Sometimes numbers can say a lot about how a business or service operates and the same is true for local government.
Recent reports from Barton County departments, presented to the Barton County Commission earlier this month, show a busy business, and with warm weather activities starting up, there is every indication that things will only get busier — which can be good or bad, depending on the activity.
Some of the county departments and their statistics include:
• Road and Bridge — 12 “minimum maintenance” signs in Cheyenne Township were broken or pulled out of the ground, requiring repairs or replacement, at the county’s expense.
• County Communications — From March to April 21, the department received 750 land line 911 calls; 1,674 wireless 911 calls; and administrative calls, raising the total number of calls during that period to 15,555. During that period, the dispatchers received 4,662 calls for service.
• Information Technology — During the first part of April, Director John Debes and his staff stopped 1,840 spam messages, 43 intrusions and three spyware attempts.
• Register of Deeds — From April 15 to 28, staff issued 51 deeds; 29 mortgages, featuring $1.28 million values; handled 63 general records; 34 oil and gas lease extensions or ratifications; 14 assignments; seven UCC filings; three cemetery permits; and 13 passports.
• Sheriff’s Office — 49 males, 25 females and one juvenile were booked in during the period. Road patrol responded to 188 calls; 37 incident cases were taken and six accident cases were taken.
• Health Department — There were 290 clinic contacts, including 32 for TB; 16 maternal and infant; nine for sexually transmitted disease; two for Kan Be Healthy; 110 for immunizations; and 100 for family planning.
• Juvenile Services — For March, the department conducted 49 juvenile intakes. Of those, 18 were juvenile offenders; 17 were status offenders; and 14 were non-offenders. In the first quarters, January through March, Juvenile Intake and Assessment conducted 135 intakes involving 50 juvenile offenders, 38 status offenders and 37 non-offenders. Of those 135, 14 percent — 20 youths — were placed in detention, while 48 percent were returned to parents, guardians or other responsible adult.