County Board accepts Hoekstra’s donation of narcotics detection K-9

There could soon be a new sheriff in Lyon County. No, not that sheriff. This one has four legs and a tail.
The Lyon County Board of Commissioners on Tuesday accepted a donation of a narcotics detection K-9 for the county by Sgt. Matt Hoekstra, who presented to the board, along with Lyon County Sheriff Eric Wallen.
“We haven’t had a (K-9) within our county for many years,” Wallen said. “There’s two types of dogs — you have the dual purpose dog, like the ones you see chasing down a suspect, and there are those that do drug detection. What we’re looking at is solely the narcotics detection.”
Hoekstra has offered to voluntarily train his 5-month old golden retriever lab, and pending a certification exam, agreed to donate the dog to the sheriff’s office. The dog will be trained in the detection of heroin, crack, cocaine and methamphetamine, but not fentanyl because that kind of training would be dangerous for the dog, Hoekstra said.
“Normally, when you find (fentanyl) on the street, it’s mixed with other drugs; there’s still a good possibility of getting that fentanyl off the street,” Hoekstra said. “It’s very well-known in this area that there is no K-9, and it’s easy to bring narcotics in. In the five years that I’ve been working here I’ve noticed something we’re really missing in this county is being able to get some of those drugs off the street right now.”
In the future, the dog will be available to go into schools as well for locker searches and as a possible deterrent.
“I think the biggest thing with K-9s is they’re a deterrent,” Hoekstra said. “People see a K-9 and it can stop crime. Having a dog deters crime.”
Hoekstra would be the only officer allowed to train and handle the dog. He has already started the training process.
“Typically, it’s about a month class, but you’re doing that Monday through Friday, five days a week,” Hoekstra said. “It would probably take me a little bit longer before I’d be comfortable taking him to certification. It’s fairly extensive — you have to search vehicles and rooms in unknown areas.”
Hoekstra, a former K-9 handler in Goodhue County, will keep the dog as his personal property when the dog is no longer able to work in its capacity or if Hoekstra’s employment with the County ends.
The County will be responsible for program expenses, including the certification test and equipment necessary for the training of the animal, including $2,999 for a Squad Kennel, $999 for Squad Heat Alert, $999 of K-9 BSD Training Aid Boxes for a total of $4,997, plus the installation price upon certification.
The sheriff’s office would be responsible for maintenance of the animal — vet bills, food costs, miscellaneous equipment and regular certification costs. The sheriff’s office intends to seek local donations, as well as grant funding and possible State funding to assist with those costs.
If those funding sources don’t come to fruition, Wallen said the sheriff’s office would be able to absorb those costs in its annual budget.

In other business Tuesday …
• The board approved four hirings: Michael Warren as Technical Assistant II in the Recorder’s Office with a starting hourly wage of $20.34; Timothy Stagna as Technical Assistant II in the Recorder’s Office with a starting hourly rate of pay at $21; Dean Slatko as a Corrections Office with a pay rate of $21.65 per hour; and Tanisha Mertens as a Dispatcher with an hourly wage of $21.65.
• The board OK’d a request for ARPA funds for the City of Ghent for its City Hall, fire department and Bluebird Subdivision. Ghent In a letter to the board of commissioners, City of Ghent Administrator/Clerk Dawn Vlaminck stated that the Ghent City Council has already voted to accept the offer of $200,000 of Lyon County ARPA funds for: City Hall exterior ($36,000); a decontamination area for the fire hall ($99,000); a new furnace, deck gun, water auger and batteries for Milwaukee lights ($20,000); and the storm sewer draining project at Bluebird ($45,000). The latter project falls within a TIF district and will be supported in TIF funds, but the budget is short by $45,000.
• Two County patrol cars were declared as surplus property by the board and will be sold through Enterprise. The two vehicles are a 2019 Dodge Charger with just over 94,000 miles on it, and a 2018 Dodge Charger with $105,113 miles.