Emmet County approves Bear Creek Township deputy sheriff agreement

Jillian Fellows, The Petoskey News-Review
·2 min read
Under a new agreement, the Emmet County Sheriff’s Department will appoint a full-time deputy sheriff to serve in Bear Creek Township.
Under a new agreement, the Emmet County Sheriff’s Department will appoint a full-time deputy sheriff to serve in Bear Creek Township.

PETOSKEY — The Emmet County Board of Commissioners approved an agreement with Bear Creek Township on Monday to place a full-time deputy sheriff in the township.

The agreement has been a long time coming, with the idea circulating between the two governmental bodies for many years.

“We’ve been working on this agreement for about a year now where Emmet County would provide a deputy to serve in Bear Creek Township,” said David Boyer, county administrator. “The Bear Creek Township would offset all costs associated with that deputy being in there. And they’re looking at services including traffic enforcement, investigating on crimes, responses to calls and services and providing enforcement to township matters. The sheriff and the undersheriff have been working with this … But we feel this is a good partnership and it puts another sheriff in the county.”

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Dennis Keiser, township supervisor, said Bear Creek has been talking about this potential partnership for about five years. Various issues with staffing and funding held them back until now.

“Finally we were able come together on this contract that I think is good for both parties,” he said.

Both the county and township need to approve the agreement for it to be implemented. The item was listed on the township's June 7 agenda.

“We continue to grow and we know the need for extra enforcement in our township,” Keiser said. “The board has seen it and are in support of it as well.”

According to the agreement, the deputy will provide law enforcement services in Bear Creek Township under the direct supervision of the Emmet County Sheriff’s Road Patrol command structure. The sheriff's office will assign a deputy to the contract position long term, allowing the deputy to develop working relationships with township officials and the Bear Creek community. The proposed agreement is for three years, with an option to extend the agreement. The position will be fully funded by Bear Creek Township and will be invoiced quarterly.

— Contact Jillian Fellows at jfellows@petoskeynews.com.  

This article originally appeared on The Petoskey News-Review: Emmet County approves Bear Creek Township deputy sheriff agreement