Council approves up to $45,000 to reimburse agencies involved in Labette County search

The State Finance Council unanimously approved up to $45,000 from the emergency response fund to reimburse agencies that assisted with a March search operation in Labette County.

Mark Enholm, the state fire marshal, described the March incident in Labette County in which a farmer driving a tractor and hay bale trailer was swept off a low-water crossing. "We had to bring in some assets from the state of Oklahoma to help us, specifically cadaver seeking dogs," Enholm said. He said responders worked under difficult conditions and the subject has not been located.

Enholm initially requested up to $60,000 to cover reimbursements. He told the council that invoices already submitted totaled about $30,000 and that he expected two remaining invoices would bring total requests to roughly $36,000–$38,000. Speaker Hawkins proposed approving a lower cap; the council adopted a motion to reimburse invoices up to, but not to exceed, $45,000.

The motion passed on a unanimous roll call. Council members did not add conditions; Enholm said a lower cap would not pose a problem for processing reimbursements.