(Le Mars) — Flanked by all, but one, of the Plymouth County sheriff’s deputies, with that one currently on National Guard duty, Plymouth County Sheriff Mike Van Otterloo appeared before the County Board of Supervisors Tuesday afternoon to formally request another deputy be added to the current staff of ten deputies. Van Otterloo offered several reasons to justify the need for an additional deputy. He says it has been ten years since the Sheriff’s staff has expanded, and the case load has seen an increase of 145 percent since 2005.
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The Sheriff showed a slide to the supervisors that illustrated similar size counties in terms of population and square miles. Nine of the ten featured counties had more deputies than Plymouth County, including Sioux County.
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Picking up on the theme of providing law enforcement to the smaller communities and rural areas, Van Otterloo says many of the Plymouth County communities do not provide 24 hour law enforcement, and so the burden is placed on the Sheriff’s office. Only Le Mars has 24 hour law enforcement protection.
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The Plymouth County Sheriff estimates the cost for another deputy would be at $83,000 a year, which would include benefits, social security, IPERS, insurance and salary. He proposes the county finance the nes deputy position from two revenue sources.
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