Wayne County officials describe current sheriff’s firing-range sites and ongoing search for a permanent location

The Wayne County Commission Committee on Ways and Means heard a briefing on the locations and use of the sheriff’s firearms training ranges, with staff describing two active sites and saying the sheriff is pursuing a more permanent long‑term location.

Commissioner Glenn Anderson asked whether the firing range location had moved; Benita Terry, Director of Administration for the Sheriff’s Office, said the sheriff’s office currently uses two ranges: “we use the firing range, Range 313, which is in Lincoln Park, and we use Wayne County Wayne County Airport Authority,” and she located the airport range as “at the airport, off of Wayne Road.”

Terry told the committee the training schedule is split between sites: instructors are at the airport range on Mondays and Fridays, and at Lincoln Park on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. She also said contractors allow deputies to use another firing line for personal use, but that the county’s instructors are contracted only at the two identified ranges.

Chair Kinlak and other commissioners discussed the ongoing search for a long‑term site. Kinlak said the sheriff has been involved in conversations about identifying “a location for the firing range, a long term solution,” and that the county administration is working with the sheriff on the issue.

The item was introduced as part of a request for commission approval of a general fund budget adjustment (2025-35080), but committee members indicated they would “take one motion at the end” and no final vote or tally related to this specific budget adjustment is recorded in the provided transcript.

The committee did not receive public comment on the topic during the meeting.

Committee members asked clarifying questions about past use of a Westland firing‑line location and the contracting relationship for deputies’ personal use; Terry said that the Westland location is not part of the instructors’ contracted sites and that the county’s contract covers the two named ranges. The committee did not adopt a new site or make a formal motion on a long‑term range during this meeting.

Staff and commissioners said discussions will continue; no implementation date or funding breakdown for a permanent range was provided in the transcript.