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Mantua hears options to dissolve municipal police force and contract sheriff or rely on Utah Highway Patrol
Summary
Council heard three policing options: maintain the local department at proposed higher budgets, dissolve police and have the county assume responsibilities noncontractually, or contract the sheriff's office for dedicated deputy hours; staff cited a county contract rate of $92.58 per hour and estimated half-time and full-time annual costs.
Mantua's budget meeting on May 21 included an extensive discussion of policing options after staff presented several possible police department budgets and external agencies described alternative service models.
Samson, summarizing the police presentation, said the department had proposed three budget options for the coming year with the lowest option roughly $337,730 and a top option about $406,441. "Since 2024... the options that we're looking at for this next year, it is anywhere from a 29 to a 55% increase in our budget," Samson said, flagging the recent steep growth in the department's costs.
Utah Highway Patrol coverage: Samson read a letter from the Utah Highway Patrol saying that if Mantua dissolved its municipal police department, UHP would assume primary enforcement on the state highway corridor (the canyon/highway stretches), increase presence during peak commute hours and assist local agencies as needed but could not guarantee a 24/7 trooper in the area.
Sheriff's office presentation: a county representative explained two primary alternatives if the town stopped operating its own police department. In a noncontract model the county would assume responsibility and provide a primarily reactive presence (the presentation cited an average of about 1.6 hours per day of responsive presence, plus proactive patrols). The other model is a contract for guaranteed dedicated hours.
The sheriff's office representative gave a contract rate used for planning: "$92.58 cents an hour," and provided town-cost examples: "If you wanted a half time deputy at 20 hours per week from here, it would... cost the town of Mantua $96,283.20." The presentation said a guaranteed 40-hour/week presence would be about double that amount; presenters cautioned those figures can vary as wages and costs change.
Court and prosecution implications: council members asked about investigative capacity and case processing. Samson and county presenters noted the county would cover prosecution and more complex investigations under county arrangements, and the county attorney's office discussed declination rates and case quality when advising the town on justice-court options.
Council response and next steps: members reserved judgement and asked staff to return with more detailed cost comparisons, including the fiscal effect of continuing the municipal department at different staffing levels versus contracting for deputies or relying primarily on state and county services. No formal decision or vote was recorded at the meeting.
