Sheriff presents Cass County Sheriff's Office 2024 activity report to commission

Sheriff Johnner delivered the Cass County Sheriff's Office 2024 operations report, summarizing calls for service, jail statistics, training and multi-agency task-force activity. The presentation was informational; no commission action was required.

The sheriff said the office handled approximately 48,300 calls for service in 2024, up from about 28,300 in 2022. The rise reflected increased civil-process paperwork and a temporary surge in coverage following an officer-involved shooting in 2023, the sheriff said. The presentation covered patrol staffing, school resource deputies (funded partly by participating school districts and partly by the county), K-9 activity, the county's Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) participation, the drug task force, Metro Area Street Crimes Unit, the U.S. Marshal fugitive task force and regional assets including SWAT and bomb squad participation.

Sheriff Johnner highlighted training investments, use of body-worn cameras in managing complaints, and the county's investment in a crime-scene vehicle and forensic training that he said improved investigative capacity. He also presented jail metrics: average daily population in 2024 of roughly 320 inmates with a capacity cited at 348, notes on intakes and transports, and the county's arrangement to have access to other counties for housing inmates if necessary.

Commissioners asked questions about jail housing, contracted city deputies (noting Horace and Castleton contracts), and the sheriff's community engagement programs; the sheriff said staff would provide a printed report to commissioners.

Ending: The commission received the report for information and requested printed copies of the presentation for review.