AMERICUS — The Sumter County Board of Commissioners met Thursday to set their agenda for the regular monthly meeting to be held Tuesday at the commissioners board room at the Sumter County Courthouse.

At the meeting, commissioners heard from Chief Superior Court Judge Rucker Smith of the Southwestern Circuit. Smith asked the commissioners to grant approval for him to enter into an agreement to provide misdemeanor probation services for Sumter County through the Superior Court Southwestern Judicial Circuit Misdemeanor probation as provided for in O.C.G.A. 42-8-100.

Smith said the newly-formed misdemeanor probation services would provide many useful services for people all over the circuit.

“It can provide a drug court or deferred prosecution, and it’s going to give the courts an opportunity to provide more services without costing the county additional money” said Smith.

It’d be free to the county — and that was the selling point Smith used for the new program as the funding for the first three years of the program would be provided by a grant received from the federal government.

The court system now uses Providence Community Corrections (PCC) for their misdemeanor probation services. Representatives from PCC also gave their comments after Smith gave his presentation at the meeting.

Jeanenne Denivant, a representative for the company said, “I just want to point out, and clarify a few things that Judge Smith, who has been great to work with said in his presentation. I think he made reference to the fact that he is happy with the service that we have provided, and he is looking to bring a lot of our current staff over to the new office, and I think that references that we have a good staff. A lot of them are family members, and community members so we are local, and we are in the community. So we just want to remind you of that, and we are also at no cost to you already.”

Cindy Foyer, the director of operations for the company followed Denivant’s comments.

Foyer said, “I just want to bring to light that we are still under contract with the superior court until the end of June. There is money out there for drug programs, and things of that nature. I guess that I question more than anything, because this is fairly new to me, hearing that a judge can get involved with community corrections is a moral issue is a judge being over the same program that he is sentencing to that program. It just kind of raises a flag to me.

“Like I said, we have been around a long time, and these people do live in Sumter County, their families are here, and I think we provide a great service to the county and I think we deserve consideration to stay on as the service.”

In other items discussed by the board of commissioners:

• Consented to approval of a proposed budget setting calendar

• approval for staff to move forward with the process for the request to abandon a portion of McArthur Road and if properly abandoned the renaming of the remaining portion to “Memorial Mile”

• approval of food service agreement between the Sumter County Board of Commissioners and ABL Management, Inc. for the Sumter County Correctional Institute and the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office.

The consumer price index for December 2009 has increased 2.7 percent and the new rates reflect such and increase. The new rates go into effect July 1, 2010.

• SPLOST Project #121: Sumter County Human Services Building—Build out for Tog Shop.

• Budget amendment— Transfer of funds from General Fund to Capital Fund for purchase of UHF Paging Equipment in the amount of $81, 235. County Finance Director Ann Barefoot said, “Contingency funds are dwindling down to a significant number.”

The next meeting of the Sumter County Board of Commissioners will be at 6 p.m. Tuesday in the commissioners meeting room in the Sumter County Courthouse.