The Clarendon Board of Aldermen reached an agreement during a called meeting last Tuesday to pay the Donley County Sheriff’s Department $130,000 for law enforcement services for the coming year.
The contract must still be formally approved at next week’s regular city meeting. It maintains the price of the current contract, but two key elements of the contract will be changed.
“All Class C fines will go to justice of the peace court, and I’ve cut the ordinance enforcement part totally,” Sheriff Butch Blackburn said. “But the citizens of Clarendon won’t have to worry. We’ll be there 24 hours a day.”
City Administrator John Webb said he was unsure how much moving Class C violations from municipal court to the county system would cost the city.
“Our estimation is that it is about $4,200,” Webb said. “The municipal court will still handle hot check cases, city ordinance fines, and minor thefts.”
City officials and Sheriff Butch Blackburn had been at odds over the contract last month when the sheriff asked for his department’s contract to be increased to $140,000 but the city had proposed it be cut to $61,500.
Ordinance enforcement for years had been a point of contention when the contract came up for renewal. City officials complained the sheriff’s department did not do enough in that area, and the sheriff maintained that criminal cases were his top priority. Enforcement of ordinances will now be the primary responsibility of City Hall and the city administrator.
Blackburn said County Judge Jack Hall has already signed off on the new contract, and it will be presented to Clarendon Aldermen for the mayor’s signature next week.
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