Sheriff’s office proposing contract with local towns for municipal officers

(This article appeared in The Choctaw Sun-Advocate, April 11, 2018.)

SILAS, BUTLER – Local towns may soon be able to gain the services of law enforcement officers to patrol their city limits through a new contract between the towns and the Choctaw County Sheriff’s Department.

The Town of Silas signed off on an agreement with the Sheriff’s Department during their council meeting on Monday night, approving a contract to utilize the services of a part-time deputy who would provide law enforcement in the town’s jurisdiction.

Officers provided through the contract would be able to provide enforcement of town traffic laws and ordinances, as well as routine law enforcement.

The contract is now in the hands of the Choctaw County Commission for approval.

Lolley said that he had been working on the possibility of such contracts for about three years and has now put together a comprehensive contract that covers it.

Under the contract, deputies would be hired through the Sheriff’s Department, with their salaries paid by the towns through the contract with the county. Lolley said that the move would give towns the same municipal law enforcement that a city police officer would provide – including traffic violations and ordinances — without the requirements of hiring police officers themselves.

“Police chiefs have administrative time they have to spend, a lot of standards, and they have to spend time in their offices,” Lolley explained. “This puts all that on me.”

Lolley said that the Town of Silas was the first to approve the contract, and other municipalities would likely follow.

Lolley said that any of the three parties – the towns, the county, and the Sheriff’s Department – could end the contract at any time.

He added that he was also working with the Town of Lisman on such an agreement.

“I know the Town of Lisman has been concerned about (the enforcement) of some of their ordinances,” Lolley said. “We started with the Town of Silas and got that contract completed, and I think Lisman will be next.”

Currently, the towns of Butler, Gilbertown, and Pennington employ their own police officers, while Needham, Lisman, Silas, and Toxey do not.

Probate Judge Michael Armistead told Lolley on Tuesday that County Attorney Lee McPhearson would review the contract and provide any legal guidance to the county prior to approval.