Sheriff gets OK to increase fees

WALKER Sheriff Randy Fisher obtained county board approval Tuesday to increase civil processing and recreational fees that the department charges.

Serving civil papers and notices of real estate sales and posting three notices will increase from $40 to $50, even if the person to receive the papers cannot be found. The $250 charge to an owner or other party for a redemption fee will continue unchanged, as will the $20 after redemption fee.

To save recreational permit processing costs, the sheriff will now charge $10 for a two-year raft permit rather than $5 for a one-year permit. The water surface event permit, such as for fishing contests and snowmobile races, will continue at $5 each.

Commissioner Jim Demgen said he believes may people who own rafts they place in front of their lake homes do not realize state law requires them to obtain a raft permit from the sheriff. Fisher said compliance is good on Gull Lake, but acknowledged boat and water deputies check smaller lakes less often.

Chief Deputy Tom Burch obtained board approval Tuesday to place an order now to purchase seven new squad cars already approved in the 2008 budget through the state contract. He said the cost will run less that budgeted.

Jail Administrator Bert Woodford reported the Minnesota Department of Corrections has inspected and approved the former jail outdoor court area converted to an enclosed prisoner holding area for as ready for occupancy.

He obtained board approval to spend about $600 to purchase a scanner for the jail staff. The sheriff's records division has scanned most of the department case files into digital files.

Jail employees have been going downstairs to use the records division's scanner to begin digitizing jail records. If a second scanner is purchased for the department, jail employees can remain upstairs at their workstations while scanning, Woodford said, effectively doing two jobs at once.