Inspections are becoming almost as frequent as logging in new inmates at the Warren County Regional Jail. Almost.

Warren County Jailer Stephen Harmon reported the results of the latest inspection, this one by the Federal Bureau of Prisons, during the county fiscal court meeting Monday at the Warren County Courthouse.

The federal inspection, which followed a Kentucky Department of Corrections inspection in March, showed only problems with two pieces of paperwork missing from files.

“The issues have since been resolved, and we have new processes in place to ensure compliance,” Harmon said of the inspection that is required because the jail houses some federal inmates.

At the time of this inspection, the jail housed 10 Bureau of Prisons inmates. That number has been going down, Harmon said, unlike the local and state inmate population.

“Last year we had more than 10,” Harmon said. “The Bureau of Prisons numbers are down across the state because of financial issues at the federal level. The only bad thing about that is that the federal inmates help offset the tax dollars spent on local inmates.”

As the latest inspection shows, the local and state inmate population is continuing to grow. In fact, the only issue found in the earlier state inspection was overcrowding. At the time of the federal inspection, the Warren County jail had 663 total inmates in a facility with a capacity of 563.

“We can’t put up a ‘No Vacancy’ sign,” Harmon said. “We reached as high as 730 (inmates) last week. We haven’t been below that 563 capacity in the last 10 years.”

To help deal with those growing numbers, fiscal court Monday granted Harmon authority to advertise for bids on jail management system software.

The magistrates also approved the 2 percent cost-of-living pay increase for all county employees that had been included in the $42.9 million fiscal year budget approved last month.

They also granted authority for the Bowling Green-Warren County Drug Task Force to renew the licensing, web-based software and data agreement with Integrity Surveillance Group. The $1,200 cost will be paid with asset forfeiture funds, according to Tommy Loving, director of the task force.

The magistrates approved a 2018 Bowling Green/Warren County Humane Society grant application that calls for a $1,000 match on a $1,000 grant.

Also approved was the second and final reading of an ordinance rezoning 8.59 acres on Brawner Road near Drakes Creek from agriculture to residential estate. Steven Freeman of High Point Homes LLC applied for the zone change in order to develop six single-family residential lots with homes of at least 1,800 square feet.

In other business, the magistrates approved spending $2,395 to Spartan Equipment for purchasing a grapple tool for the skid steer used by the county’s division of stormwater management. They also approved a bid from Valor Oil totaling $149,249.30 for gasoline and diesel fuel for the county road department, sheriff’s department and drug task force and tank delivery to select locations.

The magistrates also heard a report from Russell Justice of the Hadley Volunteer Fire Department that total runs for the county’s nine volunteer fire departments for the fiscal year that ended June 30 are projected to exceed last year’s total by 600 or more.

“The county is growing, so we are responding to more fires, accidents and medical calls,” said Justice, the Hadley fire chief.