All Jasper County deputies and reserves will likely be getting new tasers next month. The Jasper County Board of Supervisors have tentatively approved the purchase of 35 new tasers from Axon Enterprises of Scottsdale, Arizona. Final Board approval and action on the $167,001 purchase is expected at the December 31st meeting, following a public hearing. Jasper County Sheriff’s Department Lt. Brad Shutts, who is Jasper County’s Sheriff-elect, says the department has been using Axon taser’s for about twenty years. 

“We have really had a good partnership with Axon. They are the same company that makes our body cameras and the cameras in the patrol cars. These tasers integrate with these cameras and automatically turn those cameras on when the tasers are activated.”

Lt. Shutts says the current taser model the Sheriff’s Department is using is ten years old and not manufactured anymore. He adds Axon is giving the department a $49,537 discount. The new tasers would be paid off over 5 years. The first payment of $16,701 would be made this coming January. Then each annual January payment the next four years would be $37,575.22.