Demanding Accountability

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1yr. Reprieve on
Justice Money
How the Sheriff is planning
for the Future

By US~Observer Staff

Recently, the US~Observer had the opportunity to sit down with Sheriff Gil Gilbertson and talk with him about the vote-down of the levy, the 1 year extension of 80% of O&C funds, and the direction he wants to take the sheriff's department and how he plans to get it there.

Straight from the Sheriff:

“The federal government passed a one year extension, at I believe 80%, and they are still working to get this [O&C] program reimplemented, but the reality is that probably won't happen. The way I look at this is that we have a one year reprieve. My concern, now, is that I save money, spend better, and generate as much revenue as possible over this year so if we have to go back to the public to ask for more money it won't be near as much. I'm in hopes that we can generate enough revenue this year to show that we are taking a positive step forward. I don't work for the commissioners or the county [officials], I work for the people and I will do the best job I can with what I have to give people faith that we are worth funding, should we need it.

Having said that, I need to come up with some ways to make and save money. The money we got [the 1yr. extension on the O&C funds] doesn't give the sheriff's department what I'd like to have for this county to be safe. I figure that would take a staff of 122 people. In the year 2000 there was 118 on staff, and now we are down to 88 positions available. So, we can't supply the level of services that we should and that people really deserve here.

To this end, I am pursuing several options to meet the needs of the people.

First, a financial committee. I'm putting together a team of volunteers that I'm going to turn loose to dig in to the finances of the sheriff's department. I want to know where every penny goes - how it's been spent. I want to know what the past practices have been. I want to know the formulas they use to divide things up. The system now is set-up so I can't save money. I can't streamline ... I'm here to support law enforcement. My job is to work for the public. I want to make a more efficient law enforcement agency. For instance, originally I talked about moving [the sheriff’s administrative offices] to the jail because we have the room. If we leave we still have to pay for the empty space [back to the County in the form of rent on the courthouse office space]. So, the current system is set-up so I can't get ahead. I can't streamline, because somebody has to pay for the system. This team will provide me the financial information I need in order to organize, task and prioritize, and move forward. They will also evaluate me, reporting it to the public - something I talked about in the campaign. Even the top guy has to be held responsible.

Second, a Justice of the Peace. There is a local benefactor who is donating the costs to research a Justice of the Peace program. What a JP program does is allows for the money generated through fines to be kept within the county. Currently, the majority of the funds goes to the state and it's slipping through our fingers. But, I want people to know I don't want to turn into a ticket-writing county. Doing road patrols does more than cite speeders it keeps our roads safe from drunk and reckless drivers, burglars who use vehicles in their robberies, and drug dealers who transport their illegal merchandise, and also allows us to respond to traffic accidents. It just so happens that the byproduct of doing these needed patrols is added revenue. We will not have quotas for ticket writing. Having a JP program just makes sense and I'll hear back from the lawyers within two weeks on where we stand and I think we can get it operational within six months.

Third, matching funds. I have individuals who want to donate money straight to the sheriff's department and I have gone to the county council to see if we can set-up a non-profit and to see if we can accept these donations. That money would then sit in a special fund where we could go look for grant money that requires matching funds and double the value of that money sitting in that special fund. This money wouldn't be coming from the taxpayers, but rather benefactors who want to help this community.

Fourth, grants. I have brought on-board a full-time grant writer with a proven track record of securing grants, plus we have two others helping. There is a lot of federal monies out there and if there is any possible way we can get it, we're going to go for it.

Fifth, seizures. We get 40% of the seizure value. We recently did a seizure of over a a million dollars, so we've got almost $500,000 coming. I want to go after all kinds of seizures and we now have a drug dog. We're going to start doing drug interdiction on vehicles. People transport drugs and money. So, if we go after them, not only are we providing needed security for the public, but we are creating added revenue for the department.

We are currently down fourteen positions and we're going to hire these people as quickly as we can to fill our 88 spots to better provide services to the public. You're going to see some changes in the department.

We need to remain positive and go after everything we can to make this a better community. That's what I signed-on to do, and that's exactly what I'm going to do.” --Gil Gilbertson

If you have any questions, ideas, or would like to volunteer your time or services contact the sheriff's department at 541-474-5123.

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