Howard County Sheriff’s Cpl. Joe Underwood and K9 Fero currently serve in patrol for the department. The department would add to its K9 ranks with the new acquisition.

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The Howard County Sheriff’s Department is exploring the possibility of adding a K9 officer to its jail corrections staff. Deputy Gary Cook addressed the Howard County Board of Commissioners on Oct. 2, requesting $10,000 for the purchase and training of a dog.

“Aa couple of months ago, we sent some corrections officers to jail school in Kosciusko County,” said Cook. “They came back and shared that Kosciusko County has a canine in the jail; actually, a couple of them.”

Cook explained that he looked into the practice and found 15 sheriff’s departments that utilized K9 officers for corrections enforcement. That research convinced the department that a K9 in the jail is “an avenue that we wanted to pursue,” he said.

“It’s just another deterrent, another tool,” cook said.

The department reached out to Howard County Prosecutor Mark McCann for funding assistance, and he agreed to fully fund the purchase and training, presumably using his office’s Law Enforcement Fund, which allocates money to local law enforcement, obtained through the liquidation of forfeited assets in civil cases related to criminal activity.

Cook explained that the K9 officer would work a regular, 40-hour week and would be available for emergency call-ins. The Fair Labor Standards Act also would require the department to provide one hour a day for training and maintaining the well-being of the dog.

The idea was well received by the county commissioners, though Commissioner Jeff Lipinski did have some reservations based on the Town of Russiaville’s experience with K9 officers. Lipinski formerly served on Russiaville’s town board.

“I'd really like to get everything ironed out before we do this,” said Lipinski. “We got into some real issues in Russiaville over our K9, and we ended up having to pay a lot of money to the handler. I’ll vote for it, but I just want to make sure that we ironed everything out. I don't want to get caught with a big bill like I did before.”

Cook acknowledged that there would be additional expenses and training unique to the dog and handler, but they would be handled appropriately. But the benefits would outweigh the expense, he asserted.

“There are just so many different avenues for trafficking (into the jail),” The inmates have more time to sit around and to think about how they can get stuff in, versus the time we have to actually fulfill our jobs. Just checking the mail as it comes in and making searches, having a dog in there is going be a nice new turn. We have a body scanner right now, but it doesn't catch everything. This is another tool we'd like to add.”

The commissioners approved the purchase of the K9 unanimously. The sheriff’s department will demonstrate the K9’s effectiveness in the Howard County Jail later today, and the commissioners were invited to attend. Howard County Sheriff Jerry Asher stated that a public demonstration will take place at a later date.