Dissolving Hoschton Police Dept.

HOSCHTON - Hoschton city officials are putting the final touches on disbanding the city's police department.

The Jackson County Sheriff's Office will be taking over law enforcement duties in Hoschton after the city council voted last week to dissolve the police department.

It's a cost-cutting move, city officials say, that should save about $360,000 a year. The municipal court system is also going away.

A budget adoped by the Hoschton City Council cuts spending this year by about half. The city staff in Hoschton is now two-thirds what it was just two years ago.

Open police cases will be transferred to the sheriff's office and court cases will be handled in Jackson County State Court.