Budget shortfall may delay opening of new Delaware County jail

(Jay-AP) -- The sheriff-elect of Delaware County says a shortfall in his budget may delay the opening of a new multimillion dollar county jail. <br><br>Lenden Woodruff told county commissioners he can't

Tuesday, November 28th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

(Jay-AP) -- The sheriff-elect of Delaware County says a shortfall in his budget may delay the opening of a new multimillion dollar county jail.

Lenden Woodruff told county commissioners he can't operate the new jail on the budget they approved last month.

Commissioners budgeted just more than 530-thousand dollars to the Sheriff's Office for next year, compared to the nearly 577-thousand dollars that was budgeted for this year.

Commissioners say Woodruff is getting ``the horse before the cart'' because state officials have not set a date for a final inspection of the new jail. Commissioner Bruce Poindexter says until the inspection is complete opening the jail isn't a consideration because they don't know what else is needed.

Woodruff says he's just trying to organize his department before taking office on January First.