PLAN TO MOVE DRUG FIGHT ALLOCATION DEBATED

Enforcement Push Might Shift From Prosecutor To Sheriff

VALPARAISO | With Porter County heroin use making headlines, County
Council members are wondering if they have the power to switch drug
enforcement funding from the prosecutor's budget to the sheriff's.

"You guys are the ones that go out and investigate," Councilman Bob
Poparad said at Monday's budget hearing. "What they do is prosecute
the cases you bring." Council members are unsure about whether the
council has the authority to switch funding from the prosecutor's
budget, which now pays the salary and administrative costs for local
drug task force investigator Bob Taylor. After council attorney Dave
Hollenbeck reviews the law, the council will consider the question at
Thursday's budget hearing.

County Council President Dan Whitten said he thinks drug enforcement
should fall on the sheriff's budget sheet.

Maj. Doug Snider, who spoke for the Sheriff's Department, said it is
"absolutely not" opposed to assuming control of drug enforcement
money. But he stressed that the decision is one for the council and
its lawyer. The Sheriff's Department staffs another drug enforcement
agent who works as part of a federal investigation team, Snider said.

"It isn't just as simple as who runs it," he said. "It can be done
successfully under the current situation."

With increases in insurance costs eating up nearly half the county's
$922,000 extra funds for next year, council members kept their vow
not to add any new full-time employees. It added one part-time patrol
officer, which Snider said should free up "about 90 percent" of
another full-time officer's hours. That officer might be assigned to
drug cases, Snider said.

"A single added officer doesn't seem quite up to par with the drug
problems we have," Councilman Jim Burge said.