CROWN POINT | The Lake County sheriff and commissioners president exchanged verbal broadsides Monday over who is responsible for a $1.8 million no-bid contract to provide health care to jail inmates.

"The sheriff initiated and orchestrated this no-bid contract, not the commissioners," Commissioner Gerry Scheub, D-Schererville, said. "He is spinning this to make us look like the bad guys because this is election time. This is aimed at me to get me out of office."

Sheriff Rogelio "Roy" Dominguez said that criticism "relies on Gerry's conveniently faulty memory of what occurred last year. And what happened last year has nothing to do with the vote commissioners took two weeks ago."

The two are feuding over a contract first awarded last year to Med-Staff Inc., of Hobart, owned by the family of former Hobart Mayor Robert Malizzo.

Commissioners voted March 19 to forgo putting that contract up for competitive bidding and granted Med-Staff an additional year for another $1.8 million.

The sheriff objected, claiming commissioners violated the state Open Door law by failing to give advance notice of their vote to extend Med-Staff's contract.

Commissioners Scheub and Fran DuPey, D-Hammond, agreed last week to rescind their votes next month and reopen the contract to all bidders.

Scheub complains the sheriff maneuvered commissioners into "a trick bag" last year by forcing out Southlake Center for Mental Health, which had provided medical and mental health care to jail inmates for 15 years. Scheub said that created an emergency and two out of three commissioners voted to resolve it by bringing in Med-Staff.

"I voted against it," Scheub said. However, he said he voted in favor of Malizzo earlier this month because Med-Staff has performed well. "Even the sheriff is saying that Malizzo is doing a good job," Scheub said.

The sheriff said the old relationship with Southlake was a no-bid contract that only ended when he objected to Southlake's terms.