Sheriff Van Aristol told the Benton County commission on July 21 that the sheriff's office has made headway on staffing and community programs even as changes to state law and facility capacity complicate daily operations.

The sheriff said hires and recruit graduations have steadied patrol and detention ranks: "By the end of the year we hope to have four back done with the academy," he said, and noted several deputies recently began or completed the academy. He reported July concealed-handgun-license processing included 83 transactions (22 new, 49 renewals, eight transfers, four replacements) and one denial.

The report flagged pressure on jail operations. The sheriff said the office averaged 48 people daily across facilities (about 30 at the Benton County Jail, with others held at Norcor and Polk County) and recorded 108 bookings in the month. He emphasized that arrest totals can exceed booking counts because deputies frequently issue field citations rather than transporting every arrestee to the jail.

"We had eight forced early releases for sentenced adults and one forced early release for pretrial," the sheriff said, and added that the jail closed multiple times in July. He told commissioners pretrial services scheduled 595 court appearances in the month with 195 cancellations or reschedules and 247 completed appearances; the sheriff described a roughly 25% failed-appearance rate and said the office will expand use of a release-assistance officer and ankle monitoring to reduce failures to appear.

The sheriff described an operational challenge following Senate Bill 48's July 1 effective date. "Senate Bill 48 went into effect midnight July 1st," he said, explaining the statute divides arrests into three categories that change how and whether suspects are fingerprinted, photographed or held for arraignment. He gave a local example in which a deputy charged criminal mistreatment I (a category-two charge under the sheriff's account) that produced a citation and release despite the sheriff's concern about the seriousness of the conduct. "We're like everybody else ... still trying to work through some of the new stuff," he said.

Sheriff Van Aristol also described Emergency Management and communications work. He said early findings from a Federal Engineering review indicated county radio towers suffer from overgrown trees and aging equipment and that property owners around the Monroe tower have agreed to a 150-foot trimming radius to improve safety and signal quality. "Once we receive the final from Federal Engineering, we'll be in a better position" to estimate costs and next steps, he said.

The sheriff highlighted search-and-rescue deployments, mutual-aid assists to neighboring counties, and a local deputy's life-saving use of an automated external defibrillator (AED). He nominated Deputy Lubbock for a life-saving award after body-camera footage showed the deputy perform compressions and deploy an AED following a traffic-crash medical emergency.

On community engagement, the sheriff recounted record fundraising at a Chili Cook Off (preliminary totals above $15,000) and a backpack program that prepared just over 110 backpacks for local schools and communities. He also summarized a Citizens Academy day that included marine, drone and canine demonstrations and praised staff who organized the sessions.

Votes at a glance: commissioners approved the meeting minutes for July 21, 2022 by voice vote; the record shows the presiding official said "Motion carries" after an aye call.

The commission adjourned at 11:54 a.m.