By Sara Quam
The Rock County Board of Commissioners at its Tuesday meeting gave Sheriff Ron McClure the nod to pursue getting a dog to join the Sheriff's Department.
Cost of a general patrol dog is about $24,000, at last estimate. The cost will be deferred by money from Pipestone veterinarian Gordon Spronk, who pled guilty to making false statements to a federally-insured bank. As part of the plea agreement, he is paying $500,000 to area government bodies, and part of Rock CountyÕs portion is going toward the dog.
The officer who takes in the dog as his working partner and family pet has a large undertaking, but two officers have said they are seriously interested.
The officer who takes the German shepherd has to miss three months of work for training with the dog. That missed time would have to be made up by other officers covering shifts.
The training could begin as early as March.
Newly elected board chair Jane Wildung said, "Hopefully it'll be a benefit to the work you do and serve the county well."
McClure said he looks forward to the dog becoming a part of the department but said sweeping changes won't likely result. "It's a helpful tool, especially for car searches," he said. "We feel the dog will really help us."
New committee
The Rock County Soil and Water Conservation District and the County Board are forming a joint committee to reassess needs that may have come up since the district's formation in 1996.
With John Burgers no longer filling the title of Land Management Director, the joint committee will start looking to fill that position.
The office keeps track of how the staff's time is spent so the committee will have an accurate job description when it comes time to advertise for the director.