically, that whole building is sitting in a puddle. Whenever it rains, that whole building is surrounded by water,” Biddle said.
If the department moves, the parks board would decide what to do with the old office.
Biddle said no decisions had been made and no moves would happen until after October.
“Brown County is Nashville and Nashville is Brown County, and we have to work together, and we do,” town council President “Buzz” King said at the council’s Sept. 6 meeting. “This is a good example of what we can do to help each other.”
