Constitution Week Starts Sept. 17

“We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States.”

-- Preamble to the United States Constitution, 1787

On Tuesday, Sept. 8, the Cheyenne County Commissioners signed a proclamation declaring Sept. 17-23 as Constitution Week, and Sept. 17 as Constitution Day. Constitution Day is observed each year on Sept. 17 to commemorate the signing of the Constitution on Sept. 17. 1787.

As part of the celebration of the signing of the Constitution, bells will be rung at 4 p.m. Sept. 17 in recognition of how citizens were notified of the signing of the Constitution. It was signed by delegates attending the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, Penn. The first constitution, the Articles of Confederation, were ratified in 1781. Under the Articles of Confederation, the United States had no president or judicial branch, and was comprised of a single legislature, the Congress of the Confederation. It was a time when the states were as a loose confederacy of independent countries, limiting Congress' power because it had no authority to enforce laws on the states.

This week, the United States celebrates the signing of the Constitution, which also includes the Bill of Rights.

In other business, the commissioners approved the 2020-2021 budget. The budget shows an increase in restricted funds by 1 percent, and reduces the mill levy from .407655 to .406727. Commissioner Phil Sanders said the county has reduced the mill levy for six years in a row.

“What we're trying to do is lead by example,” commissioner Randy Miller said.

Cheyenne County's operating budget for 2019 was $12,286,870, and $19,106,438.84 for 2020. The budget approved for 2021 is $14,852.801.30.

The board also approved petty cash funds and approved official inventories.

Tuesday was also the introduction for the new look of the commissioners' meeting room. Prior to the Sept. 8 meeting, the commissioners' room accommodated the three commissioners and county clerk facing a few chairs with guests seated behind a table. Since then, two partitions have been removed, opening two small rooms to one larger room. The work was done by Buildings and Grounds Superintendent Tom Payne.

A broken pipe led to emergency repair at the courthouse and the loss of historic documents. County Assessor Melody Keller reported a sewer pipe in the basement broke recently, causing irreparable damage to historic documents kept in a vault in the basement. Keller stressed the damaged documents are not legal documents, but rather historic records.

“We have all the required documents we are supposed to have,” she said.

The board also met with Sheriff Adam Frerichs regarding a new communication system. The new system will be a video kiosk. Inmates will be charged 20 cents per minute.

“We started looking at it pretty hard this year, especially when we found out what it would cost us,” Frerichs said.

Frerichs added calls are monitored for content.

“If anything inappropriate happens, the call is terminated immediately,” he said.