(Juneau) After multiple attempts by the Dodge County Sheriff, the county board Tuesday night approved changing a detective’s position on the drug-task force into a sergeant’s position, however additional staffing requests were left unaddressed.
The position change within the drug-task force was first brought to the board in April, but it was tabled pending an operational analysis of the sheriff’s department. The Matrix Consulting Group presented that report to the board last month which recommended the detective’s position change. The report said that a sergeant supervising the drug unit is vital.
However, the board last month once again tabled the vote until they could go through the report in more detail. During last night’s meeting, Supervisor Jeff Berres made a motion – which failed – to hold off on making any position changes until January. His reasoning was to wait until the county’s External Audit Committee finished reviewing the Matrix report, which would not likely be done until early next year.
After the sergeant’s position was approved, Sheriff Dale Schmidt also brought several other position changes for county board approval. However, in order to bring the items up for a vote, the county board needed to suspend Rule 37, which states that any position that will be included in the upcoming county budget must be approved by August.
Supervisor Donna Maly made a motion to suspend Rule 37, which required a two-thirds majority for passage, or 20 out of the 33 supervisors in attendance. The motion fell two votes short. While the sheriff would have to wait until next year, a county board supervisor could still bring the position changes to the floor again during the budget process.
