By Rusty Nixon Correspondent
PLYMOUTH — The Marshall County Council will continue to address the cost of prisoners to taxpayers as the New Year gets underway.
Julie Fox, Marshall County clerk, came before the Council with an update on efforts her office and the Probation Department have undertaken to monitor payment of judgment liens by the parents of juvenile offenders.

The liens are regularly issued to parents of offenders incarcerated by the probation department, but many times go unpaid with lack of follow up. The clerk’s office and probation department have undertaken a task — at the request of the Council — to seek payment on past due amounts.
Fox told the Council that letters of judgment are routinely issued by the Probation Department; however, how to go about seeking collection for past due amounts legally is the sticking point.
Juvenile court records are, by law, confidential.
Currently all documents concerning liens also contain the name of the juvenile offender. Fox is seeking guidance by County Attor-ney Jim Clevenger on how to collect while maintaining that confidentiality.
“I don’t want to be sued and I don’t think the Council wants to be sued either, over that confidentiality,” said Fox. “I want to get some solid legal advice to make sure that we legally do the correct thing.”
In other news:
• The Marshall County Sheriff’s Office received an additional appropriation of $8,000 to cover prisoner transportation costs, another issue that brought discussion from Councilman Rex Gillilland.
“I think it’s important that the people know what prisoners are costing us,” said Gillilland,
The county is contracted with a facility in Porter County to hold all juvenile offenders. A trip to drop off a prisoner or pick up and deliver to court in Marshall County is 85 miles.
Gillilland says one such trip costs the county $194. He also pointed out another instance of a prisoner who is currently held in a facility in Madison, Ind. who has requested return to Marshall County. That trip to pick up and deliver the prisoner would cost the county 48 man hours and come to a total of $1,443.
Gillilland praised recent efforts by court personnel and county judges in coordinating prisoner transport and court dates to limit the number of trips necessary, thus saving the county considerable money, but thinks more should be done.
“The judges and courts have been great working with us to cut things down but we have to figure out some way that if a prisoner wants a transfer it’s going to be on their dime,” said Gillilland. “These transport costs are killing us.”
• Marshall County Auditor Penny Lukenbill urged the Council to continue to take a hard look at final numbers for the Department of Family and Children.
On Jan. 1, the state of Indiana will take over responsibility for the DFC —  including its budget — but the county will still be liable for all expenses incurred before that time. Lukenbill is concerned that all expenses for the end of the year be settled so that any outstanding invoices can be handled by year’s end. Any unencumbered money in the DFC budget will be sent to the county’s “Rainy Day” fund and so invoices for 2008 that come in after the beginning of the year would have to come out of the county’s general fund unless the money is ear marked before hand.
“I think we need to keep a very close eye on this until the end of the year,” said Lukenbill. “The encumbering process is dreadful to go through but I think that it’s worth it.”