May 21, 2024 |
Photo – Vandalism in Medicine Bow – Courtesy Justin George
The Medicine Bow town council agrees to sell three patrol vehicles and rifles from its defunct marshal’s department to the Carbon County Sheriff’s Office. In exchange, the county will provide the town with police patrols.
In February, citing budget deficiencies, the Medicine Bow town council chose to close its marshal’s department. The department was created in 2019 using $1 million of impact assistance funding. With roughly $200,000 left in its account, the town decided to shutter the marshal’s office and use the remaining money for infrastructure projects.
The town is now sitting on several pieces of unneeded equipment, such as patrol vehicles, weapons, and ammunition. Carbon County Sheriff Alex Bakken has expressed interest in purchasing some of the items.
During the May 13th town council meeting, Medicine Bow Mayor Justin George said he offered to sell the sheriff three patrol vehicles and three rifles for $100,000.
Mayor George said he asked the county to pay for half of the sale in cash and the other half with a memorandum of understanding to have the sheriff’s department patrol the town for 50 hours a month for one year.
Both, the towns of Hanna and Riverside, have MOUs requiring sheriff’s deputies to patrol for a set amount of time each month. Mayor George said the county is charging roughly $10,000 for every hour the sheriff spends in town.
At the May 13th Medicine Bow town council meeting, Mayor George said the Board of Carbon County Commissioners rejected his offer to sell the three patrol vehicles and three rifles to the sheriff’s department for $100,000. Instead, the county offered $85,000 in cash or a smaller payment with deputy patrol time included.
Mayor George clarified that the MOU stipulates that the sheriff would need to patrol the town for 30 hours a month for one year.
The mayor said if the council accepts the county’s offer, they need to decide whether to take the $85,000 lump sum or the smaller cash payment with the MOU.
Councilman Trevor Strauch suggested the town take the $85,000 in cash. Councilwoman Kristi Wickizer said they should take the smaller payout with the included MOU and use the year of sheriff patrols to determine if they would like to extend the agreement in the future.
Mayor George questioned if a contract with the sheriff’s office will make the town safer. The mayor referred to a late April incident where a local man vandalized his store, JB’s Stop-N-Shop, as well as Councilwoman Wickizer’s bar, The Old West. The man was arrested by sheriff’s deputies and jailed in Rawlins. However, Mayor George said the man was quickly released by the Carbon County Prosecutor’s Office and transported back to Medicine Bow.
Councilwoman Wickizer said the sale of the marshal’s department equipment will allow them to test out an MOU without having to pay anything out of the town’s budget. Councilman Strauch said if the agreement isn’t effective, the town can simply choose not to renew it next year.
The Medicine Bow town council voted to sell three former marshal’s department vehicles and three rifles to the Carbon County Sheriff’s Office for $85,500. Fifty-five thousand dollars will be presented to the town in cash with the remaining $30,000 being used to pay the sheriff to patrol Medicine Bow for 30 hours a month for one year.
