(La Porte, IN) – Additional money has been given to the La Porte County Sheriff’s Office to cover extra overtime costs partially brought on by COVID-19.  The La Porte County Council Monday night approved a request for $120,000 to cover those expenses.

Sheriff John Boyd said deputies providing security at COVID-19 checkpoints at the courthouses in La Porte and Michigan City is a major reason overtime this year has gone up.  Boyd says officers are at the checkpoints as a precaution but there have been a few occasions where officers had to approach people lashing out at having to undergo temperature checks and other screening procedures at the checkpoints.

He said extra work is also being put in at the jail on things like screening to try and keep infected offenders from being admitted during booking.  Boyd said the jail has had no confirmed cases of COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic.  There's a chance the county will be reimbursed for the added overtime costs from federal COVID-19 relief dollars made available to state and local governments, officials said.