The McHenry County Sheriff’s Department could replace more than 50 of its 70 squad cars within a year if the County Board agrees with Tuesday’s joint recommendation of its Finance and Law and Justice Committees.
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The committees voted to amend the Sheriff’s Department budget to allow for the purchase of 25 squad cars at a cost of up to $487,500. That comes on top of $595,000 the department spent this year to buy 27 squad cars.
Sheriff Keith Nygren said most of the cars are becoming too costly to keep in top condition. Many are 1993 or 1994 models with upwards of 200,000 miles on them. The department likely would order the new cars in the fall.
Nygren proposed paying for the cars–and for restructuring the jail’s command staff–with money generated from renting jail space to other jurisdictions. The jail command restructuring, at a cost of $105,400 in this year’s budget, also received committee approval.
Early this year, the Sheriff’s Department added 88 beds to the jail by double-bunking some cells and renting those beds and previously unused space. This has doubled the average daily inmate population to about 280, half of them from other jurisdictions. The rented jail beds cost $55 or $65 a day, depending on which jurisdiction rents a bed.