Agreement Made For Poplar Law Enforcement
After a break of about three years, Roosevelt County is entering a new contract with Poplar to provide law enforcement.
During 2020, it was agreed to not renew the contract between the sheriff’s office and the City of Poplar. The sheriff’s office had worked under a contract with Poplar since about 2014. The Fort Peck Tribes Department of Law and Justice took over the contract after 2020.
During the Roosevelt County Commissioners’ meeting on Tuesday, May 28, Commissioner Gordon Oelkers said Poplar paid $200,000 at one point and that amount was later reduced to $140,000. The current contract calls for a fee of $140,000.
“Our sheriff renegotiated with Poplar again,” Oelkers said.
The contract, which runs from June 30, 2024, to June 30, 2025, calls for the county to provide 10 hours per day of general law enforcement services. The county sheriff serves as Poplar’s chief of police under the agreement.
Commissioners unanimously approved the agreement.
An interlocal law enforcement agreement with the Town of Culbertson was also approved.
In the agreement, the county will provide a minimum of 12.5 hours of law enforcement in Culbertson during a week. Culbertson will pay an annual fee of $50,000 in 2024, $57,500 in 2025, $64,572 in 2026 and $64,572 in 2027.
“There again, they are there for most of those hours,” Oelkers said of law enforcement. “They patrol all the towns well.”
The county is still working on law enforcement agreements with Bainville and Froid.
Commissioners wrote a letter of support for the Fort Peck Assiniboine and Sioux Tribes’ application to the crisis diversion grant program.
The letter included, “Last year, to better serve our population and build an effective system for responding to the behavioral health crisis in our community, we began collaborative efforts with the tribes towards building a crisis diversion framework in partnership with the Fort Peck and Roosevelt County Health Department and with funding through Montana Healthcare Foundation. This opportunity has provided our community with a crisis coalition, a crisis coalition coordinator, a SIM map of our resources, and development of a strategic plan for improving our current continuum of care for individuals in crisis. We plan to maintain contribution toward this work by providing in-kind support, where and when available and necessary.”
Commissioners approved a bid of $19.74 per delivered meal from Northeast Montana Health Service for the home-delivered meal program for Wolf Point and Poplar.
Commissioners approved the cancellation of real property taxes and personal property taxes delinquent for five years or more.
Julia Weed was hired to work for the weed district.
