6/20/1986 - Laserfiche WebLink

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JUN 2 ® 1986 BOOK 64 F4,,7lit 68 then he certainly felt we need to put the jail back where the authority lies and what we need to talk about is what can we do to get liability insurance on the jail immediately. He believed it has been indicated that the Sheriff has a source which will write that kind of coverage. Commissioner Wodtke assumed that our insurance agent, Mr. Arden, has been contacted to see if he can put a rider on our policy. OMB Director Baird confirmed that he contacted the Arden Agency, and Mr. Arden has been attempting to get such a rider but has not been successful. He noted that the liability insurance industry in general is in a state of upheaval at present. y It was generally agreed that this is not Mr. Arden's fault; it is due to the state of the liability insurance industry itself. Commissioner Bird asked Attorney Vitunac if he had found cases of law where suits have been filed relative to a jail, naming the Board, and the court has found the Board was not liable. Attorney Vitunac noted one is cited in his memo, the second case - White versus Palm Beach County. The Sheriff runs the jail there, and the Sheriff and the Board were sued. The Board was sued because it did not provide enough money for the jail to be run properly, but the Judge said the fact that the county has a duty to provide funds for the operation of the jail can hardly be the basis for holding that it thereby becomes responsible for the day to day designations of which prisoners are to be placed in what cells, etc. That is the duty of the Sheriff. He also said the decision of how much money they fund was a discretionary one which is immune, and the county was dismissed from that case except as the county was involved in the day to day operation of the jail. Board members felt this is just about opposite information from what was given them previously, and Commissioner Bird 6