Justice Committee approves sheriff's shooting-range, airport response agreements and emergency Taser appropriation

McLean County's Justice Committee on Feb. 5 approved three Sheriff's Office items that the sheriff said support officer training and response capabilities, and authorized an emergency appropriation tied to a grant for less-lethal equipment.

The committee approved an intergovernmental agreement with the City of Bloomington for use of the Bloomington Police shooting range, an intergovernmental agreement to provide law-enforcement response at the Wilmington Normal Airport Authority, and an emergency appropriation ordinance amending the county's 2025 budget to buy Tasers funded largely through a grant.

"This is our yearly contract with City of Bloomington to use their shooting range. We do not have one of our own, so we contract with them to use theirs for certain amount of dates per year," Sheriff Lane said during the meeting, describing quarterly firearms training that most staff attend at the Bloomington range. The committee approved the range agreement on a motion by Member Reeves, seconded by Member Mendoza.

On the airport agreement, Sheriff Lane said the county had previously assigned two deputies to the airport but pulled them back to patrol. The proposed intergovernmental agreement would provide a framework for the airport authority to request a law-enforcement response and to make facilities available for training or a substation if the county chose to locate one there. "They needed us to try to respond within 15 minutes," Lane said. The committee approved that agreement on a motion by Member Hanson, seconded by Member Reeves.

The committee also approved an emergency appropriation ordinance so the Sheriff's Office could purchase five Tasers awarded through a grant. "We were awarded the grant. We get five, Taser model Taser tens out of this grant, which equals about $20,000 or about. We are responsible for a quarter of that. We have to pay the whole thing, and then we're reimbursed for three quarters of it," Lane said. He told the committee the county would pay the full cost up front, be reimbursed about $15,000, and carry a roughly $5,000 net cost. Member Burns moved the appropriation; Member Ziebart seconded.

Committee members asked no substantive questions on the three items. Each motion passed with the ayes prevailing.

Votes at a glance

- Consent agenda: Approval of minutes from the Jan. 8 regular meeting and Dec. 12, 2024 stand-up meeting, and approval of bills totaling $707,039. Motion by Member Reeves; second by Member Hanson; outcome: approved (ayes).

- 4B1A: Intergovernmental agreement with the City of Bloomington for use of the police shooting range. Motion by Member Reeves; second by Member Mendoza; outcome: approved (ayes).

- 4B1B: Emergency appropriation ordinance amending McLean County FY2025 combined annual appropriation and budget ordinance for the Sheriff's Department to purchase five Tasers under a grant; county share approximately $5,000. Motion by Member Burns; second by Member Ziebart; outcome: approved (ayes).

- 4B1C: Intergovernmental agreement for law-enforcement services with the Wilmington Normal Airport Authority to provide response and potential training/substation use. Motion by Member Hanson; second by Member Reeves; outcome: approved (ayes).

What this means

Committee approval lets the Sheriff's Office continue to use Bloomington's shooting range for required quarterly training, establishes a formal response agreement with the airport authority to meet a 15-minute response expectation cited by the sheriff, and authorizes county spending to acquire Tasers that will be reimbursed mostly by the grant. No follow-up reports or additional funding sources were discussed during the meeting.

The Sheriff's monthly statistical report and other departmental notes were included in the committee packet; the sheriff had no additional items to add at the meeting.