Halstad City Council Terminates Policing Contract with Norman County Sheriff’s Office

Halstad, MN — The Halstad City Council has decided to do away with their policing contract with the Norman County Sheriff’s Office. The council informed Sheriff Jeremy Thornton of their decision at their regular monthly meeting on Monday night. The city pays $30,000 a year for forty hours of additional patrolling each month. Halstad Mayor Darin Johnson says the council felt that the price wasn’t worth the service they were getting.

The termination of the contract doesn’t mean no police presence at all or that no one is coming to the rescue. Mayor Johnson says they still are responsible to the safety of the entire county.

Many of the crime issues in the Halstad community stemmed from the New North Apartments, which was the scene of a brutal assault and brief manhunt earlier this winter. But those apartments have since been abandoned and as a result crime has dropped significantly in town, according to Johnson.

More news from this week’s Halstad City Council meeting in the coming days on R & J News.