XPost: alt.gossip.celebrities, sac.general, alt.politics.democrats.d
XPost: talk.politics.guns
A Kentucky sheriff has advice for residents after he announced
the suspension of all law enforcement activities: Lock your
homes; load your guns and get a dog.
Martin County Sheriff John Kirk took the stage without
invitation at a fiscal court meeting on Feb. 4, saying his
office was still owed a January payment of $75,000, the
Lexington Herald-Leader reported. He also said new obligations
given to his office will add $99,000 to his annual expenditures.
The sheriff said he has laid off the bookkeeper and limited
office hours to 20 hours a week.
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Kirk wrote on his personal Facebook page that the sheriff�s
office is broke. He said his wife has helped out at the
sheriff�s office some nights after working her full-time job. He
also advised some residents to lock up their homes and get a dog.
�Folks, lock your doors, load your guns and get you a barking,
biting dog,� he wrote. �If the sheriff�s office can�t protect
you, who will?�
He also explained further his decision to suspend policing
activities, writing, �The law requires the Sheriff to collect
taxes, Bailiff court and serve papers. We have always provided
police protection but without the funding we can no longer do
this.�
A large part of the funding problem is a sharp decline in coal
severance taxes hitting eastern Kentucky. Local government
money from an economic assistance fund to coal-producing
counties has dropped by 80 percent since fiscal year 2012 from
$34 million to $6.7 million, The Lexington Herald-Leader
reported. The fund returns a portion of state-collected mineral
severance taxes to local governments.
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The sheriff has asked residents to go to court meetings in order
to be aware of what is happening. County officials said they
hoped they could pay the $75,000 but did not immediately say
when they could deliver the payment, the Lexington Herald-Leader
reported.
Without the sheriff�s office, the residents will have to rely on
the Kentucky State Police, which at times only has one officer
patrolling multiple counties.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
https://www.foxnews.com/us/kentucky-sheriff-suspends-law- enforcement-over-lack-of-funding-folks-lock-your-doors
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