Geary County officials are reviewing the possibility of making penalties for illegal burning and burn permit violations tougher.

Ben Bennett, Geary County Commission chair, said so far the County’s legal counsel has received two replies on this topic from other counties. “Counties that have referenced back to him…one was Smith County which charges a $250 fine, and the other was Morris County, which charges a $500 fine for that type of activity. But he’s still working on that and looking at what we might be able to do in the future.”

There have been problems with grass fires this month which have required responses by rural firefighters and costs affiliated with that.