CARTHAGE, Mo. —
The Jasper County Commission will wait a little longer to sign a contract with a company to provide commissary services at the county jail.
The commission weeks ago decided to retain Keefe Services as the vendor, but a contract still is being written up, Darieus Adams, Western District associate commissioner, said Tuesday.
Norman Rouse, attorney for the commission, said the standard contract used by the company lists the county jail as a principal in the pact.
The jail “is not the correct entity,” he said. “Under state law, the contract has to be with Jasper County, so we’ve asked them to change it.”
The previous contract was negotiated by Sheriff Archie Dunn. The commission sought new bids for the service that provides commissary items for inmates because the panel objected to Dunn not taking a percentage of sales normally paid to counties by the contractor. Dunn said he waived the percentage in exchange for the contractor providing at no charge commissary kits that the county must provide to indigent inmates.
At issue was about $8,000 annually. At one time, that money went into the county’s general fund, but a recent attorney general’s opinion called for the money to go into a sheriff’s account.
In other business Tuesday, John Bartosh, presiding commissioner, said efforts to eradicate thistles in farm fields will have to wait until later in the year. The county each spring fields complaints about musk thistles, which are declared a noxious weed in state statues. State law requires landowners to eradicate them and calls on the County Commission to act if the owners do not.
“It’s way too late,” Bartosh said. “It’s the worst I’ve ever seen, I guess because of the drought last year and rains this year.”
Jim Honey, Eastern District associate commissioner, said agriculture officials are advising landowners to wait until fall to spray.
Ed Browning, a natural resource engineering specialist with the University of Missouri Extension Service, said the best time to spray thistles with a herbicide is in April and in October.
Landowners can mow to address a thistle problem if the seed head has not matured, he said, “but after that, it’s too late.”
“I drive all around the state, and thistles are a problem everywhere,” he said. “Every plant can produce around 10,000 seeds, so it can be very invasive.”
Weed steps
COMPLAINTS ABOUT THISTLES received by the County Commission’s office are forwarded to the prosecuting attorney, who will write a letter giving the landowner 15 days to address the matter. Commissioner John Bartosh said that on the last few complaints he has received, callers have agreed that it was too late to address the problem. He said the complaint still will be forwarded to the prosecutor “if someone insists.”
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Jasper County Commission still awaiting contract on commissary services at county jail
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