Rural Floyd County Residents Could Pay More for Law Enforcement

Residents in Floyd County’s smaller communities could be asked to pay more for law enforcement coverage.

While Charles City has its own police department, Rudd, Rockford, Floyd, Colwell, and Marble Rock have 28E agreements with the County for the Floyd County Sheriff’s Office to provide law enforcement services.

Sheriff Jeff Crooks addressed the Board of Supervisors during their regular meeting Monday (11.13), explaining that those cities currently pay $4 per capita for that service, a price that’s been in effect several years.

The County also contracts with Nora Springs at $25 per hour of service to supplement the City’s police force of one, Chief Jesse Dugan, who says they’d like to keep their police department and add another officer. However, filling that position has proved challenging.

While discussions included shared costs to hire extra peace officers and whether the cities were getting the coverage they needed, Rudd Mayor Jeff Buland said a cost increase appears inevitable.

Supervisors took no action, but will ask the County’s E911 Board to hold meetings with the cities to continue examining the rates before new 28E agreements are signed for the new fiscal year starting July 1, 2024.