City Approves Changes to Law Enforcement Contract

By Gordon Hopkins The Fairbury City Council voted to make changes to the law enforcement contract with the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office. However, the vote was not without dissension. Jefferson County and the City of Fairbury have been negotiating for several weeks to make changes to their law enforcement contract. Chief among those changes is allowing an increase of up to six percent each year for the next three years. The contract originally allowed for up to a three percent increase.Jefferson County Commissioners have noted that costs for serving the city have proven to be far more expensive than originally anticipated during the original contract negotiations. Those increasing costs have been exacerbated by ongoing inflation, supply chain issues, and staffing shortages. The city council vote was four to two, with councilpersons Kelly Davis and Bradley Kuzelka both voting against the changes. “Personally gentlemen, I think we shot ourselves in the foot by getting involved in this contract with them and getting rid of our police department. I don't think we're getting our money's worth the way it is and now they want more. If you watch the paper when they put the sheriff's department's activities in there. It's been averaging about 1.1 traffic stops a day, countywide. I could make more than that by driving 10 blocks from my house to work. We're not…I don't think we're getting what we’re paying for. The Highway Patrol stops more people in Fairbury than the sheriff’s department does. And most of them I could write a ticket to would be the sheriff's department, rolling through stop signs. You know, I'm not in favor of this at all.”Kelly Davis

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