OTTAWA — Sheriff Jeff Richards alerted Franklin County commissioners Monday that his general fund expenses will go above what was budgeted for this year. The department has had some unexpected and unusually large expenses this year, he said. That includes investigative costs involved in the quadruple murder near Richter earlier this year, and maintenance costs for the department’s Dodge Charger patrol cars, Richards said. Richards said he’s had to frequently had to replace the brake rotors on the cars but when he checked with other departments to see if they had similar problems, he found out he isn’t replacing the rotors as often as other departments. However, county administrator Lisa Johnson told commissioners that Richards’ budgets for the jail and 911 will come in under budget and the total sheriff’s budgets will end up slightly below what was budgeted for this year. However, county attorney Stephen Hunting’s budget could skyrocket next year and in 2015 because of the expenses of prosecuting the trial involving the quadruple murders near Richter, she said.
Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2 p.m.
