By Watertown Current - May 14, 2026 in Official Proceedings
County of Codington
Codington County Court House
14 1st Ave SE
Watertown, SD 57201
April 28, 2026
The Codington County Commissioners met in regular session at 9:00 a.m., Tuesday, April 28, 2026, at the Codington County Court House. Commission members present were: Lee Gabel (Via Zoom), Tyler McElhany, Myron Johnson, Randall Schweer, and Troy VanDusen; VanDusen, presiding. The pledge of allegiance was led by Sheriff, Brad Howell.
CALLS FOR PUBLIC COMMENT AND CONFLICT OF INTEREST ITEMS
Chair VanDusen called for public comments to be taken up during the open portion of the meeting; none were offered. There were no conflict-of-interest items to note.
AGENDA APPROVED
Motion by Schweer, second by Gabel, to approve the agenda for April 28, 2026, as posted; all voted aye; motion carried.
MINUTES APPROVED
Motion by Johnson, second by McElhany, to approve the minutes of April 21, 2026; all voted aye; motion carried.
2026 BOARD OF EQUALIZATION MINUTES
Motion by McElhany, second by Johnson, to approve the minutes of the 2026 County Board of Equalization; all voted aye; motion carried. Motion by Schweer, second by Johnson, to approve the minutes of the 2026 Consolidated Board of Equalization; all voted aye; motion carried.
FLOCK SAFETY AGREEMENT
James Simmons informed the Board of some of Flock Safety evidence based claims of benefits including it will reduce/eliminate crime which there is no evidence that they reduce crime, find lost/stolen children – 0 evidence to support, find stolen vehicles – there is evidence of this, but it is a low percentage: Mr. Simmons stated that he feels the system is crying for abuse to access this information from law enforcement, flock employees since they can access everything, and flock partners with other agencies; Mr. Simmons suggested using a closed loop system such as Axon which the Watertown Police Department uses. Doug Allen also spoke against the purchase of Flock Safety Agreement due to the Watertown Police Dept. spending a lot of time clearing false alerts, expense of system, Mr. Allen stated that he does support local law enforcement and isn’t sure if it enhances the potential for abuses of the system. No action was taken at this time.
FLOCK SAFETY AUTOMATIC LICENSE PLATE READER
Sheriff, Brad Howell, and Chief Deputy, Brent Solum provided information along with a presentation regarding the Flock Safety License Plate Reader system. States Attorney, Alison Bakken, also commented on her support of the Flock Safety system due to being the Chief Law Enforcement Officer as well as the State’s Attorney, it is an important tool for law enforcement and from the legal side it assists to prosecute cases. Motion by Gabel, second by McElhany to approve the 2-year Flock Safety Automatic License Plate Reader contract in the amount of $21,700 per year for 2-years beginning May 1, 2026; a roll call vote was taken and VanDusen, Johnson, Schweer McElhany and Gabel all voted aye; 0-no; motion carried.
MONTHLY REPORTS
Sheriff, Brad Howell, provided the Board with the following statistics, compiled from activity in the month of March 2026, for the Detention Center and Sheriff’s Office: office fees were collected in the amount of $21,513.86, and were retained by the County; ATM, Kiosk, and Commissary items sold with a commission fee to the County in the amount of $1,826.47; 535 cases/calls for service; 5 accident reports were completed; 60 warrants served; 238 sets of civil papers served; 1,693 transport miles; average daily inmate population 52.81 (high ADP 57 and low ADP 49); 18 individuals wearing SCRAM (security continuous remote alcohol monitor) bracelets; 13 individuals using remote breathalyzers; 49 individuals testing twice daily PBT’S; 59 individuals reporting twice weekly for UA Drug testing; 1 individual wearing a sweat patch; 171 bookings; $17,646.94 collected in fees for out of county prisoner contracts; $2090.00 collected in work release fees; $14,147.00 collected in fees for the 24/7 program and SCRAM fees; Sheriff Howell also informed the Board that the Sheriff’s Office has received 8 – 7S tasers from the City of Watertown to be used for the Codington County Reserve Officers; Watertown Police Dept. Chief is looking at expanding the gun range and has requested to obtain the left over spoils from the new County Jail project which will be used to expand the gun range. Facility Manager, Steve Molengraaf, Ag. Building – staff have been setting up and cleaning for many functions throughout the Extension Center for the past month; staff have started working on the rotted posts on the west side of the ag building; met with Waylon Blasius from Banner Engineering to determine a resolution for solving the concrete heaving; Court House/Detention Center– met with the Clerk of Courts Director about some chairs at the attorney’s desks that the vinyl is breaking apart on three of the six chairs; have some drain issues, both the brass foundation and first floor women’s bathroom; Park – 491 reservations, with a revenue of $68,424.00 as of 3-26-2026; some park staff started a couple weeks ago, still looking for more park staff; had some tree trimming done from some of the high winds throughout this winter and early spring; Search and Rescue crew set the buoys out in the swimming area a couple of weeks ago; the water system is scheduled to be running by Thursday of this week; Weed – attended a couple of neighboring county’s annual meetings; I went to the State Weed Commission meeting last week; townships are returning their spray request that were sent to them back in March; WNV – will be attending a mosquito workshop, plus have the mosquito fogger calibrated, having issues finding parts for the mosquito fogger.
DEPUTY SHERIFF POSITION
Motion by Gabel, second by McElhany, to approve to hire a full-time Deputy Sheriff position, due to a resignation, to fill a vacancy; all voted aye; motion carried.
SHERIFF’S OFFICE PURCHASE OF 2 VEHICLES
Motion by McElhany, second by Schweer, to authorize the purchase of two vehicles, 2027 Pacifica LX (RUCL53) for transports in the amount of $40,780 and 2026 1500 Tradesman Crew Cab 4×4 patrol vehicle, in the amount of $46,472 both will be purchased from Watertown Chrysler, both are budgeted items, as presented by Sheriff, Brad Howell; all voted aye; motion carried.
SHERIFF’S OFFICE SURPLUS MISC. EQUIPMENT
Motion by Gabel, second by Johnson, to declare two Defibrillators SN: 31484661 and SN: 31173128 and two Lifepak Defibrillators SN: 47191463; surplus to be destroyed; all vote aye; motion carried.
SHERIFF’S OFFICE TASERS, HOLSTERS, BATTERIES & CARTRIDGES
Motion by Johnson, second by McElhany, to declare 16 tasers, 18 holsters, 20 batteries and X26P cartridges (93 live & 3 training); surplus to be donated to Lake Area Technical College for Law Enforcement Officer training program; all voted aye; motion carried.
COURTROOM CHAIRS
Motion by Gabel, second by McElhany, to approve purchase of three chairs for the courtroom, in the amount of $798.00 per chair/$2,394.00 total, from Office Peeps to be taken out of the Judicial budget; Facility Manager, Steve Molengraaf, provided the Board with three quotes from Office Peeps, Morbern chair in the amount of $798.00 per chair, Global chair in the amount of $1,077.00 and Conference chair in the amount of $415.00 per chair; it was the recommendation of Facility Manager, Steve Molengraaf along with Clerk of Courts, Lisa Feltch to go with the Morbern chair in the amount of $798.00 per chair; all voted aye; motion carried.
SALARY CLAIMS
Motion by McElhany, second by Johnson, to approve for payment the following April salary claims; all voted aye; motion carried.
Commissioners: 12,482.75 total salaries. Auditor: 25,314.91 total salaries. Co. Treasurer: 47,382.61 total salaries. States Attorney: 60,935.62 total salaries. Gov. Buildings: 22,249.05 total salaries. Dir. Equalization: 62,580.55 total salaries. Reg. of Deeds: 33,613.95 total salaries. Veterans Service: 13,349.28 total salaries. Sheriff: 146,038.82 total salaries. Jail: 169,066.54 total salaries. Coroner: 3,444.80 total salaries. Welfare: 37,683.91 total salaries. CO. Nurse; 6,456.63 total salaries. Park: 0 total salaries Ag. Bldg.: 13,391.03 total salaries. Co. Extension: 14,573.75 total salaries. Weed: 6,276.02 total salaries. Planning Board: $1,053.24 total salaries. Road & Bridge: 122,606.69 total salaries. Emergency Management; 16,702.77 total salaries. Crime Victim: 9,332.90 total salaries. W.I.C.: 5,939.65 total salaries. 24/7: 8,028.88 total salaries. Total 838,504.32
Breakdown of withholding amounts which are included in the above:
S.D. Retirement 79,795.44; VSP 959.61 eye insurance; S.D. Supplemental Retire. 5,165.00 suppl. retire.; Sanford 115,587.04; Reliance Standard Life Insurance 1216.42 life ins.; Delta Dental 7,608.40 ins.; Codington County 8,513.83 employee HSA contribution; AFSCME Council 65 535.60 employee union dues; AFLAC 4,165.63.; VSP 443.05 eye insurance; John Hancock 3,515.00 suppl. retire.; AFLAC 1,727.40 ins.; Sioux Valley Credit Union 22,552.42 employee payments; John Hancock Roth 400.00 suppl. retire.; SDRS Supplemental Retirement 5,000.00 Roth retirement; Teamsters Local Union 120 469.00 employee union due; Codington County Deputy Sheriff’s Association 135.00 employee union dues; ReliaBank Dakota 54,857.42 federal withholding; ReliaBank Dakota 75,777.04 social security; ReliaBank Dakota 17,721.98 Medicare; United Way 25.00 employee contributions; Health Equity 8,513.83 employee HSA contribution.
OLD BUSINESS
Commissioner Gabel reported that in Area B truss work is in place and will begin to do the plumbing, roof deck will begin soon; Area A will start soon.
OPEN
Public Comments – Doug Allen addressed the Board about what the county plans to use the Opioid Funds on, he mentioned that the City has already about spent about all of their funds on mental health assistance and also has concerns about who will conduct the audit for the Flock Safety System, Mr. Allen feels it should be conducted by an external audit. James Simmons mentioned to the Board his concerns about the misinformation statements made during the Flock Safety information during the discussion about the contract and disagrees with the misinformation statement.
Commission Comments – Commissioner Gabel informed the Board that the County has been using opioid funding provided through the state and the COSSUP grant, there has been a committee organized to work on who and how the Opioid Funds could be distributed. Commissioner VanDusen expressed the County will be transparent in regard to the Flock Safety System audit and mentioned some possibilities.
EXECUTIVE SESSION
Motion by Johnson, second by McElhany, to enter into executive session, per SDCL 1-25-2 (3) Preparing for contract negotiations or negotiating with employees or employee representatives (SDCL 1-25-2(4)) at 10:35 a.m.; all voted aye; motion carried. The Board returned to regular session at 11:00 a.m., and no action was taken. Sheriff, Brad Howell, Chief Deputy, Brent Solem, and Auditor, Brenda Hanten, were present for executive session.
ADJOURNMENT
Upon conclusion of all business to come before the Board, a motion was made by Johnson, second by Schweer to adjourn at 11:01 a.m., all voted aye; motion carried.
ATTEST:
Brenda Hanten
Codington County Auditor
Codington County does not discriminate on the basis of color, national origin, sex, religion, age, or disability in employment or the provision of service.
Published once on May 14, 2026, at the total approximate cost of $112.84 and can be viewed free of charge at www.sdpublicnotices.com and www.watertowncurrent.com.