Jan. 7—GRAND FORKS — The Grand Forks County Commission on Tuesday voted to form a committee to study a potential merger of the jail and sheriff’s departments.
Commissioner Mark Rustad brought the issue to the commission as a potential
way for the county to save money and streamline duplicative processes.
Last week, he told the Herald that his goal is to prevent a tax increase he believes is inevitable if significant changes aren’t made to reconcile a county budget that’s been stretched thin. Rustad said the county’s current financial state spread thin, especially with
the Grand Forks County Correctional Center expansion project.
“(It) really never should have been built in the first place,” Rustad said last week. “But we need to figure out a way to make lemonade out of lemons.”
While his original proposal to immediately begin a consolidation was withdrawn during Tuesday’s meeting of the County Commission, the county will begin to look into the possibilities of a merger. Rustad was given the lead in forming the committee and determining its membership.
The commission did approve Rustad’s second motion to enter into negotiations with the state for behavioral health services at the Grand Forks County Correctional Facility. In general, many on the commission want more information on any departmental merger before going forward with Rustad’s first motion.
“I think this is a big move and I think there should be some sort of cost assessment first to determine if there will be, in fact, a cost savings,” Commissioner Bob Rost said. “I think it’s premature at this point to change the operation of the jail before we have all the facts.”
Rustad responded by saying that the consolidation would put Grand Forks in line with many other counties in North Dakota.
“I have a hard time even fathoming that a consolidation would not save significant money,” Rustad said. “That’s why I think we should do the assessment and that’s why I bring it up.”
Typically, jail facilities are the purview of county sheriffs in North Dakota as laid out in the state’s Century Code. According to Grand Forks County State’s Attorney Haley Wamstad’s research she shared with the commission, the county has been operating the jail and sheriff as two separate departments for more than 40 years.
In 1983, the jail and sheriff’s departments were split following reports of issues with the condition of inmate housing, food and treatment of inmates, with attorneys sending letters to the county to investigate the matter. At the time, then-Grand Forks County State’s Attorney Jim Odegaard asked the North Dakota attorney general for an opinion on splitting the departments, which was given the go-ahead.
However, in 2005, when Burleigh County made a similar request to the attorney general, it was denied as the law had changed.
“So what then-State’s Attorney Peter Welte advised the commission was that it was his legal opinion that the Grand Forks Correctional Center could be considered a regional correctional center based on the contracts that were in place with a number of different municipalities,” Wamstad said.
Additionally, due to the North Dakota “tool chest” laws, which govern how county departments can be combined and structured, there is a long process to consolidate, including public hearings and public publication of plans. There’s also the fact that Grand Forks’ County is now a home rule county, a variable that didn’t exist in previous conversations. Voters in Grand Forks County approved home rule in 2022.
Grand Forks County Correctional Center Administrator Bret Burkholder said he is reviewing the proposals and ways to move forward. Beyond that, he told the Herald he has no comment.
The committee being formed will look at all aspects of any potential consolidation, including costs and legality.
In other news at Tuesday’s meeting, the commission:
* Approved plans to begin publishing its agenda and corresponding documenting material on its website and to begin live-streaming its meetings. Commissioner Terry Bjerke, leading the effort, said that the effort is to increase government transparency and the ability for the public to interact with the county.
* Tabled a discussion on supporting a legislative priority on statewide wastewater standards until it could have more information on the potential ramifications for local control.