New Fairview and Boyd have two inter-local agreements (ILA). The first was approved in July 2023 for New Fairview to operate Boyd’s municipal court. The second ILA was approved in September 2023 for Boyd to provide 15 hours a week in city police services to New Fairview. This post will focus on the police ILA. The following best explains and summarizes the police ILA as copied from the September 18, 2023 New Fairview City Council agenda packet (link at bottom).
Start of copy- “Earlier this year staff were working with the City Attorney to address the enforcement of city ordinances. In those discussions it was determined that the sheriff and his deputies are statutorily authorized to provide law enforcement services for the municipality but may only enforce State laws. As a result, we have no ability currently to enforce city ordinances, with the exception of those ordinances that our Code Enforcement Officer is able to enforce.
The City Attorney sent an attorney-client privileged memorandum to the City Council on Feb. 19, 2023 that gives a legal opinion on a Sheriff’s authority to enforce City Ordinances; authority for contracting with another municipality or political subdivision having law enforcement authority, options for ordinance enforcement that don’t require law enforcement and related matters.
The City has three options that “Type A, General Law” municipalities can use to enforce city ordinances: appoint a Marshal, establish a Municipal Police Department, or contract with another city for law enforcement service that includes the enforcement of city ordinances.
Of these options, the Marshal and Municipal Police Department are costly because it would require purchasing a police vehicle, equipment, uniforms, training, extensive legal work on the preparation of General Orders.
Providing law enforcement services from one city to another city is not uncommon. In fact, in our area the City of Rhome is providing law enforcement services to the City of Aurora.
As a result, staff met with city officials from the City of Rhome, City of Decatur, and City of Boyd to determine if there was capacity and interest to provide limited police services to the City of New Fairview. Specifically, the enforcement of city ordinances, patrolling of neighborhoods, and traffic enforcement on our roads. Staff were not seeking police service for criminal calls because we currently receive that service from the Wise County Sheriff Office. From those discussions it was determined that the City of Boyd had the capacity and cost that was the best fit for our needs. As a result, city staff have been meeting with the City Manager of Boyd, William Taylor, and Police Chief, Jason Schmidt, to discuss an Interlocal Agreement (ILA) for law enforcement services for the City of New Fairview.
Below are the highlights from the attached ILA that have been worked out:
- Section 2 contains the Term of this Agreement. It is scheduled to begin on the new fiscal year Oct. 1 and is good for three years, with up to two additional three-year terms.
- Section 3 (b) addresses the type of police services we will be getting from Boyd. It is only for enforcement of our City Ordinances, enforcement of traffic laws, and patrolling of our neighborhoods and businesses. We are stil planning on using Wise County SO to respond to criminal calls for service in our city. Also, note that we are getting an average of 15 hours of police service each week.
- Section 3 (h) states that we shall be under no obligation with respect to providing any law enforcement equipment, or any other equipment.
- Section 4(a) addresses the cost for this service. It is based on a $136 hourly rate,
which covers officer salary, benefits, training, uniform, equipment, administrative, and vehicle cost (including maintenance and gas). This is a reasonable rate for these services and guarantees we will never be asked to buy a vehicle or any additional equipment under this agreement. The total annual amount is $106,080, but keep in mind that our conservative estimates on the amount of citations they wil be issuing for our municipal court are estimated to bring in about $150,000. - Section 4 (b) allows us to ask for additional police service if needed for the set $136 hourly rate.
- Section 4 (c) states that we shall coordinate with BOYD annually in preparing an annual budget that covers costs of BOYD providing law enforcement services to NEW FAIRVIEW. Payment terms will be established annually and mutually agreed upon by both NEW FAIRVIEW and BOYD, and any payment changes needed are required to be approved by both the BOYD and NEW FAIRVIEW City Councils.
- Section 4(d) addresses the fact that we are letting them use our radar guns, and our two ticket writers. However, we are going to need to purchase two new ticket writers because the ones we have are apparently obsolete and cannot be programmed to use with our new software. We are also looking at having the new ticket writers programmed so that they can be used to issue citations at New Fairview and Boyd. The City of Boyd is buying several ticket writers also and programming them the same way so that officers can easily issue citations regardless of which city they are in.
- Section 6 addresses the termination of this agreement. It takes one year to terminate or 90 days for both parties agree to the termination. In the event of termination by either party or both parties, BOYD shall be compensated pro rata for all services performed to the termination date.
- Section 13 addresses that this Agreement wil be reviewed by both parties annually for needed clarification and or revisions. This Agreement may only be modified, changed, or altered at any time, upon mutual agreement of the parties, provided that any such modification, change and/or alteration be reduced to writing, and approved by the governing bodies of BOYD and NEW FAIRVIEW.” -End of copy
Link to 9-18-2024 packet with Boyd police ILA
