Law Enforcement


DATE: January 12, 2006

The regular meeting of the Sauk County Law Enforcement Committee was held on Thursday, January 12, 2006, at 9:30 A.M., in the Community Room, D102A, 1300 Lange Court, Baraboo, Wisconsin.

The meeting was properly posted and all interested parties were notified.

Members Present: Fordham, Carlson, Sinklair, Montgomery

Members Excused: Tollaksen

Members Absent:

Others Present: W. Schneider, Sauk County Humane Society; R. Meister; J. Spencer; R. Stammen; J. Prantner; B. Hinze; B. Manning; Press

  1. Call To Order and Certification of Open Meeting Law: The meeting was called to order and compliance with the Open Meeting Law was certified by Chair Charles Montgomery at 9:30 A.M.
  2. Agenda: Motion by Carlson, seconded by Montgomery, to adopt the agenda.
    Motion carried unanimously.
  3. Leave for Extended Tour of the Sauk County Law Enforcement Center, Sauk County Jail, Sauk County Huber Center, Sauk County Annex and Sauk County Coroner's Office:
  4. Gather in Community Room for Lunch: The committee was served lunch by Foodservice Director Tim Beatty. The meals and portions were identical to the lunches being served to the inmates in the Sauk County Jail and Huber Center on this date.
  5. At 1 PM Begin Business Portion of Meeting:
  6. Approve Minutes of Regular Meeting Held December 8, 2005: Motion by Fordham, seconded by Sinklair, to approve the minutes of the regular Law Enforcement Committee meeting held on Thursday, December 8, 2005.
    Motion carried unanimously.
  7. Communications:
    1. Two letters from the Department of Corrections

      Sheriff Stammen summarized a letter from the Department of Corrections regarding payment for the Probation and Parole Holds. The Department of Corrections paid $36.28 per day per inmate. Sauk County's allocation for the year was $54,238.60.

      Marty Ordinens from the Wisconsin Department of Corrections wrote to Sheriff Stammen reporting that the plans for the Court Holding Area in a portion of what used to be the Sauk County Jail on the third floor of the Historical Courthouse were approved under Department of Corrections requirements.

    2. Letter from Ron Nora

      Retired Deputy Ron Nora wrote to Sheriff Stammen to commend Deputy Joel Vodak, Detective Kim Wasilewski and Lt. Kevin Fults for their efforts, tenacity and dedication in an incident which they investigated for Nora.

    3. Sheriff Stammen handed out copies of the Annual Jail Inspection report which he had received from Jail Inspector Bob Lee recently. The results of the inspection were very favorable. Lee reiterated in this report, as he has in the past, the need for an Assistant Jail Administrator to take some of the work load off Captain Hafemann. Sheriff Stammen said he has favored this idea since the opening of the new facility. The duties and responsibilities continue to expand and it's too much for one administrator to effectively cover.

      County Board Chair William Wenzel received a copy of Lee's report also and Fordham said he had placed a copy in each of the County Board Supervisors' mailboxes.

  8. Appearances:
    1. Sauk County Animal Shelter Operations Update

      Sauk County Animal Shelter Director Wendy Schneider said they're planning the annual dog walk for May, 2006. The dog walk is the primary fundraiser for the Shelter. She asked if Sauk County's police K9's could do some demonstrations at the event and said a number of informational features and demonstrations will be offered during the course of the fund raiser.

      The 2005 final statistics were presented. Overall bite cases were down as compared to the 2004 numbers. There were more animals coming into the Shelter in 2005 than in 2004, 609 as compared to 537. The animals outgoing was 47 less in 2005 than in 2004, but the number of animals that were euthanized was reduced from 520 animals in 2004 to 165 in 2005.

      Committee person Art Carlson said a dog park has opened in Spring Green and Schneider said plans are underway for a dog park on Hwy A, north of Baraboo. Chief Deputy Prantner said that the 2006 budget process for the Animal Shelter should include a budget request for expansion. Schneider agreed they're very short of space.

  9. Review and Approval of December, 2005, and January, 2006, bills for the Coroner and Sheriff's Department: Coroner Hinze reported that at the end of November, she was still within her budget but wasn't sure what the final results would show once all the December bills are in. The high number of autopsies and the drastic increase in fuel costs have both been a factor in increased expenses in 2005. She further reported that as of this date, she's already had four death cases in 2006 that required an autopsy.

    A motion by Carlson, with a second by Sinklair, to approve payment of the Coroner's December, 2005, expenses in the amount of $4,110.01.
    Motion carried unanimously.

    The Sheriff's December, 2005, and January, 2006, expenses were reviewed.

    Motion by Fordham, seconded by Sinklair, to approve payment of the Sheriff's December, 2005, bills in the amount of $94,869.13 and the January, 2006, bills in the amount of $13,096.10.
    Motion carried unanimously.

    Sheriff Stammen told the committee that a 2005 Donation Report had been prepared for the Finance Committee. Donations of money, equipment, training and services totaling $124,565 were received in 2005.

    The committee was further informed that due to revenues exceeding projected amounts, such as housing out-of-county inmates, and unspent monies in salary accounts due to position vacancies there should be money left in the overall Sheriff's budget for 2005. The combined total is expected to be approximately $280,000.

    A total of $1,119,704 was collected for housing out-of-county inmates in 2005. An additional $15,363 was collected for reimbursement of medical expenses.

  10. Consideration and Approval of Resolution Commending Paul W. Hefty for Over Twenty Seven Years of Faithful Service to the People of Sauk County: Detective Paul Hefty will be retiring on February 12, 2006.

    Motion by Sinklair, seconded by Carlson, to approve the resolution Commending Paul W. Hefty for Over Twenty Seven Years of Faithful Service to the People of Sauk County, and to take the resolution to the Sauk County Board of Supervisors at the January 17th, 2006, meeting.
    Motion carried unanimously.

  11. Consideration and Approval of Resolution Commending Margaret Tourdot Danner for Over Seventeen Years of Faithful Service to the People of Sauk County: Clerk, and former Telecommunicator, Danner retired on January 3rd, 2006.

    Motion by Sinklair, seconded by Fordham, to approve the resolution Commending Margaret Tourdot Danner for Over Seventeen Years of Faithful Service to the People of Sauk County, and to take the resolution to the Sauk County Board of Supervisors at the January 17th, 2006, meeting.
    Motion carried unanimously.

  12. Consideration of Bids and Resolution Authorizing Purchase of Eight 2006 Ford Police Package Squad Cars: Three bids were received for the 2006 squad car purchase.

    Glacier Valley Ford Mercury of Baraboo bid eight 2006 Ford Crown Victoria squad cars for a total cost, after trade of eight used squad cars, of $141,900 which is $17,737.50 per vehicle.

    Kayser Ford of Sauk City & Madison also bid. They were awarded the 2006 state bid for Ford Crown Victoria squad cars at a cost per unit of $20,475. The state bid price for eight 2006 Ford Crown Victoria cars is $163,800. Kayser's trade allowance for the eight used squad cars was $21,900, leaving a balance of $141,900 or $17,737.50 per vehicle. This is the same per unit cost as the bid from Glacier Valley Ford Mercury.

    Koenecke Ford Mercury of Reedsburg sent the third and final bid. Their bid was a total of $162,940 for eight 2006 Ford Crown Victoria cars, less a trade allowance of $18,650, for a balance of $144,290. This comes to $18,036.25 per squad.

    Motion by Fordham, seconded by Carlson, to accept the bid of Glacier Valley Ford Mercury of Baraboo for the purchase of eight Ford Crown Victoria cars for a cost after trade of $141,900, and to approve a resolution Authorizing Purchase of Eight 2006 Ford Police Package Squad Cars and to take the resolution to the Sauk County Board of Supervisors at the January 17th, 2006, meeting.
    Motion carried unanimously.

  13. Possible closed session pursuant to Wis. Stats. s. 19.85(1)(f), consideration of financial, medical, social or personal histories or disciplinary data for specific person, preliminary consideration of specific personnel problems or the investigation of charges against specific persons except here par. (b) applies, which if discussed in public would have a substantial adverse effect upon the reputation of any person referred to in such histories or data, or involved with such problems or investigations: Motion by Sinklair, seconded by Carlson, to go into closed session.

    Motion carried unanimously.

  14. Reconvene in Open Session: Motion by Montgomery, seconded by Carlson, to return to open session. Motion carried unanimously. No action resulted from the closed session.
  15. Sheriff's Report:
    1. Jail Report

      The out-of-county housing revenues for December were $70,951.42.

      As of today's date there are 246 persons in custody either in the jail, Huber Center or on electronic monitoring, both Sauk County inmates and inmates from other counties.

      There have been some changes in the inmate meal plans, primarily the elimination of pork and pork products. They have been replaced by chicken products. The calorie count remains the same.

      The electronic monitoring report for November was:

      $6,407.35 collected
      $2,321.42 paid for lease of equipment
      $4,085.93 balance

      The electronic monitoring report for December was:

      $6,122.28 collected
      $2,205.50 paid for lease of equipment
      $3,916.78 balance

    2. Communication Center Report

      There was nothing to report under the Communication Center.

    3. Field Services Report

      Sauk County will again be applying for Highway Safety grants in 2006. The terms of the grants seem to be less restrictive than they were last year.

      The annual boat patrol report has been turned in. There were 338 hours of boat patrol done on the County's lakes and rivers in 2005. A total of 36 citations were issued.

      The Sauk County Dive Team was called out the previous week for a missing male in the City of Reedsburg. The body of the missing person was discovered in the water at Webb Park within approximately 10 minutes after the team began the search.

      There were 103 transports in December, bringing the year's total to 1,424.

      Sheriff Stammen told the committee that the LaCrosse County Non secure Unit for holding juveniles has been closed. There's some discussion of closing the secure detention portion. This will require Sauk County to transport juveniles to other locations.

    4. Administration Report

      November overtime was 1,218 paid hours and 265 hours of compensatory time, for a total of 1,483 hours. Included in those statistics are 111.75 hours of supervisory overtime; 65.75 were holiday hours, 16.5 hours of overtime paid in lieu of ordering in a union employee after all eligible union employees declined to work the overtime, 16 hours for team callouts or training, and 13 hours for investigative purposes.

      One Triple III report was received in December. Detective Eric Miller's squad car received a chipped windshield.

  16. Adjourn To Date Specified: The next regular meeting will be held on Monday, February 13, 2006, at 9:30 AM.

    Motion by Carlson, seconded by Sinklair, to adjourn the meeting.
    Motion carried unanimously.

Respectfully Submitted: Joan Fordham, Secretary