Commissioners approve vendor agreements for Sheriff, HR and Treasurer's Office

This week, the Marshall County Commissioners approved an agreement with Extra Duty Solutions at Sheriff Hassel's request.   

Sheriff Matt Hassel explained to the Commissioners the services Extra Duty Solutions can provide to his department and off-duty officers. The sheriff said many officers work security during their off-hours for outside agencies, businesses, and events that need protection or law enforcement. His examples included weddings, road patrols for highway paving projects, and even extra security for jury trails outside of our county when jurors are sequestered. 

Hassel said Extra Duty Solutions minimizes the county’s legal or financial risk because they administer our department’s off-duty program. Their services include customer interactions and communication, job scheduling, officer payroll, customer invoicing, and debt collection.  If a citizen of business calls in for extra security, they will be given a phone number for Extra Duty Solutions. 

Hassel said one of the most significant benefits is that Extra Duty Solutions carries $1 million in liability insurance for off-duty assignments, which Marshall County doesn’t currently have.

Officers will be required to sign a waiver stating that Marshall County is not responsible for them when they work through Extra Duty Solutions.

Mike Miley, the county’s Insurance Consultant, said the county’s insurance wouldn’t cover the officers. He said the agreement offers the officers the option to purchase additional coverage through them. Miley said, “This creates a separation between the county and whoever is hiring these officers.”

Commissioner Kevin Overmyer asked if county officers would drive their patrol vehicles to these off-duty jobs, and the sheriff said they would as long as they were inside the county. Overmyer asked if the police car is covered if something happens at an event and the vehicle is damaged, or if the officer must drive the vehicle to chase a subject and they get in an accident.

Miley said the county’s insurance would cover the vehicle's damage. He said this is a better situation with another barrier in between.

The commissioners also approved an agreement with HR Logics Services agreement and an amendment for HR Administrator Jeniffer Daake. She said this service helps process the county’s unemployment claims.  County Attorney Jim Clevenger said it’s basically the same as last year’s, but it has an automatic renewal provision.     

The commissioners also approved the agreement with XSoft Cashbook. County Treasurer Kelly Einspahr told the Commissioners that the XSoft software program is cloud-based, which makes it less vulnerable to hackers. The system balances your fund balances to your bank balances, so they balance the books every day. Prior to this software, they used a system that required them to copy and paste, which offered a better chance for errors.  This system gives the Treasurer’s Office daily funds and cash balances.