Committee reviews jail bookings, animal-control incidents and approves February vouchers

The Price County Law Enforcement Committee reviewed operational reports on March 9, noting recent jail bookings, animal-control incident counts and increases in civil-process and open-records requests, then approved the month’s vouchers.

Minutes show jail bookings from Jan. 1 through March 6, 2026 totaled 72, compared with 638 bookings in 2025 and 556 in 2024. The Sheriff's Office also reported 14,463 incoming and outgoing calls logged by 'Higher Ground' for the same period, totaling 76,215 minutes with an average call duration of 5.3 minutes. Staff noted a year-over-year increase in civil-process and open-records requests (385 civil-process requests and 323 open-records requests in 2025; 321 and 196 respectively in 2024).

Animal-control activity was summarized: from Jan. 1 through March 6, 2026 the Sheriff's Office recorded 434 total law incidents, of which 42 were animal-control incidents. The committee also discussed enforcement authority for wake-boat rules under the recreation officer item; the minutes record discussion but no formal directive.

The committee approved February 2026 vouchers on a motion by Robert Kopisch, seconded by Joe Baratka. The minutes itemizes $91,016.93 for Law Enforcement and $13,711.03 for the Clerk of Courts, Coroner and District Attorney, for a combined total of $104,727.96. The motion carried; the minutes do not include a roll-call tally. Earlier in the meeting the committee recorded that a public notice for coroner recruitment had been posted Feb. 23, 2026 and that applications were accepted through March 6, 2026; an interim employee is covering the coroner role until the fall 2026 election.

The committee set its next meeting for April 9, 2026 and adjourned at 9:42 a.m. The minutes were submitted by County Clerk Meredith Hueckman.