Goodhue reaches tentative deal with county for police services after entire force quit

The city of Goodhue has a tentative deal with the Goodhue County Sheriff's Office to police the city after local officers quit en masse last week.

The Sheriff's Office announced the deal Wednesday night, pending approval from the Goodhue City Council, to provide police services to the area for the remainder of 2023. The Sheriff's Office said in a statement it will hold further talks with city officials about policing in 2024.

The Sheriff's Office contracts with four other communities in Goodhue County — Wanamingo, Pine Island, Dennison and Bellechester. While deputies already respond to calls in Goodhue, it would cost the city about $56 per hour for the county to patrol the area.

Wanamingo pays for about 42 patrol hours each week, which comes to about $128,000 this year.

The Goodhue City Council is scheduled to meet and review how many hours to contract next week.

Sheriff Marty Kelly said deputies will conduct a public meeting in Goodhue on Aug. 24 to assuage any concerns from neighbors who may think the city won't have police to protect it.

"Keep in mind, we're going to answer calls whether they're over our hours or not," Kelly said.

Goodhue's agreement comes after the city's police force — one full-time officer and five part-time officers — quit following Police Chief Josh Smith's resignation last week.

Smith reportedly left for a job with nearby Lake City police over pay and recruiting concerns. He has not publicly commented on his resignation but told the council during a public meeting last month he was fielding job offers while trying to replace a full-time officer who quit in June.

Smith argued the city wasn't offering enough money to retain officers when other communities and metro areas were willing to pay better.

"Right now ... trying to hire at $22 an hour, you're never going to see another person again walk through those doors," Smith told the council. He said smaller departments were offering at least $30 an hour.

The council held an emergency meeting Monday to figure out its next steps. Council members signaled they hoped to rebuild the city's police department rather than permanently contract with the county.

At Monday's meeting, Mayor Ellen Anderson Buck said the resignations took city officials by surprise. The council gave officers a 5% increase and Smith a $13,000 raise earlier this year but Goodhue officers were still paid lower than comparable communities.

"We were trying very, very hard to bring those numbers up," Anderson Buck said.

Kelly said Goodhue is a prime example of the workforce crisis in Minnesota's law enforcement industry. Agencies across the state are having trouble filling vacancies as officers leave the profession in droves with fewer students coming in to replace them.

Goodhue County is down six positions — four patrol officers and two jailers — but Kelly's only looking to hire four new employees.

He estimates he would have had a pool of 35 to 40 applicants for those jobs back when he was first elected in 2019. Now, he said, he only has six applicants from which to choose.

"We're struggling, and that's why we're losing small departments," he said.