Wright County Exploring Security Options When The License Bureau Reopens To The Public

Press release from the Wright County Government:

April 29, 2020

As Wright County prepares to reopen the Government Center to the public in some form in the coming weeks, one of the biggest concerns is how traffic at the License Bureau will be handled in the age of social distancing.

Long lines and irritated people were common place prior to the License Bureau being shut down by the State of Minnesota last month. Weeks later with driver’s license requests backlogged even more, the expectation is that there will be longer lines and more people funneled into a small area in the corner of the first floor of the Government Center.

As part of its April 28 board meeting, the Wright County Board of Commissioners reviewed the minutes from April 22 personnel committee meeting where the situation was discussed. The recommendation coming out of that meeting was to have a non-licensed uniformed officer posted at the License Bureau. Commissioner Mike Potter asked Sheriff Sean Deringer if his office was going to supply the officer.

“On the issue of the non-licensed police officer or sheriff’s deputy being there, I just want to have the sheriff tell us what we can or can’t do,” Potter said. “As much as it’s a good idea, I want to make sure it fits in the function of what’s going on in that office.”

Deringer responded that, with five open positions currently in his office, he told the board he was not going to allocate his staff to have a deputy assigned to keeping the peace in a Government Center hallway.

“I don’t believe that a hall monitor at this point is good use of our resources,” Deringer said. “I believe that everyone is getting used to the social distancing stickers on the floor. Certainly we will do what we can to mitigate people if there are large congregations. Just like we currently do, we’re going to make our passes through the hallway, but to designate a uniformed presence in that hallway for the purposes of social distancing, we’re not going to participate in that.”

Commissioner Mark Daleiden said there have been several instances of people losing their temper because of wait times in License Bureau lines and asked if the part-time bailiffs that work in the courts area could be utilized in that capacity.

Deringer responded that, once the Government Center returns to some sense of normality, the courts are going to be as crowded as ever and the limited resources he has with bailiffs assigned to the courts will be stretched thin.

“There has already been discussion at the state level how they can facilitate opening at least some courts up to get some hearings, because they’re calendars are unbelievably backed up – they’re getting more so by the day,” Deringer said. “Depending on how that looks, with our part-time staff, we only have them for allotted days during the calendar year. I do not want to allocate resources for the purposes of a hall monitor. Certainly, if there is a problem, we can respond down there. A uniformed presence is always going to be a mitigating factor. As time allows, we can spend more time down there, but, at this point, I’m not going to dedicate a staff member in that hallway.”

Deringer told the board that technically his office isn’t in charge of Government Center security. While his office is responsible for the security of judges, the courts and court administration, the remainder of Government Center, like any other building in downtown Buffalo, is under the purview of the Buffalo Police Department.

Deringer added that there will be a new security paradigm when the courts move into the new Justice Center later this year and the remainder of county employees move into the new Government Center in the fall of 2021 and that the shifting of personnel to new buildings needs to be part of a larger discussion.

“That’s kind of why I’m drawing this line in the sand,” Deringer said. “This building’s security is not in my purview and I just want to be very clear. I have been approached and there have been several conservations about keeping a staff member down here after the courts move to the new Justice Center. At this point, we do not plan to have a staff member down here.”

Potter said that the minutes didn’t require the security to be done by the sheriff’s office. Outside security personnel could be used as an alternative. While there is a demonstrated need for security and social distancing in the confined spaces at the License Bureau entrance, how security in that area is staffed hasn’t been determined.

“The recommendation doesn’t say we’re expecting the sheriff’s department to do this – it says a non-licensed uniformed officer,” Potter said. “That could be a security company. We’re not specifically pinning that on Sheriff Deringer’s department. We’re just saying we will have one. If we have to find a private security firm, we’re going to have to deal with this for the duration of the year we’re here anyway and, when we move out to (the new building), we’re going to have to figure out this game plan. The devil’s in the details. When you make a move, all the little things on the checklist start popping up and this is one of them.”

The board made a motion to adopt the personnel committee minutes, but removed the recommendation assigning a security officer to the License Bureau. Further discussion is expected to take place at a future committee of the whole meeting, where a cost analysis can be done to determine the most cost effective way to provide security at License Bureau.

This press release was produced by the Wright County Government. The views expressed here are the author’s own.