Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Law Enforcement Agreement

Lee County Sheriff Jim Sholl
Lee County Sheriff Jim Sholl

The Lee County Sheriff’s Office is ready to provide additional coverage to Montrose on a temporary basis.

The Lee County Board of Supervisors has signed off on a 28E agreement between the county, sheriff’s office and the city for law enforcement services.

The deal runs from March 14, 2012 to March 13, 2013.

Montrose has been without a police chief since Karl Judd resigned to join the Fort Madison Police Department.  The city’s two reserve officers also resigned around the same time as Judd.

Sheriff Jim Sholl says this one-year agreement is not meant to be permanent.  He says it is designed to give Montrose enough time to hire a police chief or enter a more formal contract with the sheriff’s office.

Sholl says the 28E agreement requires the sheriff’s office to respond to law enforcement needs while a contract would provide for a set amount of time a deputy must spend within city limits.

The Montrose City Council agreed to the same agreement just hours after the supervisors did.

The city will pay Lee County $30,000 for the one year of service.

Sholl says there has been a similar agreement in place with West Point for four years.

He says that arrangement was never intended to last that long, so the city has been told to hire a police chief or sign an official contract by June 30.

Sholl says there is an opportunity for the two cities to work together in the hiring of a police chief.  Montrose is accepting applications for the post.

Jason Parrott is a former reporter at Tri States Public Radio.