County re-establishes K-9 program

McLeod County Sheriff Scott Rehmann asked the McLeod County Board of Commissioners to re-establish a K-9 dog program to help with narcotics detection and patrol tracking at its Tuesday meeting.
The board voted to move forward with a job description for the dog handler. After negotiation with the union, a final proposal will be brought to the board for approval.
The cost for the new K-9 program is estimated to be $13,200 from Performance Kennels in Buffalo for a dog and 14 weeks of narcotics detection and patrol/tracking/
apprehension training. There is still a K-9 fund to cover the cost.
If approved, the training would begin around February  2016. The sheriff’s office would need to budget for additional equipment costs in 2016.
A dog cage would cost about $2,500 and a temperature control system would run between $1,000 to $1,500. The county still owns protective training equipment.
Commissioner Sheldon Nies said he is in strong support of the K-9 unit; however, he adds the county always seemed to have a problem eventually with who has a direct line of responsibility for what the county pays for overtime.
“I sure would like to see a job description so we don’t go through that painful process again,” adds Nies. “I want to see something written well so there are no arguments down the road regarding pay and expenses.”

For more, see the April 1 print edition of The Chronicle.