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Truman votes to go with county for police services

ABOVE: The Truman City Council on Monday decided to contract with the Martin County Sheriff’s Office for police services.

TRUMAN–In a special meeting on Monday the Truman City Council contemplated the future of its municipal police department. The council has been discussing the matter for over a year and after an hour of heartfelt conversation, it decided to pursue entering into a contract with the Martin County Sheriff’s Office for police services.

When former police chief, Justin Jobe, left for another opportunity in April of 2023, Michael Schutz, who had been an officer within the department, began to fill the role on an interim basis. However, some issues have come up since then, including contract negotiations and the inability to find an additional officer for the department.

On Monday Mayor Jake Ebert said he and Council Member Brian Nickerson had met earlier in the day to talk with Schutz and that he and Council Member Chris Mosloski had a conversation with the Martin County Sheriff’s Office last week about the department taking over police services for Truman. The possibility was also talked about at the council’s last regular meeting on Sept. 16.

A large portion of the meeting on Monday was sharing numbers.

Ebert said Schutz had asked to bump up to $40.32 per hour at the start of the new year and that right now he’s at $38.22, but that Ebert looked at the national average of Cost of Living increase, which is 3.2 percent, and said that Schutz wants that added in 2026 and 2027.

Ebert said the city would also need to order a new squad car in 2026 as per the replacement schedule so some money, at least $15,000 per year, needs to be kept in the budget for that.

“A lot of law enforcement places have been going to pickups I think because of availability reasons,” Ebert said, explaining that they may need to budget for more money.

He said that right now the council has $189,554 in police service budgeted for 2024.

The council figures that right now Schutz is working 208 days a year with four 10 hour shifts a week. Considering some vacation hours, the city is getting 1,588 hours of service, with 208 hours of service going to Northrop as per a contract between the two cities for police services.

The council also went over the time Schutz is spent on call and driving between his home and the city of Truman, which is allowed.

“This is stuff we talked to him about today so he knows we would be talking about this,” Ebert said.

He shared that right now the city is getting $11,000 from the city of Northrop. In total, considering fines and Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA), the cost to the city for police services is $167,554, including money budgeted for the squad car and the aforementioned hours worked. Ebert said that equals $105.51 per hour for Truman.

Next, he shared some figures he received in talking to the county. Several salary ranges were shared and Ebert said, assuming they receive the highest-paid deputy, the total cost to Truman would be $181,999.96 in 2025.

“That’s worst-case scenario,” Ebert said.

Council Member Patti Truax asked if that number included overtime and Ebert said it does account for 80 hours of overtime.

Ebert also pointed out that the amount from the sheriff’s department includes administrative fees, overhead expenses, equipment, training and legal fees. All said and done he said it equals $87.49 per hour of service.

“By sheer numbers, to me standing here, it’s a no-brainer, but it’s a hard decision for everyone,” said Ebert.

Truax asked what the hours of the sheriff’s office in Truman would be. Ebert said they would also be 10 hours a day four days a week.

“Truman will have its own deputy,” Ebert said.

He said that when the deputy goes on vacation, someone else from the sheriff’s office will cover so Truman will never go without 2,080 hours of service in a year.

The council acknowledged the severity of the decision and Ebert said, “I’ve had citizens on both sides talk to me.”

He went on to say that he understands citizens want their own police department and that he believes Schutz does a good job.

Mosloski chimed in and said the three main issues are the hours of service and what will happen if Schutz retires or is out for an injury.

In talking more about Schutz’s salary, several council members agreed it wasn’t just the salary, but the additional costs that comes with the department but Council Member Ron Kelley also said that he did not feel like Schutz was cooperating with them.

“It’s not for a lack of trying… it’s been a year and a half in the process and we thought things would go slowly and they’ve gone anything but smoothly. It’s been a battle every three months,” Mosloski said.

Truax questioned what would happen if other small communities turn to the county for services and Ebert said that Truman would be the first city in the county with a full contract, though Dunnell, Granada and Ceylon have partial contracts.

Kelley added that the county is already filling in some gaps and helping the city of Truman.

Mosloski said the only thing that would change would be the color of the uniform and Truax interjected and said, ‘I know that’s what they say.’

She expressed some other doubts and asked how dedicated the deputy would be to Truman when other issues in the county come up. Ebert pointed out that Granada and Fairmont have a dedicated School Resource Officer and that they would still need to leave in the case of a bigger emergency.

On that note Mosloski said they mentioned the idea of the deputy going through Truman Public Schools once in a while while on duty.

He acknowledged that change would be hard but that people would get used to it in time.

“Once it’s disbanded it’s going to be really hard to get it back,” Truax said of the local department.

Ebert said he understood that a lot of residents were worried about the coverage but said that Truman is actually guaranteed 500 more hours of service (minus vacation time and service to Northrop) with the county.

“As a citizen, having our own police department is like having a fall safety net, so to speak, and I’m sure that’s how a lot of people feel. To me it’s a safety net… having an officer who knows you and knows people… as a citizen, that’s what I’m thinking,” Truax said.

Ebert said he understood and that it was nothing personal against Schutz, which other council members agreed with.

“The (county) knows the inner workings of this county better than Mike does. Mike might know this little town, but the county knows what comes in and out of here. They’re a team and they know what’s going on,” Ebert said.

Mosloski agreed and reiterated that change is hard but that the decision comes down to coverage and dollars.

“There’s strong points on both sides,” Truax said.

“It all comes down to what’s best for the majority. That’s what we always work on,” Nickerson said.

Ebert said he believes it comes down to a, worst case, $14,000 difference for 500 hours more of service.

Mosloski made a motion to go forward with pursuing a contract with the Martin County Sheriff’s Office. Following the motion, more conversation took place but ultimately the council approved the motion on a 4-1 vote, with Truax opposed, contingent on city attorney approval of the contract, which was drafted by the county attorney.

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