The Mathews County Board of Supervisors voted to pay for a new digital voice recording system for the Sheriff’s Office during its meeting on Dec. 21.

Sheriff Danny Howlett initially requested funds for the equipment at the November board meeting in order to replace existing equipment that has malfunctioned several times recently. Supervisors at that time asked him to come back this month with additional information.

Howlett explained last Tuesday that the new computer-based system has several desirable components, including simple installation that doesn’t require extra wiring, a two-terabyte (1,000 gigabytes) hard drive capacity and equal back-up capacity, e-mail and cell phone notification when there’s a problem with the system, remote repair capabilities, and free replacement if it doesn’t perform as described.

The board approved using a portion of the county’s $25,000 contingency fund for the equipment. Howlett said the company, Secure Technology Engineering, quoted a price of $5,520 for the system.

After a public hearing, supervisors voted unanimously to continue the Friends of the Mathews Memorial Library’s tax-exempt status. The organization had previously been granted a tax exemption for property it owns adjacent to the library, but after a recent reorganization as a non-profit corporation was required by law to have another public hearing on the matter.

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