Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Public Safety topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Council directs staff to develop town-owned mounted-unit program with sponsorship model
Summary
After presentations from police leadership, the Jackson Town Council directed staff to draft policies and a program to transition to town-owned mounted patrol horses funded primarily through sponsorships and Friends of the Mounted Unit support, while asking staff for detailed cost estimates and safeguards for sponsor selection.
The Jackson Town Council directed staff to develop a program and related policies to revise the sworn mounted patrol unit to include acquisition, housing, care and operational use of town-owned horses, with the intent of preserving the mounted program without adding ongoing town budget obligations.
Chief Weber told the council the mounted unit faces a structural challenge: the department currently has only two sworn mounted officers — he and a lieutenant — and both are eligible for retirement. "Without sworn officers to provide oversight, training and accountability, a volunteer-only mounted unit is not viable," Weber said. He proposed a sponsorship-driven model under which sponsors would fund horse acquisition and recurring maintenance costs while a nonprofit partner, Friends of the Mounted Unit, would coordinate fundraising.
Lieutenant Rushdorf (mountain-unit training lead) described the mounted program’s history and community role, saying volunteers and sworn officers have formed a long-standing community policing resource. He emphasized the unit’s work in traffic and crowd control and its value as an "icebreaker" to engage residents and visitors.
Councilors asked for costs and operational detail. Chief Weber estimated acquiring a horse can range from donated animals to as much as $25,000, with annual maintenance roughly $5,000 per horse. Staff said they would seek sponsors with tiered support levels (for example $5,000, $10,000 or $20,000+) and that Friends of the Mounted Unit is already positioned to expand support. Councilors asked about reputational risks from sponsorships and requested a legal review and due-diligence criteria for potential sponsors.
Council direction was procedural: staff should draft policies and cost estimates, evaluate facility and training needs (including where staffing and training time would come from), and return with a program proposal. The motion to direct staff passed unanimously.
Next steps identified include creating draft policies governing sponsorships and sponsor vetting, producing detailed cost and facility estimates, and evaluating training schedules and potential impacts on sworn staffing and patrol duties.
