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Price County Law Enforcement Committee Minutes Date: April 9, 2026 Time: 9:00 a.m. Place: Courthouse County Board Room 101; 126 Cherry St; Phillips, WI 54555 Call to Order: Meeting called to order at 9:00 a.m. by Larry Palecek, Committee Chair. Roll Call Members Present: Joe Baratka, Robert Kopisch, Larry Palecek, Patricia Stephan, Dennis Wartgow Also Present: Brian Ernst, County Chair; Robert Hahn, Chief Sheriff Deputy; Paula Houdek, County Supervisor; Nick Trimner, County Administrator Items For Discussion and Possible Action 1. Public Comment and Communications: None. 2. Meeting Minutes – March 9, 2026: Motion Wartgow/Kopisch to approve the March 9, 2026, meeting minutes. Motion carried. 3. Coroner – Department Report: Two qualified recruits were interviewed at the state-level, governor’s office, and one was selected for the background check process. 4. District Attorney – Department Report a. Price County District Attorney – Alexis Nash: Price County District Attorney Alexis Nash started work on Monday, April 6, 2026. Her office is up and running. 5. Clerk of Circuit Court – Department Report: The Clerk of Circuit Court Office is fully staffed. The Clerk of Court position is up for election this year. 6. Sheriff’s Office – Department Report a. New Ordinances i. Dangerous Animal Household: Two ordinance amendments were proposed to address habitual animal offenders and their premises. Motion Kopisch/Stephan to approve amendments to ordinance 223-19 and forward them to public hearing. Motion carried. Motion Kopisch/Stephan to approve amendments to ordinance 223-44.1 and forward them to public hearing. Motion carried. b. Equipment Needs/Update i. Radio Project Update: Met with Motorola in the past month for pricing options. There have been discussions with Bug Tussel about tower placement needs for the best cellular and radio coverage. The County has been adamant about the need for Bug Tussel to present a timeline, updated project plan, and budget within 60 days. There are about 30 days left as of today, April 9th, 2026. Discussion on possible locations for approximately 6 towers, and alternate plans if those towers are not provided. c. Staffing Update: There has been some movement in the Sheriff’s Office. Deputy David Wesenick turned in his intent to retire in June of 2026 after 25 years of service. Brandon Boggs was hired and will be headed to the Law Enforcement Academy in Rhinelander, graduating in September, and completing the field training program. Interviews are being conducted for part- time staff for corrections and dispatch as well as for patrol. K9 Deputy Joe Janak will retire in fall of 2026 along with K9 Dixon. d. Humane Officer / Animal Control: Out of 635 total Sheriff’s Office Law Incidents, 10% or 65 of those incidents were Animal Control Law Incidents. e. K-9 Units: See staffing update above. f. Rec Officer: A Snowmobile Patrol update was presented for the 2025-2026 Season citing 221 hours of patrol and administrative hours, 18 citations administered, and 23 warnings or correction orders distributed. There were no fatalities from snowmobile-related accidents reported. The full report is on file. g. Jail Update: The number of inmates at the jail is at 16, which is down from last month. There have been 94 bookings from January 1, 2026 through April 7, 2026. There were 638 total bookings in 2025, and 556 total bookings in 2024. There have been 2,110 total CAD calls to dispatch in 2026, which are calls generating responses from the fire department, law enforcement or emergency management services. There have been 21,157 incoming and outgoing calls through the higher ground system this year. An apg article from the Price County Review was presented, and is on file, and it states “The Better Business Bureau’s Scam Tracker report for 2025, recording scam reports from consumers in all 72 counties, shows that the most scam reports are coming from Price, Burnett and Wood counties.” The top 10 scams were listed at Online/Counterfeit Purchase, Phishing, Employment, Debt Collection, Advance Fee Loan, Government Agency Impostor, credit Cars, Tax Collection, Healthcare/Medicaid/Medicare, and Sweepstakes/Lottery/Prizes. The Price County Sheriff’s Office encouraged people to call if they suspect a scam. 7. Committee Vouchers: Motion Wartgow/Baratka to approve the March 2026 vouchers in the amount of $161,518.84. Motion carried. 8. Date of Next Meeting: May 7, 2026 9. Adjourn: Meeting adjourned at 10:01 a.m. by Larry Palecek, Committee Chair. Respectfully Submitted by Meredith Hueckman, County Clerk