The county commission approved a one-year, renewable school resource deputy agreement with the Clever School District during its July 28 meeting, the board said.

The agreement, presented by Sheriff Cole, would convert two officers currently assigned to the school from municipal status to county deputies. “They will be commissioned as deputies, and the school will pay their salary and benefits,” Sheriff Cole said during the meeting. Commissioners voted in favor of the agreement after a brief discussion.

The nut of the agreement is operational: the two officers submitted resumes, completed background checks and qualified for county commissioning, Sheriff Cole said. He told commissioners the agreement mirrors arrangements in other districts, naming Ozark, Billings, Pineville and Spokane as having similar contracts. The contract term discussed at the meeting is one year with annual renewal.

Commissioners and staff raised only administrative questions during the discussion. One commissioner said they had not seen a signed copy of the agreement in their packet; another noted the signed version available by email bore Austin Sachs’s signature. In response, staff agreed to print a final copy, obtain the required original signatures and deliver the signed document to the sheriff’s office. “We’ll get the good copy. We’ll get it signed today. We’ll call your office and let people know,” Presiding Commissioner Lynn Morris said.

The approval followed a consent-agenda vote earlier in the meeting in which commissioners approved the day’s items. Commissioners Johnny Williams, Bradley Jackson and Lynn Morris were present for the roll call and the subsequent votes.

Discussion items that were noted but did not change the formal action included that the school district will be responsible for the officers’ pay and benefits and that the officers had passed the county hiring and background procedures. No statute, ordinance or state policy was cited during the discussion on the record.

The commission’s action was limited to approving the agreement; staff were directed to finalize signatures and distribute the fully executed copy to the sheriff’s office and the district. No further operational or oversight details were adopted at the meeting.