Cracking down on crime
County to add deputies, detectives
By SUZANNE WERRE
BHG News Service
McLean County will have to dig into its own pocket to help pay the salaries of two new law enforcement officers after county commissioners approved advertising for two full-time deputies.
A portion of the expense for the two new deputies will be recouped using monies from an oil-impact grant. That grant will pay for $46,000 of each of the deputies’ salaries for 18 months.
At their meeting this past week, commissioners noted the grant monies won’t cover the yearly salary or include any benefits, so it will be up to the county to make up the difference.
Hoping to be able to garner more oil-impact funds, commissioners OK’d applying for a grant that would allow the county to hire two detectives, one for narcotics and one for criminal investigation. If awarded to the county, the grant funds would cover 15 months’ salary for the two detectives.
In other law enforcement business, the commission voted to advertise for the full-time jailer position in-house, and will advertise in local newspapers for the part-time position that is needed.
In other business, the commission:
• Approved a permit request from Reservation Telephone to bore under eight crossings in the Emmet area for the installation of fiber optics. A permit to bore underneath county road #8 by Lakeview Estates was also granted.
• Approved a request from West River Telecommunications to bore underneath county road #27 near Turtle Lake.
