The Madison County Sheriff met with the mayors of Twin Bridges, Sheridan and Virginia City on May 8 at the Madison County Annex Building to begin negotiations about payments from the municipalities for law enforcement services provided by the Sheriff’s office. The reaction to the starting point for negotiations can be summed up in one phrase, sticker shock. 

“They asked for 17 mills,” said Virginia City mayor Justin Gatewood. “That represents almost half the mills we received in 2025.”

Sheriff Duncan Hedges points out that these are the starting points for the negotiations which will take place over the course of the next month. 

“There have been mixed reactions, which is understood,” said Hedges in an interview with The Madisonian.  “We are using the same 17 MILS that were listed in the original contracts prior to 2018 which were in place for 30+ years.”

The 17 mills equals $27,500 according to Sheridan Mayor Bob Stump. That represents a little over 20% of the total Town of Sheridan budget. 

In Twin Bridges 17 mills is equivalent to $14,786 according to documents provided by MCSO at the May 13 Twin Bridges Town Council meeting and that is estimated to be just under 14% of the general fund revenue reported on the 2023-2024 annual budget. 

The Town of Ennis is in a different situation than the other three municipalities and did not attend the May 8 meeting.

“Ennis is unique in that we are the only Town within Madison County that has historically met MCA in requiring a police chief,” said Ennis mayor Nici Haas. 

“The needs of Ennis will therefore be different than the other municipalities as we contribute to the law enforcement presence and therefore require some additional dispatch support. The committee members are diligently reviewing data to come to our final recommendations for the council's final decision,” she continued. 

Montana State law requires municipalities to pay for law enforcement services provided by the county sheriff. In 2018 that payment, which had a value of 17 mills, was repealed by then sheriff Roger Lee Thompson reportedly based on an interpretation of the 1993 Attorney General opinion Volume No. 45 Opinion No. 9.

“The passage of HB 333 in the Montana legislature now makes it clear that municipalities are required to pay for law enforcement services provided by a sheriff’s department if the municipality does not maintain a police department as required by law,” said Madison County attorney David Buchler. 

“There has been some disagreement as to the interpretation of Attorney General Volume No. 45 Opinion No. 9,” stated Buchler. “However, I am not aware of the circumstances that led to the decision to repeal the 17-mill charge, or whether the Opinion was a factor. It is important to recognize that Attorney General opinions are not binding on courts of competent jurisdiction and are not immune to legislative changes.”

One of the primary questions raised at the Sheridan Town Council meeting regarded why municipalities are paying additional taxes for law enforcement services from the sheriff’s department while rural residents are not. In the end, according to Montana state law, it is just a part of being a municipality. 

“Every municipality is required by law to provide adequate law enforcement services,” explained Buchler. “House Bill 333 clarifies the options for providing such services. Municipalities have the choice of paying for a police department, paying the sheriff’s office to serve as the police department, or paying the sheriff’s office to provide supplemental law enforcement services to a police department. There is a cost associated with every option.”

The MCSO is currently operating with just 16 of 20 officers required for full staffing despite recent increases in its budgets.  

“There has been an increase to the Sheriff’s Office budget, with a majority going to pay increases for dispatch, deputies, added positions, vehicles, equipment, etc,” explained Hedges. “There was also a significant increase for the MOU between Madison County, Gallatin County and the Big Sky Resort Tax District.”

The revenue  increases have proven insufficient for the department to catch up with rising costs in the budget. 

“There have been general increases for operating costs due to inflation; costs of patrol vehicles and related vehicle equipment; computers, emergency lights, radars, etc,” said Hedges. 

“The Sheriff’s Office will not even come close to covering expenses with what will be brought in (from the municipalities,) but it will help cover costs; such as fuel or vehicle maintenance, etc,” he explained. 

The sheriff’s office and the mayors are optimistic that they will be able to reach agreements that will result in memorandums of understanding that will bring the municipalities in compliance with state law.