Apparently, the Village didn't iron out the plans with Homewood before announcing at a Board Meeting that Homewood will house Glenwood's prisoners. Another fine example of them shooting off their mouths before they have a plan. They have no idea how much Homewood will charge Glewnood to house their prisoners, or even if Homewood will agree to do so. This may not even save money. Leadership at its best!!

From the Southtown Star:

Homewood police were more than a little surprised to learn they soon may be having more visitors to their lock-up.

When Homewood Police Chief Larry Burnson read in Sunday's SouthtownStar that prisoners from Glenwood will be housed at the Homewood station, it was the first he heard of it.

"It's obviously not a done deal because we haven't talked to them about it," Burnson said Monday morning.

By Monday afternoon, he, along with Homewood Mayor Rich Hofeld and village manager Mark Franz had met with Glenwood Mayor Kerry Durkin and village administrator Eric Wiederhold to discuss the possibility.

Franz said there had been preliminary talks last week.

"We offered help but we didn't make any promises then," Franz said. "We'll consider it, though. They're dealing with tough times, like a lot of towns are these days."

Glenwood is seeking ways to cut operating costs to address a budget deficit of about $600,000, Wiederhold said.

At a meeting Friday, Glenwood's village board agreed to double village sticker fees from $20 to $40 and senior citizen sticker fees from $2 to $10.

Teamster Local 726 agreed to two furlough days a month for each of the 20 police officers, as well as having them buy their own uniforms and service weapons.

Wiederhold said the police station would change from being an around-the-clock building to being open only from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays. Patrols would continue to be 24/7.

Details need to be worked out on when and how prisoners booked by Glenwood police would be brought to the Homewood lock-up. Wiederhold said a lot of that would depend on the availability of the lock-up at Markham Courthouse, where most prisoners end up.

Burnson, who said he dealt with a similar situation when he was police chief in Matteson and they took in prisoners from Olympia Fields, said he needed to talk with Glenwood police "to see how many custodial arrests they make and other information."

The two villages will be getting together in the next couple of weeks to hammer out an intergovernmental agreement on the matter.

Wiederhold, who said he sees the need for using Homewood's jail as a long-term situation, was unsure when the program would begin.

"The sooner the better," he said. "The longer we operate the way we are, the longer we're spending money we don't have."