Sheriff and county will talk to Scottville about police coverage

LUDINGTON — Sheriff Kim Cole and County Administrator Fabian Knizacky have been given the go ahead to pursue talks with the City of Scottville about forming some type of law enforcement agreement.
Since January 2012 the Scottville Police Department has been administered by the Ludington Police Department on a yearly contract. The contract was recently renewed for 2013 but Police Chief Mark Barnett and Ludington City Manager John Shay would like to see the contract terms changed next year.
One of the major parts of that change would be supervision, according to Scottville City Manager Amy Williams. See related story.
Cole discussed the topic with the county’s Public Safety and Courts Committee Tuesday afternoon. He told the committee that he contact Williams about how the sheriff’s office could help out Scottville.
“My suggestion is for perhaps Scottville meet us at funding 70 percent of a road deputy,” Cole said. “We would add a night deputy 40 hours per week and keep that deputy in the center of the county, guaranteeing response to Scottville within five minutes.
Cole said the discussion with Williams was preliminary and he is open to suggestions from the county commissioners and Knizacky.