County facing transitionary period with turnover
The walls for the replacement jail are starting to sprout from the ground, and construction crews are working to get the building’s frame put into place as the weather starts to turn cold. (Steve Van Kooten/Courier Press)
Throughout the fall, Crawford County experienced significant employee turnover. At the same time, the county is still attempting to establish a new administrative position to help provide oversight for the county.
At the November supervisors meeting, Brad Steiner reported that the county had openings in the Agriculture Extension, sheriff’s office, Aging and Disability Resource Center and the Department of Health and Human Services.
The county also lost their fair coordinator and has yet to find a replacement for Jim Hackett, the county’s former Director of Emergency Management.
Another personnel hurdle is a transition team for the replacement jail.
With the jail project in the midst of construction, the county will need dedicated workers to move services to the new building. The county anticipates using the new jail facility by 2027; however, the transition team will be needed well before they start filling the cells.
“Once the walls and everything are up and they start working on the inside, then we have to have a transition team,” McCullick said.
He added that the transition team could fill other needs when not working on the jail project.
“We’re always short on baliffs, or maybe they could do a transport to Winnebego,” he said.
According to Hackett, who still works in a “consulting” capacity with Crawford County, the county has two Community-Oriented Policing Services (COPS) grants. The sheriff suggested those grants could be used to hire staff needed for the transition but also noted that the decision would come from the county’s public safety, personnel and finance committees.
COPS grants are competitive federal awards that law enforcement agencies can use to reduce the cost of hiring new officers. The grant pays half of an officer’s salary and fringe benefits for three years. Each grant requires the agency (in this case the Crawford County Sheriff’s Department) to match the remaining cost. The grant will pay up to $125,000 over the three-year period. The agency is obligated to retain that position for one year after the grant sunsets.
Crawford County has utilized COPS grants in the past for personnel, including the emergency management department’s specialist, Marc Myhre.
Investigator position
This past year, the county used another grant to hire an investigator for the sheriff’s department, which is currently Joe Breezer.
At the county’s November public safety meeting, Hackett said the investigator’s goal was to “concentrate on narcotics problem areas within the county.”
According to data provided by Hackett, the investigator has helped reduce problem areas throughout the county. The data also attributed the seizure of 3.5 pounds of methamphetamine, 80.6 grams of cocaine, 52.3 grams of fentanyl/heroin, 2.9 pounds of marijuana, $34,000 in recovered stolen property and two firearms associated with drug trafficking to the investigator’s work.
The investigator was involved with 183 investigations, 236 criminal charge filings, 13 federal drug-related charges through the Wstern District Federal Court, 131 issued search warrants, six resident searches and 205 interviews.
The investigator also works with crisis intervention and sensitive crimes and is part of the Wisconsin Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force.
