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Daniels County commissioners weigh public‑safety commission as they review Scobey interlocal law‑enforcement agreement
Summary
Commissioners reviewed the county’s interlocal law‑enforcement agreement with the City of Scobey and discussed creating a public safety commission to give the sheriff more day‑to‑day authority over expenditures while leaving budget oversight to city and county appointees. Concerns centered on accountability, payroll and continuing general‑fund support.
A Daniels County meeting to review the interlocal law‑enforcement agreement with the City of Scobey opened with staff presenting an updated inventory and the contract for commissioners to review.
A county staff member (speaker label S9) described an idea the county has discussed in relation to the public‑safety mill levy: creating a public safety commission composed of two county appointees, two city appointees and the sheriff as the fifth member who would preside. S9 said the commission could allow the sheriff more authority over expenditures and suggested the arrangement could help retain deputies by enabling incremental pay adjustments or other incentives without immediately changing statutory pay schedules for sheriffs and under‑sheriffs.
Commissioners questioned how oversight and fiscal responsibilities would change if the sheriff’s office moved to a commission model. One commissioner raised whether the county would continue providing general‑fund support if the sheriff’s office were to operate through a separate commission and asked who would pay payroll and bills under that governance structure. Commissioners also flagged the need for a current inventory of equipment and whether assets previously held by the city — including handguns and vehicles — were properly transferred to the county.
Staff said the interlocal agreement can be renewed or terminated with 60 days’ notice and that creating a public safety commission would require parallel action by both the county and the city. No final decisions were made; staff said they would circulate an updated interlocal agreement for review and bring a more concrete proposal back to the board in the coming months.
“The public safety commission is something I’ll be bringing to you guys eventually,” S9 said, urging commissioners to think of hard questions and reservations before the next presentation.
The board took no immediate formal action changing governance; they instructed staff to circulate a revised interlocal agreement and to gather the city’s input.
