Spirit Lake, KCSO talk contracts for police coverage

SPIRIT LAKE — The Spirit Lake City Council met Wednesday and asked the Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office to draft two contracts, without committing to anything until they see the contract language.

Sheriff Bob Norris presented options to supply law enforcement to the city until the Spirit Lake Police Department is fully staffed.

“I feel like the community wants and needs some law enforcement,” Norris said.

One contract will outline payment terms to the KCSO for augmented service in Spirit Lake. Norris offered to provide deputies to the city for 80 hours a week for up to six months, costing the city roughly $157,832.

“You will not be augmenting the sheriff’s budget, whatsoever,” Norris said. “I do believe that is our vision.”

The council members asked Norris to include a clause for “tapered” service. The clause would allow the city to reduce hours as the Spirit Lake Police Department fills staffing vacancies and hires a chief of police.

Spirit Lake currently only has one police officer, Cpl. Kevin Ward, who is leery of the sheriff’s office taking over the traditionally independent police department.

“The county help is sketchy at best at this point,” Ward said during a July 12 budget workshop. “Idaho State Police willingly said they’ll come up and do it for free. So if we make rash decisions and give up our firstborn for this, that agency will be paid around and we’ll never get it back.”

While the Spirit Lake police station is short-staffed, Idaho State Police provides support to Spirit Lake where they can, with additional highway coverage when possible, ISP Capt. John Kempf said. But that wouldn’t be a permanent solution for the city.

Norris also presented an option for a KCSO sergeant to act as a town sheriff in Spirit Lake for six months to a year for over $60,000, but the council opted to rely on the future police chief for now.

The police chief position has been offered to someone, who verbally accepted. The remaining steps are just paperwork and background checks, Councilman Darrell Woods said.

The police department also has a handful of candidates applying for open positions, which they hope to fill soon, Ward said.

The sheriff does not believe the police station will be adequately staffed and trained within six months, and he expects the city to request continued services.

“This is a very difficult environment to hire a peace officer in,” Norris said.

The starting wage for the Spirit Lake Police Department is just $21 per hour, and the police chief is budgeted between $30 to $36 per hour.

The sheriff’s office is also trying to fill open positions with starting wages at $26 per hour.

“So having that contract, are you going to be able to meet that need?” Woods asked the sheriff. “You have the manpower now?”

“Absolutely,” the sheriff replied.

But the contract price includes several hours of overtime for coverage in the area.

“If we’re contracting for an 80-hour week of a deputy, and that person is dedicated to the city of Spirit Lake, why would we pay that person overtime?” Councilman Kenny Gross asked.

The deputy assigned to Spirit Lake would create a draw from the county resources, Norris said, which would result in overtime costs the KCSO has to pay, so that cost is carried forward to the city.

The second contract would be for a student resource officer at Timberlake High School. Currently that role is also being filled by Ward.

A portion of the salary for an SRO is covered by the Lakeland Joint School District, which agreed to pay 65% of the contract this year, though that will go up to 70% next year, and was supposed to go up to 70% this year. The school district requested the Kootenai County Board of Commissioners delay the price increase to next year, and received a letter granting the extension.

The school district intends to find options for hiring a private armed security guard in the future to reduce the 2024-25 budget.

“The county is willing to lend us two (guards) but we can’t afford it for next year,” board Chair Michelle Thompson said during the July 10 trustee meeting. “Bottom line is we can’t afford it. So I would say we need an armed district safety specialist for the north.”

The contract negotiation for an SRO will be between the KCSO and the Lakeland district. The contract will then have to be approved by the Kootenai County Board of Commissioners, and then the Spirit Lake City Council.

The two contracts will have to be presented to the City Council for approval or revisions, likely during a July 24 meeting or a special meeting that will be announced.

The city council is also in the process of finalizing the budget for fiscal year 2024, which will have to be ready for approval in August and will need to include the contract amounts for the sheriff’s office and the salary budget for the police department.