CAPD offers police patrol coverage to Dorchester

The Dorchester Village Board began to examine alternate options for policing the village after receiving a presentation on what coverage the Colby/Abbotsford police department could potentially provide the village during their regular monthly meeting last Wednesday evening.

The village is currently under a contract with the Clark County Sheriff’s Office that began in 2022. Under this agreement, a deputy sheriff is to be assigned to the village for approximately 70 percent of the number of work hours of a full-time, regularly scheduled deputy, which comes out to approximately 1,532.8 hours per year according to the contract. As such the village is responsible for paying approximately 70 percent of the deputy’s wages, adjusted for how much time the deputy actually spends in the village. The contract operates on a reoccurring basis, automatically extending for a one year term unless either party expresses written desire not to extend the contract before October 1.

However, some board members have expressed interest in looking for other options after their coverage has been cut down over the last several months. According to the contract, the sheriff’s office can adjust the amount of hours that the assigned deputy spends in Dorchester after consultation with the village board, and with the county in the midst of replacing deputies and training new ones, it was requested by the office to pull the assigned deputy to assist with more county-wide duties.

At Wednesday’s meeting, the Colby-Abbotsford police chief Alex Bowman presented what the police department could provide for Dorchester at the request of the board as an alternative option, given some of the complaints they have received from their constituency.

“I reached out to Chief Bowman at Abby-Colby because all I hear about is people complaining because we don’t have a police service,” board trustee Tom Carter said at Wednesday’s meeting.

Bowman offered a proposal that would have Dorchester accounting for 9 percent of the department’s budget. For the upcoming 2026 budget, this number would come out to roughly $97,000 for the year, which would be about $25,000 more than Dorchester’s combined police costs of $71,749 in 2025.

Rather than assigning a specific officer to the village as Clark County has done, the Colby-Abbotsford Police Department would expand their patrols to the area, giving the village approximately 32 hours of coverage per week, patrolling it similarly to how they would Colby or Abbotsford. Bowman noted this may be of potential benefit to the village, as they would have access to the department’s nine fulltime and two part-time officers, which would help continue coverage regardless of an officer’s time off. He also noted that Colby-Abbotsford has a full-time K-9 handler, two school resource officers and a Spanish-speaking officer.

Bowman stated that the Colby-Abbotsford Police Department already responds to emergency calls in the village until the county sheriff’s department arrives, but having regular patrols would help with the enforcement of ordinances and speeding in the village. He also said that the department has officers assigned specifically to handle ordinance enforcement.

Contract language would likely mirror those with the cities of Abbotsford and Colby. Bowman would like to have a three-year contract set up if possible.

The police chief said these figures were just a preliminary proposal based on how much the village was paying for services from the Clark County Sheriff’s Office. Bowman said that he would be more than willing to examine different options if the village believed the cost to be too high over the three-year time span, possibly offering a little less coverage to fit the village’s needs.

“I know obviously it’s a little bit more (cost), but I think if you went with our police department, you’d be getting a little bit more maybe than what you are currently paying for,” Bowman said. “You’re getting our whole police department. If we took you on and added you to our jurisdiction, we’re going to cover you whether we have nine officers or if two of them leave for whatever reason and we only have seven. You’re still going to have your coverage.”

The potential higher costs, especially given the uncertainty of what the price may be in 2027 and 2028, and the fact that Dorchester has already invested in the county’s sheriff’s department, seemed to be potential issues in moving over to the Colby-Abbotsford Police Department.

As part of the current contract, Dorchester paid upfront for 70 percent of the cost for a new squad vehicle and also has budgeted annually for other miscellaneous costs like equipment and supplies.

Lack of communication between the sheriff’s office and the village was noted as an issue with the current contracted services.

“(Clark County Sheriff Kerry Kirn) is a little upset that no one from the village has contacted him about the problems we’ve been having in town,” Carter said at the meeting. “Or contacted someone in the department so that the message could be relayed to him.”

“If the message hasn’t gotten relayed to him, that’s not our problem,” board trustee Clem Klimpke said. “I’ve called several times.”

“We’ve been contacting them,” board trustee Eric Klemetson added. “We were always told we were in the waiting process for training.”

“I know he said he needs to take care of it if that’s the problem,” Carter said. Carter said in his conversation with Sheriff Kirn that the sheriff’s office would have some options for Dorchester. Carter gave an example, saying that Kirn stated to him that there is a parttime deputy that could potentially be placed in Dorchester for 20 hours a week until they get enough officers to cover the village. He also stated that the sheriff had other ideas for the contract that they could hopefully discuss in person.

The board wished to speak with Sheriff Kirn and discuss more specifics from what they would like to see from a contract with the Colby-Abbotsford Police Department before moving any further. The board moved to attempt to set up a special board meeting later in July to accomplish these tasks so that all entities involved would have time to make adjustments to their upcoming 2026 budgets as needed.

Other business

■ Concerns were raised during the public comment section over the increase in scheduled fees issued by the village this year.

Jenny Hinker, who spoke during the public comment, said the greatest concern for her was the rise in annual fees for alcohol operator’s licenses, which went from $10 to $50.

By comparison, operator’s license fees in Colby are $15 for a first time applicant and $5 for a renewal, while they are $25 for both in Abbotsford. Board members said they would reexamine how much the fees were raised.

■ The board decided to table the possible approval of a liquor license for Reese Ewert, D.B.A Badger Boo, LLC at Wednesday’s meeting. Some members of the board expressed concern over what the space is being used for, echoing prior thoughts on the subject. Trustees said they wished to have Ewert appear before the board to explain his intentions for the building.