Middleton council authorizes trial code-enforcement specialist in police department

The Middleton City Council on March 19 authorized the mayor to implement a comprehensive code-enforcement program within the Middleton Police Department and to hire a code-enforcement specialist, with a trial-period staffing window proposed from May through September.

The measure, moved and seconded during the meeting, passed after discussion of startup costs and staffing details. Mayor Jackie Hutchison presided over the vote. Council members said the council would fund initial start-up and payroll costs from discretionary funds and consider the full annual cost in the next budget cycle.

The council heard a presentation from a police department team about responsibilities and costs. Miss Hawks, speaking for the department, described the specialist’s duties as “ensuring compliance with our local laws and regulations as they relate to property maintenance, animal control, building codes. They conduct inspections. They investigate complaints. They educate the community on the code requirements.” Sergeant Robert supplemented the explanation of training requirements and operational details.

Officials said the position would be non‑peace‑officer in most cases (no POST/post‑certification), but would be under the police department umbrella, able to issue civil citations and request officer backup if a situation escalated. Councilman Chris Chastell asked whether the specialist would be a fully trained officer; staff responded the specialist would not have arrest powers and would not be POST‑certified, but would wear uniform and radio and could request officer assistance when needed.

City staff presented the cost breakdown: one‑time start‑up expenses (equipment, shared vehicle use, uniforms, tools) of about $14,708 (payroll excluded), incremental payroll from May through September of $32,006, and an estimated ongoing annual cost of roughly $74,075 to be included in next year’s budget. Council members discussed using discretionary funds to cover the immediate start‑up and partial payroll costs as a trial, then evaluating program outcomes during the budget process.

Council members asked staff to track program metrics during the trial period, including calls handled and citations issued, so councilors could evaluate return on investment before committing to the recurring annual expense. Sergeant Robert and department staff confirmed calls and dispositions are tracked in the department’s records system and can be reported to the council.

The motion authorized the mayor to implement the program and hire the specialist and included a requirement that the police chief provide program review and periodic data updates to the council as the trial proceeds.

Council members who spoke in support described the hire as a way to free sworn officers for higher‑priority policing, to respond more consistently to recurring nuisance complaints and property‑maintenance issues, and to potentially generate civil fines when violations are escalated.

The council directed staff to return budget and performance updates during the summer budget workshops to determine whether to include the full annual cost in the fiscal 2026 budget.