Contract confusion puts local sheriff services in flux

Less than a month to sort out the specifics

The Mt. Crested Butte law enforcement agreement with the Gunnison County Sheriff’s Department expires in less than a month. Currently, the town receives $112,000 annually from the Sheriff’s Department to take the lead law enforcement role in the north end of the valley, and to offset the cost of operations that fall under the sheriff’s jurisdiction.

All parties involved, including the Sheriff’s Department and Mt. Crested Butte’s Police Department, admitted that they didn’t realize until recently that the three-year agreement was expiring this month, and by then Gunnison County had finalized its budget; negotiating for additional funds for 2010 was not possible. The county asked to extend the agreement one year.
During the December 1 Mt. Crested Butte Town Council meeting, the councilmembers heard from Mt. Crested Butte Town Manager Joe Fitzpatrick and Mt. Crested Butte Police Chief Hank Smith, both of whom recommended extending the current contract for one more year.
“I think there’s no question it’s best for the public to continue this,” said councilman Gary Keiser. “But I don’t think we should move [on approving the contract extension] until we meet with the county commissioners.”
That meeting is not yet scheduled.
According to Fitzpatrick, the cost to the town is roughly $181,000, which puts the deficit at about $70,000. Because of the contract time-crunch, Fitzpatrick suggested the town not make any drastic changes, saying, “We’re recommending the extension and will work more thoroughly with the county to get compensated for what it really costs the town.”
Smith and Gunnison County Sheriff Rick Murdie agree that the best option at this point is to renew the contract for one year at the current $112,000 amount, and spend the next year re-evaluating the costs before locking in a new three-year agreement before the end of 2010.
Smith said the collaboration benefits the town as much as the county. “I think most people don’t have a clue what we do, and that includes most of you,” Smith said, addressing the council.
“One of the biggest functions we serve [as sheriffs] in the winter is keeping Gothic Road [CR 317] open—on bad weather days in the winter we probably avoid 10 incidents a day,” Smith explained. “We stop people with tires spinning; we’ll physically turn cars around and tell them not to come back. Once it closes, it takes two, three, even four officers to get it back open.
“I think there were 122 ambulance calls to the ski area clinic last year,” Smith continued. “I don’t want to venture a guess at how many would be stuck if the road were closed. During bad weather, it takes two full-time officers just to keep the road open. If we don’t do that stuff, the quality of life will change dramatically.”
Smith added, “We provide a lot of other services in the county that are crucial—investigating ticket fraud, helping ski patrol search for lost skiers, doing background checks and fingerprinting ski patrol, and signing off on explosives permits.”
Murdie, who has been sheriff for 23 years, says the current county and Mt. Crested Butte relationship works both ways, with Mt. Crested Butte’s seven officers helping to shoulder the workload of law enforcement at the north end of the valley. “It’s been in effect since I’ve been the sheriff,” he said. “It works well for us, having additional manpower in the north end of the valley. The officers are there and working; it’s just a matter of a radio call.”
Murdie added that Mt. Crested Butte benefits because they get more versatile, skilled officers as a result of the partnership. “It expands their overall knowledge of law enforcement within the county and Mt. Crested Butte, and makes them more well-rounded because they get involved with things they wouldn’t get involved in otherwise, like search-and-rescue and fires.”
If Mt. Crested Butte doesn’t renew the contract, then the Sheriff’s Department will need to allocate additional officers to cover the area north of Round Mountain. They currently have 13 full-time officers and one part-timer.
“We would have to scramble and figure out how to put the manpower in place to cover the north end of the valley,” Murdie said. “It all depends what the board up there wants—you just never know what folks want. In these tough times, it’s hard to get contracts in place that benefit both sides.”
“Joe [Fitzpatrick] asked me how many fewer officers we could work with, if the contract wasn’t renewed. My answer is, we need another 10!” Smith said, laughing. “We’re doing it with six right now and it’s marginal.”
Mt. Crested Butte employs seven officers, but one was injured on the job, and the department has been operating shorthanded while he recovers.
The council tabled the discussion until the next meeting, scheduled for Tuesday, December 15. They hope to meet with the commissioners before then. Needless to say, they’ll come to a decision before the end of the year.