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Sheriff’s Office continues push for county drug investigator
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By Charlie Warner
Argus News Editor
Drug dealers are a lot like rats in a grainery. When a cat moves in, the rats move on to another grainery. Surrounding counties have been working hard to fight drug trafficking, and the rats have moved into Houston County. That, in a nutshell, is what County Sheriff Doug Ely and Chief Deputy Scott Yeiter told the Houston County Board during the March 18 board meeting.
“La Crosse has really stepped up the pressure, and many of the dealers are moving across the river,” Yeiter explained. “We’re seeing more problems here all the time. The nickname for Houston County is ‘The Refuge.’ I don’t think I need to explain what that means.”
Ely and Yeiter presented the board with a proposed job description for a county investigator/drug officer, who could work with the Southeast Minnesota Drug Task Force, and drug task forces in Wisconsin and Iowa. The Sheriff’s Office has had an investigator’s position for many years, but not a position with the primary focus on stopping the ever-increasing problem of drug production and trafficking in the county. Houston County is the only county participating in the SE Minnesota Drug Task Force that does not have a drug investigator.
Ely explained that his staff has reviewed similar job descriptions in neighboring counties to develop the one that was presented to the county board for their review. The officer would be assigned full time with the drug task force, but would also help with investigating major crimes in the county.
“The investigator would report to us, and we would assign the duties,” Ely said. “But the major thrust of the position would be drug investigation.”
“There are a lot of problems in society right now, with our economy, high gas prices, lost jobs. And many people are turning to alcohol and drugs,” Yeiter noted. “But substance abuse brings other problems- robberies, assaults, DUI’s, domestic problems. It all goes together.”
Following the board meeting, Ely said he was able to juggle his 2008 budget to allow for an additional person in his department without increasing his budget.
“We really had to do some drastic trimming of other things to make room for a drug officer,” Ely said. “But we were able to do it. The money is there, it’s been budgeted. But Ann (Commissioner Ann Thompson) wanted a job description to review first. That’s why we brought it before the board.”
Due to the extremely tight budget situation, precipitated by the August 2007 floods, the county board issued a 90-day freeze on any new staffing and/or county purchases this past winter. That 90-day freeze is about to expire. And Ely feels it is very important to move forward with the drug officer.
The county board did not take any action on the issue, but will review the job description and re-visit it at the March 25 meeting.
Enforcing road bans
The spring road bans are in effect and Yeiter told the board the Sheriff’s Office will be working very hard to enforce the weight restrictions.
“Our county roads are in tough shape, and they’ll only get worse this spring if we allow overweight loads running on them,” Yeiter said.
The Sheriff’s Office has $5,000 in the budget for truck weight and safety inspections. They will be utilizing the services of Tim Irvin, who is certified to operate the vehicle scale, and will be setting up inspection stops throughout the county.
“Milk trucks had been exempt in the past, but not this year,” Yeiter warned. “The Governor had signed an exemption each winter in the past. But he didn’t this year. So milk trucks will have to follow the weight restrictions too.”
You can contact Charlie Warner at
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