At their regular July 10 meeting the Ennis Town Commissioners voted to postpone their decision on a law enforcement strategy involving the town and the Madison County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO) until at least their Aug. 14 meeting. Their postponement is made possible by an extension of the July 1 deadline originally imposed by the MCSO which was moved to Aug. 15 by the Madison County Board of Commissioners (MCBC.) Additional postponement of the decision would require another extension from the MCBC to ensure there was no gap in law enforcement services.  

The commissioners were presented with three possible scenarios for law enforcement coverage describing different ways the existing Ennis Police Department (EPD) can combine their services with the MCSO to provide the best coverage for the town at the most reasonable cost. 

Option 1

The first option presented was a three year plan that involved applying for a Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) grant and using those funds to add an officer to the existing EPD. The first phase of the plan would include application for the grant and sorting out of the administrative details of adding an officer. 

Phase two of the plan involves contracting with the MCSO for services during the process of adding and training another officer for the EPD. The third phase involved EPD providing primary coverage from dawn until bar closing with the MCSO providing additional services as needed for an hourly rate per call. 

Option 2

Option two presented addressed the EPD continuing at current staffing with the MCSO providing support at either an hourly rate of $85 per hour or a fixed annual rate which is not disclosed in the document and is still being negotiated between the commissioners and the MCSO.

Option 3

The third option presented involved MCSO taking over the primary law enforcement responsibilities with the EPD maintaining a chief of police position. 

The negotiation with the MCSO will also include dispatch and call center services which, according to commissioner Jim Nihan, is the more urgent of the two needs and the more difficult cost to determine. 

Commissioner Elizabeth Abernathy expressed concern about the lack of cost detail in the plan. She stressed the need to look at the complete cost of adding officers and fleet vehicles as indicated in phase one prior to voting on the plan. 

“Without running numbers, I’m not comfortable voting on it,” said Abernathy about the proposal. Commissioner

 Tyler Cselle also indicated she was uncomfortable voting on the plan. 

“We have numbers,” said commissioner Jim Nihan referring to the costs being asked by MCSO. “The problem with the numbers is that it is contingent on the contract. The sheriff’s office has agreed on the law enforcement piece, the call center piece is a little more ambiguous.”

Nihan indicated that he and commissioner John Way had met repeatedly with the MCSO to negotiate costs and included them in the contract, but the contract needed to be reviewed and voted on to be finalized. 
He also indicated that the Town of Ennis has already applied for the COPS grant and if it is not awarded then option one and option two of the presentation will both be to continue the status quo. If the grant is received, the Town will be able to add an additional officer and provide what he determines to be a higher level of service than currently experienced. 

The approval rate of the COPS grant is only 25% according to Way and the results will not be known until October. According to Nihan there was a consensus in early discussions that option one was the best path forward and that is why the Town moved ahead with the application for the COPS grant. 

Nihan expressed concerns about the third option, which has MCSO take over the policing responsibilities for the town, due to what he saw as the potential for degraded coverage within the community. 

“I think that doing away with a police department once you have done the work to establish it and you have two officers strengthens our ability to be very good at law enforcement, community and proactive policing,” Nihan expressed. 

Myron Wallow of Ennis pointed out that there are only an average of two calls a day for EPD and questioned whether that justified the costs of adding additional officers. He expressed his view that paying MCSO to take over policing duties entirely as listed in option three would provide a net reduction in cost to taxpayers based on the full expenditure of maintaining and expanding the current EPD. 

Way pointed out in response that while the EPD has seen their call volume stay consistent, the MCSO has informed the council they have seen a 30% increase in calls to the town of Ennis potentially indicating that the majority of calls and growth in call volume is occurring outside of the current EPD coverage hours and would be addressed by adding an additional officer and additional hours. 

Mayoral candidate Lisa Roberts pointed out that the EPD budget has seen an increase in budget from $120,000 per year to almost $240,000 per year since the addition of a second full-time officer and the EPD is still not at full coverage. She praised the MCSO for filling the voids as needed in the Town of Ennis without a memorandum of understanding in place and compared the needs of EPD to Manhattan, who has five officers and a budget of nearly $800,000 per year. 

“If we are able to explore option three (contracting with MCSO for policing duties) and not only save the taxpayers money by retaining excellent service from the county and also shifting the risk from our small town and our taxpayers to the county. That is a way that I would like to explore,” she said. 

Roberts also expressed concerns that although the intent was to make the proposal budget neutral, it was dependent on grant funding and over time that may not be the case. Her concern was that over time it could starve other departments and priorities of resources including the improvements to water and sewer services and the management of growth in the community. 

“We want to provide excellent services, that is what a town is supposed to do,” she continued. “But we also have to be cognizant of what we can afford.” 

Nihan expressed his concern that the MCSO may not be able to provide the same level of service due to their other commitments in the county. He cited the five year term of the contract as an advantage and an ability to reconsider the decision at that point. 

He also indicated that within his proposed contract there are numbers that will make the resolution budget neutral, but that needs to be agreed upon by MCSO before it is finalized. 

Nihan proposed that prior to moving forward with the discussion and ultimate decision that negotiations with the MCSO be finished. 

Way suggested adding a fourth option to the consideration of complete abolition of the EPD for consideration to ensure that all options are considered. Nihan agreed with the addition of option four to ensure there is 100% transparency in the process. He indicated that he will add the consequences associated with eliminating the EPD per Montana state code.

“We’re going to build the contracts with each option,” said Way concerning a path forward for considering the proposals. “We’re going to make sure the MCSO is O.K. with the numbers in each option,” he continued, indicating the steps needed to be completed prior to making a decision. 

The commissioners agreed to table the discussion until further details can be presented. The next Ennis Town Commission meeting is Aug. 14 at Town Hall.