It was a full agenda for Christian Fiscal Court’s Tuesday meeting, as they approved an expanded healthcare service at the Christian County Jail to accommodate ICE inmates and tabled a loan agreement with Jennie Stuart Health.
The Christian County Jail will soon house inmates on behalf of United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), but that comes with the agreement that the jail will have around the clock healthcare services for those individuals. Jailer Adam Smith says this is just another way to help the jail be more self-sufficient and less of a burden on taxpayers.
The expanded healthcare would eventually become 24/7 and Smith says even with those additional costs, this would still result in a net positive for the jail, as the jail would generate roughly $1.9 million from housing those individuals for ICE.
The jailer did say those detainees will not be released into this community—this would just be temporary housing while they wait to be transported out of the country.
Magistrates approved the agreement with the jail healthcare service, and the memorandum of understanding with the jail.
An adoption for a resolution concerning a loan agreement with Jennie Stuart Health was tabled by magistrates at the meeting. Magistrate John Bruce is the one who made the motion to hold off on voting, saying he simply wants more information before making a decision.
The original agreement was approved by a prior fiscal court, and with Jennie Stuart Health merging with Deaconess, magistrate seemed fairly agreed that they would like to hear more from both parties before moving forward.
Judge Gilliam also gave an update on road work on Lover’s Lane at the consolidated Christian County High School, saying that it’s looking like that road work will not be done by the time the new school opens in 2026.
In other action, fiscal court approved a bid of salt for winter weather preparedness through Oakley Fertilizer sales contract and approved an infrastructure grant and improvement program for the Christian County Airport. The funding will be 95 percent by the FAA and the remaining amount has already been set aside by the Airport Board.