rock county
By Lori SorensonApril 24, 2026Rock County officials are working fervently on damage control today after they learned a county email has been hijacked by scammers. According to Rock County Administrator Kyle Oldre, a township official called Auditor-Treasurer Ashley Kurtz this afternoon questioning an email he had received from her office. It requested election information and instructed him to reply. He instead called Kurtz…
By Nicole RonchettiApril 15, 2026The property values for 2026-27 are out for Rock County, and while the value of most of the area remains relatively steady, the townships of Springwater and Beaver Creek saw sharp decreases. Rachel Jacobs, director of the Rock County Land Records Office, presented numbers during the Rock County Board meeting on April 7. Springwater Township saw a 32% decrease in property values, and Beaver…
By Nicole RonchettiApril 15, 2026The number of expansions and new permits for feedlots in Rock County is remaining steady, though the numbers still haven’t recovered to pre-pandemic levels. Brandon Bosch, from the Rock County Soil and Water Conservation District, provided an annual report on feedlots to the Rock County Board during its April 7 meeting. The report shared that the county has approximately 610 feedlots,…
By Lori SorensonMarch 18, 2026A culvert in Judicial Ditch No. 2 will be replaced with a larger one, despite pushback from landowners downstream. That’s according to a March 3 Rock County Board decision based on engineers’ recommendations and a hydrologic study. The decision comes after a Feb. 3 public hearing about upgrading a 60-inch culvert under 221st Street in Rose Dell Township with a 72-inch culvert. The current…
By Nicole RonchettiMarch 11, 2026Rock County and local governments nationwide could soon face increased costs as unfunded mandates in the federal HR1, known as the “One Big Beautiful Bill” go into effect. During their regular March 3 meeting, Rock County commissioners heard an annual report from Southwest Health and Human Services, which administers social services and public health programs for Lincoln, Lyon, Murray,…- February 25, 2026Feb. 11 •Complainant on Main Street reported a fire call. •Complainant on Evergreen Drive reported a scam. •Complainant on S. Summit Avenue in Hills reported fraud/forgery/counterfeit. •An outage was reported. •An outage was reported. •Complainant on US Highway 75 at mile marker 9 reported a pedestrian. •Rock County Sheriff’s Department assisted another department on 51st Street near…
By Lori SorensonFebruary 25, 2026At their Tuesday, Feb. 17, meeting, Rock County commissioners unanimously approved an ordinance to remain a shotgun-only deer hunting county. The ordinance was unanimously approved following a public hearing that morning when several local people weighed in on the issue. Trae Davis, for example, said he supported rifles over shotguns because hunters can be more precise with a rifle than a…
By Lori SorensonFebruary 25, 2026Rock County Commissioner Greg Burger has resigned from his seat on the County Board, effective Feb. 28. He made the announcement at the Tuesday, Feb. 17, regular board meeting when commissioners accepted his resignation “with regret.” In his official resignation letter to the board, Burger said it has been “an honor and privilege to serve the county citizens” during these past nine years. He…- By Mavis FodnessFebruary 11, 2026County commissioners tabled a decision to improve water flow in Judicial Ditch No. 2 after downstream landowners questioned the impact during a Feb. 3 public hearing. Commissioners will resume discussions at their Tuesday, March 3, meeting. Six farmers addressed commissioners Feb. 3 during the 30-minute hearing. Discussions centered on upgrading a 60-inch culvert under 221st Street in Rose…
By Lori SorensonFebruary 11, 2026The Rock County’s 2026 precinct caucuses drew relatively large crowds Tuesday, Feb. 3, with both the Republican and DFL parties reporting over 70 in attendance. Local Republicans gathered in the Luverne High School-Middle commons, and the Rock County DFL group were in the Generations Events Center. Precinct caucuses are the initial first steps for voters to engage in the political process.…- By Mavis FodnessFebruary 04, 2026More improvements are coming to the Rock County Fairgrounds after Rock County Commissioners approved no-interest loan to the Rock County Ag Society on Jan. 20. The $161,090 loan, to be paid over 10 years, will be used to improve two buildings and replace aging sidewalks this year at the fairgrounds located on South Freeman Avenue in Luverne. Ag society member Lee Sells requested the loan to…
- By Mavis FodnessJanuary 14, 2026Rock County will not follow state law allowing rifles to be used during the November deer hunting season. Only shotguns will be permitted if commissioners adopt an ordinance opting out of the state law that went into effect Jan. 1. A public hearing is scheduled for 9 a.m. Tuesday, Feb. 17, before commissioners will make a final decision. At their Jan. 6 meeting, commissioners unanimously…
- By Mavis FodnessDecember 30, 2025Commissioners approved pay increases for county employees at their last meeting of 2025 on Dec. 16. The increases take effect Jan. 1. Most of the increases follow the 3-percent cost of living increase approved for the Rock County Highway Department union employees. The recently negotiated three-year union contract for 2026-28 provides for increases of 3 percent, 4 percent and 5 percent…
By Betty Mann, Rock County HistorianDecember 30, 2025The following article is part of the Diamond Club Member group and it appeared in The Rock County Herald on Jan. 22, 1942. The fear of contracting one of the most dreaded of diseases, human cholera, was one of the many experiences in the life of Ernest Kiebach, Sr., of this city. The fear was even greater under the circumstances, than it would have been under ordinary conditions, for he,…- By Mavis FodnessDecember 23, 2025Anticipated increases in human services costs prompted Rock County Commissioners to certify the 2026 levy at a 5-percent increase over the current levy for taxes payable in 2026. The levy will increase by $373,192 to $7.835 million, which is nearly half of the county’s overall budget of $16.1 million. In September, commissioners approved a preliminary levy increase of 5 percent hoping to…
By Lori SorensonDecember 17, 2025Rock County’s Soil and Water Conservation District earned prestigious statewide recognition during the Minnesota Association of Soil and Water Conservation Districts annual conference in Bloomington on Dec. 1-3. The Minnesota Drinking Water Protection Award is a joint recognition of the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) and Minnesota Rural Water Association (MRWA). This is the first year the…
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