Posted: 10/16/07
Sheriff Ely hopes 2008 budget will include county drug officer
By Tom Hammell
For the Caledonia Argus
The Houston County Sheriffís Department is crossing its fingers, hoping to hire a full-time drug enforcement deputy.
Sheriff Doug Ely said the department put a request for the position into the budget for next year, but wonít find out until December whether it is approved.
Ely said drugs continue to be a problem in the county.
"We have a lot of problems with methamphetamine, a lot of problems with crack cocaine and marijuana," he said. These problems also lead to related problems from assault to robbery and theft.
"Itís something that has been needed for a long time," Chief Deputy Scott Yeiter said.
He said drug cases are time consuming and the county would benefit from having one person take care of the drug cases. It can take multiple drug buys to make a case.
The Southern Minnesota Narcotics and Gang Task Force, of which Houston County is a member, would provide the deputy with a vehicle, gas and a cell phone to help with enforcement.
Bill Reiland, commander of the Southeast Minnesota Narcotics and Gang Task Force said an officer would help both Houston County and the task force as a whole.
"Theyíre not made in an hour or two or a day," he said. "Theyíre time consuming," he said.
Yeiter said the plan would be to promote an existing officer.
Yeiter said if the position is not approved, the department will need to find a way to make that position full time, even if that means going away from 24 hour staffing.
Ely said it gets harder and harder each year to battle for funding.
"Nobody wants to see their taxes go up, but at the same time, nobody wants to see their kids or relatives exposed to drugs," he said.
Yeiter said that in 2005 when LaCrosse published a list of people involved in the drug trade, he recognized almost half of the 65 people on the list.
"Iíve heard Houston County being referred to as the refuge," he said.
Houston County Commissioner Ann Thompson said the department put the position on the budget after not getting a grant they expected.
"At this point we havenít approved or disapproved the position," she said.
Requests came in at 31 percent over last yearís levy. The board set the levy at 15 percent over last year.
They will need to determine the final budget in December.
"It all boils down to money," Commissioner Dave Corcoran said.
He said all of the agencies come with important requests, it is just up to them to decide which are most important.
"Iíd say it would be high on our priority list," Corcoran said.
Caledonia Argus
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507/724-3475
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