(Juneau) The Dodge Count Sheriff’s Office announced they will be returning budgeted funds to the county. Sheriff Dale Schmidt discussed his 2017 Office Annual Report at this week’s meeting of the County Board of Supervisors. Schmidt says an estimated $315,000 will go back into the general fund. He says his office works hard to not outspend what the county sets as their budget and focus heavily on being fiscally responsible throughout the year. Schmidt also credited fundraising efforts and developing relations with federal partners as the reason they were able to return the funds.
Another topic that Schmidt covered was his department’s Most Wanted program which aims to resolve outstanding warrants throughout the county. He says since its implementation three years ago, the program has had a 75-percent success rate. He says there are roughly 700 to 800 warrants at any given time in Dodge County, each with their own victims and people who wish to see them resolved. Schmidt says without going out an actively pursuing these individuals the cases will never be resolved. Of the 120 individuals listed on the sheriff’s website in 2017, 104 were apprehended. In 2016, 87 out of the 120 were taken into custody. In 2015, 59 individuals were arrested out of 90 that were listed.