Commission approves review of agreement for use of Stutsman County LEC

JAMESTOWN — The Stutsman County Commission unanimously approved on Tuesday, May 16, reviewing the amended joint powers agreement for the use of the law enforcement center between the county and the city of Jamestown.

Commissioner Jerry Bergquist said the joint powers agreement for the use of the Stutsman County Law Enforcement Center was signed Jan. 4, 2005, and hasn’t been reviewed since.

“It’s not a functional document anymore,” he said.

Bergquist said the agreement needs to be rewritten rather than revised. He said many things in the agreement are not being followed and the joint powers agreement needs to be current.

Jessica Alonge, Stutsman County auditor/chief operating officer, said many side agreements via email or other communications related to fees have been made.

“We know there are financial pieces that the way the (joint powers agreement) is written is not how we are operating right now,” she said.

In other business, the county commission unanimously approved a review of the Stutsman County Law Enforcement Center for any remodeling projects to be reviewed and considered.

The Jamestown Police Department is looking for adequate space to meet with sex offenders. Currently, the department does sex offender registrations in an interview room in the basement of the Law Enforcement Center.

Bergquist said discussions have taken place about the Jamestown Police Department wanting to purchase a cubicle for the lobby in the basement or the main floor of the Law Enforcement Center. He said the equipment purchase was moved to the county commission.

He said a fingerprinting machine that needs security was put into the interview room in the basement that the Jamestown Police Department was using for sex offender registrations.

“There has been discussion recently about purchasing a cubicle that could go down in the downstairs lobby or it could potentially go in the upstairs lobby,” Bergquist said. “They need a place that they can meet with these individuals away from the interview room to free that up. If a cubicle is purchased, it needs to have electrical and computer connections because they have to record all of this information on a computer.”

Scott Edinger, Jamestown chief of police, said the interview room on the main floor is too small. He said when there are multiple people, the basement interview room is needed.

“It’s also when you have multiple people being interviewed because if you are trying to run a number of people through one interview room, and you are doing 4, 5, 6-hour interviews, which happens from time to time, that can make it a case that can be very time sensitive that could take a day or two, take weeks,” he said.

Bergquist said the commission should know about other potential projects in the Law Enforcement Center before allowing a cubicle to be installed.

Masaki Ova joined The Jamestown Sun in August 2021 as a reporter. He grew up on a farm near Pingree, N.D. He majored in communications at the University of Jamestown, N.D.