Morristown Police Contract with Sheriff’s Office Going Well

Rice County Sheriff Troy Dunn likes the arrangement and so does the City of Morristown.  Three years ago Morristown decided to contract with the Rice County Sheriff's Office to provide policing services for Morristown.

On our Morristown Community Day at Nordmeier Brothers also co-hosted by the City of Morristown and Old Town Tavern we talked about the arrangement with the Sheriff and city representatives.

Dunn told us, "There's a deputy here 60 hours a week for law enforcement services.  I would say it's gone very well over here.  We've had a lot of positive feedback.  The deputies are getting out in the schools and the community.  We just have a great time over here getting to know the citizens of Morristown."

The Rice County Sheriff added, "You know I have a little heritage here in Morristown.  My great grandfather had the hardware store in downtown Morristown back in the day.  George Schultz was my great grandfather.  They lived at the corner of County Road 16 and Highway 60. I remember helping my Grandma Dorothy there in her garden.  She lived to be about 96 years old and it was a lot of fun coming over here with by Grandmother."

"I have a picture of when I was a baby wearing my Grandpa's army hat.  It was like a trooper hat and there's a picture of me with it on.  A little history of me in Morristown."

Dunn was sad Dam Days didn't kick off summer like it usually does, "The parade is a huge hit all around southern Minnesota and to miss that and then grill burgers at the fire stand following the parade is always fun. I help out at the (Morristown) Legion and bring deputies over every other month to cook on burger night.  We cook burgers, chicken and everything else.  It's a lot of fun."

He added, "Morristown is a great community with great people here.  The fire and rescue do a phenomenal job here."  We also talked about the terrific sky warn group Morristown has.

Council Member Jake Golombeski said if you would have told him he would be a council member when Troy Dunn was Sheriff he would have laughed because he was a Dare student of Troy's when he was in 5th grade at Trinity Lutheran School in North Morristown.

Golombeski has a family dairy farm and says prices are finally where they are actually making a profit, "It's a lot different from what it was a month ago. Like I told my wife there's a difference between not making money and losing money."

Golombeski added, "It was a very difficult two months," when the COVID-19 pandemic first struck.  I asked if he ever thought about getting out of the dairy farming business and he replied, " It was in the back of my mind.  I'm not going to lie.  But what I've learned over the years dairy farming you can't jump in and jump out.  It's either your in for the long haul or you might as well get out."

It's not common to have a farmer sitting on a city council and Golombeski believes his business sense helps him with decisions on the council.  He is in his first term and enjoys it very much.  He told us he was always interested in civics when he was in school and hoped to be on the council someday.

Mayor Tony Lindahl was also a guest on our Morristown Community Day broadcast and said the contract with the Sheriff's Office for policing has gone well.  "They are doing an excellent job. I have no complaints.  They haven't run anybody out of town.  The community has warmed up to them and  they like seeing the presence they put out there."

Lindahl added, "It hasn't saved us dollars.You know it was $120,000 in 2018 and now we are at $160,000 so it's not cheap."

The Morristown Mayor agreed body cameras will probably become mandatory standard equipment for police across the state soon and the Sheriff's Office is also better equipped to provide training.