8-4-10 —     The City of Monticello could become the new fiscal agent for the Lake Cumberland Area Drug Task Force, if the current arrangement with the City of Somerset is disrupted. But there were still many unanswered questions as this edition of The Outlook went to press Monday.

    Some of those answers could hinge on the Somerset City Council meeting, which was held on Monday night, according to Monticello Police Chief Ralph Miniard, who is a board member for the Lake Cumberland Area Drug Task Force. Everybody involved was in a "wait and see" situation on Monday, according to Miniard.

    "We prefer that it remain as it has been," said Miniard, as he talked about the situation that has caused quite a bit of concern among law enforcement agencies that are part of the Lake Cumberland Area Drug Task Force.

    But if a change is needed, the City of Monticello has already approved the intergovernmental agreement that will allow them to step in and become the fiscal agent for the Drug Task Force.

    Basically, that would mean that grant money which helps fund the agency would remain intact and would be accounted for through the City of Monticello. Agents for the Task Force would be sworn officers through the Monticello Police Depart-ment, instead of the Somerset Police Depart-ment.

    According to an article that was printed this past weekend in The Commonwealth-Journal, Lake Cumberland Area Drug Task Force agents continued to carry their badges as of Saturday, despite a memo from Somerset Acting Police Chief Doug Nelson to the Kentucky Law Enforcement Council that he would request that the agents who had been sworn in by the Somerset Police Department have police powers revoked effective Friday.

    The article notes that in the past week, the City of Somerset has removed a Somerset Police Officer from the Task Force, has given notice of the removal of some drug task force employees from the city's retirement and insurance plans and has threatened to strip some agents of their police powers.

    The officer was removed at his own request because he did not want to be caught in the middle of the controversy, Lake Cumberland Area Drug Task Force Director David Gilbert told The Commonwealth-Journal.

    Drug Task Force agents received a memo earlier this month from the City of Somerset stating that within 30 days, the city would no longer handle the accounting or payroll paperwork for the agency. The memo also stated that agents from the Drug Task Force who had been sworn in by the City of Somerset would no longer be eligible to receive the city's insurance or retirement benefits.

    That has left many scrambling to try to figure out exactly what is going on. Gilbert has voiced concern that this move by the City of Somerset could cost the Drug Task Force grant funding.

    The Monticello City Council met in special session on Thursday, July 22 and unanimously approved action to step in and take over for the Somerset Police Department if that becomes necessary.

    Miniard noted that if this does happen, agents with the Task Force will be sworn in through his department, but their operations will remain the same. They will continue to operate in their same location, with their own policies and procedures.

    "We need the Drug Task Force," stated Miniard, who noted that their assistance with drug cases in this area is invaluable. "To provide the functions of the Drug Task Force, it would cost us in excess of $100,000 per year and probably double that in start-up costs."