By Sara StrongThe Rock County Board Tuesday elected Commissioner Bob Jarchow as chairman. After that, the board had its regular meeting.The county is following a South Dakota bill that could allow Rock County residents to be committed to facilities across state lines. Minnesota allows doctors or a court judge to commit people to mental treatment facilities across its borders, but the partnering law wasn’t in place in South Dakota, so it’s not done.Now, treatment facilities in Worthington or Willmar are often inadequate or full, and jails can’t handle all of the cases even when a crime has taken place.Until the legislation is passed, people can commit themselves voluntarily, but that means they can also check out on their own. With the bill in place, they can be ordered to a facility, most likely in Sioux Falls.Family Services Director Randy Ehlers said, "Some of these incidents take up a lot of time for law enforcement personnel especially."The Board of Commissioners is sending a letter of support to South Dakota lawmakers.In other business, Tuesday the board:oReviewed snow routes with County Engineer Mark Sehr. He said that five or six plows are on the road at once when they are needed to clear roads. Each driver takes care of 37 to 42 miles of a route. That means they actually cover double that number of miles because they do both sides of the road. Sometimes, they are required to repeat a road.They start as early as 6 a.m. from the main garage in Luverne, and move outward from there.County Administrator Kyle Oldre said the system works well for the county, because of seasoned workers in a department with little turnover, and because of good equipment. oDecided to pursue setting up a program for living snow fences to help with ground drifting over key spots on local roads.
