Arrangement between Grand Marais and sheriff’s department could change as staffing woes continue

A longstanding arrangement between City Hall in Grand Marais and the Cook County Sheriff’s Department is likely to change as local law enforcement continues to struggle finding new deputies and other staff.

Cook County Sheriff Pat Eliasen shared this information with the Cook County Board of Commissioners during a special meeting in late August. During an update on WTIP Sept. 22, Eliasen said the situation continues to look bleak in terms of finding new staff for the sheriff’s department.

“We have not had any viable applicants to fill the positions that we need right now,” Eliasen said. “And it’s not just Cook County, it’s nationwide. The trend to find viable applicants for any law enforcement agency is becoming almost an epidemic.”

To address some of the staffing challenges, Eliasen is proposing to change the agreement with Grand Marais that essentially provides the equivalent of nearly three full-time employees for law enforcement in city limits. The city pays the county $140,000 for this arrangement. The agreement has been in place since 1998. Under the proposal from the sheriff’s department, deputies will not concentrate on a particular part of the county, including specifically Grand Marais. Rather, all deputies will respond to calls county wide.

“That doesn’t mean we’re going to abandon the city of Grand Marais,” Eliasen said. “We will still respond to every call in the city. They just won’t have dedicated staff to the city of Grand Marais anymore until we can backfill those positions. And that’s our intention.”

The consideration to alter the arrangement between city hall in Grand Marais and the county sheriff’s department will be discussed by the city council and county board in the coming weeks. To learn more about this story, and to hear the full interview with Eliasen, listen to the audio below.

Joe Friedrichs September 25, 2023