FAIRMONT– The Martin County Board of Commissioners on Tuesday heard from Chief Deputy Corey Klanderud of the Martin County Sheriff’s Office about the department’s takeover of policing services for the city of Truman.

In the fall of 2024, the Truman City Council voted 4-1 to dissolve its municipal police department and instead go with the county for policing services at the annual cost of $181,999.96 in 2025. The county later approved the request.

On Tuesday, the board approved Joshua Nelson as a full-time deputy with the sheriff’s office with a Feb. 24 start date. Commissioner Richard Koons said that it came with the recommendation of the personnel committee.

Nelson has most recently been a full-time officer with the Fairmont Police Department since 2017.

Klanderud made it clear that the position was added to help support the contract between the county and Truman but that Nelson wouldn’t be specially assigned to the contract.

“Right now one of our full-time deputies is fulfilling the duties in the city of Truman and the current plan is that we’ll be rotating a few people through there to learn the community so that we don’t just have one person with the knowledge of the area,” Klanderud said.

He said Nelson will be trained on how to handle anything throughout the whole county.

Commissioner Billeye Rabbe asked whether other cities could be expected to dissolve their departments and turn to the county for services.

“Statewide it’s been happening more and more over the years,” Klanderud said. “We’ve talked with other communities in our county about the possibility and unfortunately law enforcement is an expensive line item for lots of government agencies so we’re trying to do it as economical as we can, but we can’t lose money on it either.”

He said it’s possible that other communities in the county may look at it as an option in the future but that it comes down to what can be afforded by them.

“The city of Truman decided that it was in their best interest to have us do it instead of trying to maintain their own law enforcement agency,” Klandered said.

He added that it will be fairly easy for the sheriff’s office to take it over, too, because on the administrative side things are already in place and personnel can step in to help.

Klanderud said the personnel committee has also talked about the potential for other cities to request policing services and have come up with a standard rate.

“If any other community is looking at it we can tell them what our costs are and what we can do for them and they need to decide from there,” he said.

Rabbe asked to clarify whether the sheriff’s office would be offering the same amount of services as the municipal department was offering in Truman. Klanderud said that a patrol sergeant would be attending Truman City Council meetings to hear concerns and that together administrative staff will address issues.

County Attorney Taylor McGowan added that communities can ask for however much coverage they want and that Truman asked for the equivalent of a full-time officer.

Klanderud shared that the sheriff’s office has also entered into a contract with Northrop, which had previously been covered by the Truman Police Department. However, it’s only 10 hours of coverage a week and can be handled by current staff.

After Klanderud explained the current situation, Commissioner Richard Koons said that this was not the first time a city in the county reached out about the potential of sheriff’s office coverage, but that it was the first time it worked out on both ends.

“We’ve actually met with pretty much all communities throughout the county…we have unofficial contracts with Dunnell, Ceylon and Granada to do city ordinance stuff on an hourly basis,” Klanderud said.

He said there’s not dedicated patrol time in those communities but that Northrop and Truman have specifically contracted for a certain amount of dedicated service.

In other business:

— Jen Kahler, of Kinship of Martin County provided up update to the board on the county-wide mentorship program.

— The board approved the Solid Waste Collection and Recycle Transportation licenses for 2025.

— The board heard an initial report by Cashvest.

— The board appointed Tom Lytle and James Kloeckner to the Martin County Economic Development Authority (EDA) Board and Fairmont City Council Member Britney Kawecki to the library board.

— The board set a public hearing time and date of 10 a.m. on Feb. 18 for the proposed ordinance regulating the use of cannabis derived products in public places.

— The board approved a flat fee agreement of $6,000 for advice and consultation on zoning issues from Squires, Waldspurger & Mace P.A.

— The board accepted the retirement resignation of Julie Walters, Executive Administrative Assistant, effective June 30 and authorized recruitment to fill the position.

–The board approved tax abatement to Cade Ekstrom for construction of a new single family home in the city of Truman.

— The board set a public hearing time and date of 10 a.m. on Feb. 18 to consider a tax abatement request from Richard and Jennifer Behne for construction of a single family home in Sherburn.

— The board set a public hearing time and date of 10:10 a.m. on Feb. 18 to consider a tax abatement request from Levi and Morgan Ringnell for construction of a single family home in Sherburn.

— The board set the meeting time and date of 6:30 p.m. on June 17 for the County Board of Equalization.

— The board accepted a total of $5,193 in donations to the Martin County Library system.

— Commissioner Richard Koons presented a proposal on behalf of the Martin County Veteran Committee for a new statue that will depict an injured solider being tended to by a MASH nurse. The board gave its blessing for the committee to pursue fundraising for it.