Sheriff's office won't provide security for county fair UPDATED
In a letter released by the Highland County Board of Commissioners Wednesday, July 20, Ward wrote to Fair Board President Dave Stratton: "After much and careful consideration concerning the mandates and priorities of the Office of Sheriff, I have come to the conclusion that my office will not be able to provide contracted services for security for the 2011 Highland County Fair."
Ward informed the Fair Board to contact the Hillsboro Police Department, should the need for law enforcement services arise during the fair.
"There are many things that played into this decision, including limited manpower and equipment resources, along with scheduling issues and both economic and non-economic factors," Ward said. "I trust that this will serve as sufficient notice to allow the board to consider other options for this necessary service during the county fair.
"If the need for law enforcement arises during the county fair, the Hillsboro Police Department should be contacted, as most of the Highland County Fairgrounds, with the exception of the far north parking lot west of Fairground Road, is located within the city limits of Hillsboro. Thus, jurisdiction falls to the Hillsboro Police Department."
Ward said he wishes the fair board well in putting together another great county fair for 2011.
"I would also like to express my appreciation to all of the fair board members for all of their hard work and friendship over the years, and for putting together what I believe to be the greatest county fair in Ohio."
Highland County Fair Board President Dave Stratton said that he has not yet received the letter sent by Ward.
"I'm surprised," Stratton told The Highland County Press. "I'm disappointed to hear that they are not providing security. We've always paid for their services, for the overtime to employees. I'm really sorry to hear that. We had just received the contract for their services and was taking it to the board at the next meeting."
The fair board's next meeting is Tuesday, July 26 at 8 p.m.
The city of Hillsboro is currently dealing with a shortage of officers due to recent retirements at the Hillsboro Police Department, and is also operating under strict budget constraints. When asked how responding to the fair would impact the budget and the overall functioning of the department, Hillsboro Safety and Service Director Ralph Holt said it was already affecting the city.
"It's already affected us," Holt said. "The Festival of the Bells was a real issue. I'm sure there were situations with that amount of people uptown. We would have been devastated had something happened. During the county fair, we always provide police officers there because it's inside the city limits. I'm not sure how this will effect us. I haven't yet discussed it with the chief (Nick Thompson) or the mayor (Dick Zink)."
Holt said that while there were no "issues" during the Festival of the Bells, there is always a risk when the population of the city is suddenly nearly tripled, as was the case July 1 when there was more than 17,000 people in attendance at the festival. The Highland County Fair, he said, is no different.
"I'm not aware of any issue that happened, but I'm stating that with that amount of people, the population of the city is increased by more than 10,000," Holt said. "It's great that they were well-behaved and that there were minimal issues. It's something Circleville has to deal with during their Pumpkin Festival and Greenfield has to deal with during their festival."
However, Holt said that he understands Ward is operating with a tight budget.
"Ron Ward knows his budget and knows what he can and can't do, and I can't second-guess his decisions," Holt said.
While the Highland County Fairgrounds is located in the city of Hillsboro, most of the property is owned by the Highland County Board of Commissioners.
President of the Highland County Board of Commissioners Shane Wilkin said that he believes that the HCSO is not required to provide the security as they are required to on other county-owned property, such as the Highland County Courthouse, because the fair is not a mandated general fund department.
"The courthouse is funded through general fund tax dollars, and the county fair is put on by the fair board, and we provide them with (only a few thousand dollars) a year," Wilkin said. "I feel pretty confident that if Sheriff Ward sent a letter saying he was not able to provide that service that he has checked into that."
When asked if the commissioners would respond to Ward's letter, Wilkin said that Ward sent the letter to the commissioners as a courtesy so they would be informed on the situation. However, "in these days and times, we may ask the prosecutor to take a peek at it to make sure," Wilkin said.
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