SOLON — The City Council approved a f ive-year contract with the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office (JCSO) during their regular monthly meeting Wednesday, Sept. 18. The Sherrif’s Office provides law enforcement services to the city with a contract-specified number of patrol hours per month and opened a substation on Iowa St. 9-1-1 response is provided 24/7/365 regardless of the contracted hours. The current contract started July 1 and since August 31 the JCSO had logged 466 hours and 38 minutes with a total of 2,340 hours contracted at a rate of $57/per hour and 45 hours/week.

The move to a five-year contract was initiated by Sheriff Brad Kunkel. The Sheriff is in the process of encouraging communities without their own police force to move to the five-year plan, which he feels offers benefits to the JCSO for meeting staffing needs and making the budgetary process easier for all entities concerned. City Administrator Cami Rasmussen explained the dynamics of the new contract to the council.

“The agreement has been a work in-progress with Sheriff Kunkel and the Police Committee since earlier this year during our budget talks when we talked about a five-year contract. I think we have an agreement that meets the needs of our community as we continue to grow over the next five years and also allows the Sheriff’s Department to plan accordingly for their staffing as well,” she said.

With the five-year contract, the scheduled patrol hours increase gradually. However the hourly rate also increases annually. Rasmussen noted the increases move the city closer to Sheriff Kunkel’s desire to have the cities cover more of the costs incurred by providing law enforcement, particularly as growth continues and increases the number of calls for service. “I think it’s a great step,” she said, “because we want to be paying our fair share. We also know the great value that the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office provides to Solon. We’ve had a great relationship for many years and this agreement is just a representation of the long-standing relationship that we hope to continue.”

The agreement goes into effect July 1, 2025, and runs until June 30, 2030, unless amended, modified, or terminated.

Under the contract the JCSO shall provide:

• Routine patrol including door checks of commercial establishments

• Respond to non-emergency calls for service and 9-1-1 calls made to the Joint Emergency Communications Center (JECC)

• Enforcement of criminal-related state laws and local ordinances • Investigation and follow-up of crimes warranting additional investigation in the opinion of the Sheriff’s Office

• Specialized traffic and vehicle enforcement operations

• Community policing activities

• Monthly attendance at City Council meetings

• Coordination or referrals to appropriate mental health/and or crisis related services

• Animal control services as specified in the contract.

• The City of Solon will provide or make arrangements to provide space for temporary custody of cats and dogs within the city limits.

A deputy may transport a cat or dog to the designated location within the City. Transportation of animals to a location outside of the City will be handled by City staff or through a third party.

Editor’s note: Rasmussen explained the City of Solon handles stray animals complaints with the Public Works Department responsible for collecting strays and delivering them to the Cedar Valley Humane Society if the owner is unknown. “Stray animals have become more frequent in recent years leading to discussions with JSCO on how to best handle these situations,” she said. “As a result of those discussions, animal control language was added to the most recent JCSO agreement that was effective on July 1, 2024, as well as the recently approved 5-year agreement. Our role will be to coordinate between the two entities (JCSO and Cedar Valley Humane Society) as needed for stray animals.”

Rasmussen added, “Responsible pet ownership is our expectation, which promotes safe and friendly neighborhoods. Pets do get loose at times and generally neighbors are good about getting the word out and helping find the owner without any city involvement. An annual pet license is required for dogs and cats ($2 if spayed or neutered/$10 if not) and helps to locate the owner if a pet does get loose.”

• Other general law enforcement duties as required

Rates and hours

Current Fiscal Year (FY) – 45 hours/week @ $57/hour

FY 2026-2027 – 47 hours/week @ $61/hour

FY 2027-2028 – 47 hours/week @ $65/hour

FY 2028-2029 – 50 hours/week @ $69/ hour

FY 2029-2030 – 53 hours/week @ $71/hour

“As Cami said, we’ve been working on this for quite a while,” said Sheriff Kunkel, who was present at the meeting. He noted previous agreements have been more of Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) versus a formal 28E agreement. 28E agreements (so named as they fall under Code of Iowa Chapter 28E) allow governmental entities to enter into contracts with other governmental entities for mutual advantages. “It’s what we should’ve been doing for the last 30 years, so I’m going to be moving all of the towns to this (28E agreement) format also.”