Identifing meth houses

St. Joseph County Register of Deeds Pattie Bender provided details this week related to the development of a program using a red-flag system to identify meth houses.

During her annual report presented at Tuesday’s county commission meeting, Bender said she and a team of county officials met last year with Three Rivers attorney Pat O’Malley. The focus was to discuss a system whereby houses in which methamphetamine production has taken place are flagged for the benefit of real-estate agents and prospective home buyers.

Bender said the initial meeting took place in February and included deputy register of deeds Jennifer Wall, undersheriff Mark Lillywhite and Three Rivers Fire Chief Dan Tomlinson.

She recently revisited the issue with O’Malley in hopes of moving the process forward.

Bender said in addition to identifying offending properties, the process would include a mechanism to remove the flag when the property is cleaned up.

When the procedure is established, it will likely begin in the city of Three Rivers, Bender said. She expressed optimism that it would eventually include all properties in the county.