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Logan County Board
September Safety Committee Meeting
[September 10, 2025]
On Tuesday, September 9th, the
Safety Committee of the larger Logan County Board met for their
regular monthly meeting. This meeting was held in the Blue Room of
the Logan County Safety Complex starting at 5:30 p.m. Of the five
members of this committee, four were present. Members present
included Chairman Kevin Knauer, Vice Chairman Kathy Schmidt, Bob
Sanders, and Lance Conahan. JR Glenn was not in attendance.
The meeting started with the approval of minutes from the
committee’s meetings in July and August. A motion was made to
approve these minutes, and then the committee moved on to their four
reports, starting with the Sheriff’s report.
Sheriff Mark Landers was present to give his report, starting by
talking about a program called Grow Me that he and his team provide
for their inmates. According to Landers, this program helps teach
life skills to inmates that they can use once they have served their
sentence. Some of these skills include things such as anger
management. Additionally, Landers shared that the program has a high
participation rate. They have also received letters from former
inmates who went through the program sharing that the skills they
learned there have helped keep them from making choices that would
get them sent back to prison.
Landers stated that his department is going to contribute $5,000
toward the Grow Me program, as they do each year. He also stated
that the Community Action Partnership of Central Illinois (CAPCIL)
puts this program on.
Landers then gave a brief update on the expansion of the Logan
County Safety Complex. According to Landers, the excavation process
is well underway. There was one slight issue, and that was the fact
that they had to move the fiber optics line that ran to the Safety
Complex. They moved it to place 131 pillars into the ground that are
going to keep the expansion from sinking once it is built.
Foundation work should begin as early as next week.
Landers then gave his Emergency Management Agency (EMA) report. He
shared that his office is going to move forward with plans to
purchase a drone that is able to fly in bad weather. With winter
approaching, Landers said, it may be needed. He said that it is
going to be paid for from funds his office receives for managing
some grants.
Landers also talked about the
benefit of having drones, stating that they can cover a larger
amount of ground in less time, as well as require less people, when
searching for people. The drone that they currently had was able to
be used to find a couple that had become lost near the creek a few
months ago.
Next was the report from Animal Control. Jane Whiteman was present
to give the report, starting with sharing that the water line that
had previously been damaged was now repaired. Whiteman also shared
that they had to have someone come out and look into the sewer line.
The person they called stated that they believed some tree roots on
the property had grown into the sewer line. The issue was addressed
in the short term, but may need to be addressed again before too
long.
Whiteman then talked about the possibility of hiring an
administrator. This was something mentioned at a previous Safety
meeting. According to the law, Logan County is required to have one,
but Whiteman shared that many counties do not have one. She talked
to someone from the state and was informed that, since COVID, the
state has allowed the counties to decide what they want to do on
this matter. She was recommended to see about contracting a doctor
for rabies cases, but that was all. Whiteman said that, while it
would be nice to have an administrator for Animal Control, it would
be very expensive.
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Next, Whiteman
shared that she is looking into new Shelter Pro systems, the
online computer system they use at Animal Control. The current
system they have is very old, but Whiteman stated that she is
comfortable with it. This system is cheap and does not require a
yearly fee. All of the new systems she has been finding,
however, are much more expensive and do require a subscription
fee. She reached out to the Animal Controls of other counties to
see what systems they use, but all of them are also expensive.
Conahan then asked Whiteman if her office looks for state level
grants for animal control. Whiteman stated that this is
something she simply does not have time for. The majority of her
time is spent responding to calls in the county.
Conahan then asked about the
feasibility of enforcing people to get their animals vaccinated for
rabies, something that was also discussed at a previous meeting.
Whiteman shared that many people in Logan County get their animals
vaccinated outside of the county. This being the case, unless they
bring their vet records to animal control, they will not have
anything on file about their animals. She also stated that there
just is not enough time to do things like fining people for not
having their animals registered in the county. Whiteman and the
committee members then spent some time talking about how Animal
Control can bring in a little extra money.
One more issue was brought up, and that was the safety of the Animal
Control employees if they are called out at night. Whiteman shared
that she has been called out to emergencies before, and has had to
enter people’s homes in the middle of the night on her own. Knauer
did not like this, asking Landers what could be done to help keep
Whiteman and her team safe in situations like this. Landers
suggested giving Animal Control a radio that they could use to
directly contact the Sheriff’s Department if there was ever an issue
while they were out on a call. He said that he would meet with
Whiteman later in the week.
The last report to be given was the Coroner report. Logan County
Coroner Don Peasley was present for this report. He stated that
there were fifteen deaths in the county last month, and two
autopsies were recovered. Peasley also stated that the death and
autopsy rate seemed to be going down. He also shared that they are
hoping to have two new ambulances for the county in the next few
months, something that they have been on a waiting list for the last
three years for.
Once the Coroner’s report was finished, the meeting was adjourned.
[Matt Boutcher]
[Text received from file]
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