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In an email statement to media yesterday, Sheriff John Montgomery expressed his excitement about a generous gift of $10,000 to the Baxter County Sheriff’s Foundation for the purpose of the remodel and renovation of a newly purchased office building.
“As many of you may already know, the Baxter County Quorum Court recently approved the purchase of the former Carney Law Office building at the intersection of Seventh Street and Elm Street, adjacent to the Baxter County Detention Center,” said Sheriff Montgomery.
The Mountain Home law firm, which shut its doors last December, agreed to sell the entirety of its property to Baxter county for $300,000.
The firm had originally agreed to sell a portion of its parking lot to the county to expand parking at the county jail and the Sheriff’s Office for $11,000. That original contract was ripped up in favor of the new one for the entire property.
The Baxter County Sheriff’s Office is facing a space crunch, with several of the office’s employees, like the Sheriff’s CID (Criminal Investigation Division) investigators, being forced to work on top of each other.
During the Budget Committee meeting last October, Sheriff Montgomery stated that some “light” remodeling would need to be done to get the building ready for use. That work would include the floors and maybe adding or removing a wall in certain positions.
Plans for renovation and a remodel are currently underway.
Additionally, the Sheriff said he should be able to cover remodeling costs with his own budget but then clarified and said it would depend on material costs. He would also like to move the coroner’s body cooler over to the new building in the future.
Sheriff Montgomery stated back in October that he believed the community would rally behind the remodel and assist with keeping costs low.
And rally they have.
“The Sheriff’s Office is excited to announce that today a Mountain Home citizen, who wishes to remain anonymous, has made a generous gift of $10,000 to our partners at the Baxter County Sheriff’s Foundation, Inc,” said Sheriff Montgomery. “It is the intent of the donor that this donation be used toward the remodel and renovation of the building.”
