County to employ new law enforcement officer

CLOVIS - The Curry County Courthouse will have a new law enforcement officer enabled by a competitive federal grant from the Department of Justice, County Manager Lance Pyle announced in the commission meeting Tuesday morning.

An award of $116,597 from the DoJ's office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) will fund the first three years on duty for a fourth officer for the courthouse, assigned to "address threats and possible threats made against the structure and the citizens of our community," read a county news release.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced on Monday the award of over $98 million in grant funding through the COPS Hiring Program, intended "to support the hiring of additional law enforcement officers for three years to address specific crime problems through community policing strategies," the release said.

The Curry County Sheriff's Office, along with the county administration, was among 179 agencies to receive funding; about 1,100 applied, the release said. The county was one of only three agencies in the state to receive funding.

The county will be responsible for fully funding the new officer's fourth year on the job, Pyle said Tuesday.

Also at Tuesday's county commission meeting:

n In his October report to the commission, Curry County Adult Detention Center Administrator Mark Gallegos spoke on the jail's recent approval for a three-year Certificate of Accreditation by the Adult Detention Professional Standards Council of the New Mexico Association of Counties.

"Our team has worked hard and has had to endure a lot of trials and tribulations. We had to come in and work hard on changing a culture, not only of staff but also of detainees," he said. "But the real test is going to be the next three years. How do we sustain this?"

Commissioner Chet Spear commended Gallegos on his leadership and jail staff for achieving what was previously thought a nearly impossible task.

"I got here three years ago, and from day one this board and (Pyle) told me there was no way that our jail could ever be accredited, because of the facility," Spear said. "In three years, we've gone through administrator after administrator and had a shortage of personnel. But what you and your team have done is nothing short of incredible."

n Unanimous approval by attending commissioners Ben McDaniel, Spear and Robert Thornton was given a contract with professional services with Trane for Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning renovations to the county courthouse.

n Unanimous approval was given a budgetary adjustment adding $17,500 to Fund 808, following the recent grant award from the Juvenile Adjudication Fund.

n In a report on the Broadview Fire Station Construction, Randy Kamradt said the project was "progressing steadily, albeit slower than any of us would like." The most significant remaining work is well completion and installation of a water storage tank and a concrete apron in front of the building, he said.