Sheriff Funke recaps first year on the job

Mineral County Sheriff Ryan Funke was a keynote speaker at the Mineral County Central Republican Committee meeting last week.

He was pleased to share how his first year has gone, and by comparison to most years for the Sheriff's Office, this was ‘baptism by fire’ for the seasoned law enforcement professional.  

“We were released from the writ of mandamus early last summer and because of that I immediately made a stringent hiring checklist for all of our employees. When somebody applies, for any position, we go through the checklist to make sure they are compliant with state law before they are hired,” he said. 

"Multi-jurisdictional cooperation (highway patrol, drug interdiction teams, etc.) is at an all-time high and I believe everyone saw that with the officer-involved shooting in St. Regis where we had everybody respond to help. We’ve signed several MOU’s [Memorandum of Understanding] with drug task forces to help fight the war on drugs in Mineral County. We have a $100,000 Stonegarden Grant that was given to us to assist with this mission.” 

Operation Stonegarden is a federal grant program administered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), a component of the Department of Homeland Security, as part of the State Homeland Security Grant Program. Operation Stonegarden provides funding to state, local, and tribal law enforcement agencies to enhance their capabilities to “support joint efforts to secure the United States’ borders.” 

Funds are to be used for additional law enforcement personnel, overtime pay, general purpose equipment, and travel and lodging for the deployment of state and local personnel. 

Funke explained that they have purchased two 2024 Ford F-150 4x4s with a portion of the grant, which was no cost to the county, with a delivery date next spring. 

“We updated the Alberton and Superior Law Enforcement budget contracts that have been renewed with a signature each year but weren’t read. Just doing this is saving the county money as we’ve streamlined the deputy wages now to be included in the revisions. We have representation at the City Council meetings now and we’re finishing up evaluations for all Sheriff’s Office employees. This is the first time in at least the last six years that individual evaluations have been performed. These are extra important going into a new year so that we know where each employee is, and each employee knows where they are for their future goals and adjustments, if needed.” 

One will notice when talking about the Sheriff's Office, Funke uses "we" when the information is positive and then uses "I" when there is a discrepancy, seemingly talking ownership of problems and encouraging team-spirit on successes. 

An anonymous employee of the 21 he supervises between deputies, detention and dispatch said that, "Ryan takes care of his crew before himself."

Funke shared that a new backup generator for detention and dispatch was purchased with CARES (Coronavirus Aide, Relief and Economic Security) Act funding along with new LED lighting throughout their department, new jail clothing as the other was in tatters, tinted the jail cell windows so that inmates cannot see dispatch for their security. More security cameras have been added in the courthouse and all Sheriff's Office employees are now certified in CPR, AED, First-Aid and Narcan dispensing.

 A new tablet program for the inmates is in operation so they can look up information concerning their case and listen to music. 

“This makes them happier and creates less of a danger. Happy inmates are easier to handle,” Funke explained. “The jail has brought in over $300,000 in revenue this year by housing inmates from other agencies including the U.S. Marshall Service. We’ve increased the rate of $79.50 to $100 per day per inmate and another increase will be coming. We have two new supervisors (Lisa Denn and Patti Curtin) in dispatch and we’ve completed the upgrade to the entire CAD (Computer Aided Design) phone system. The 911 consol needs to be upgraded and it looks like we found money for that but our radio system needs to be replaced, and that is going to be expensive.” 

Undersheriff Wayne Cashman chimed in, “Don’t forget the Reverse 911 System we initiated, Ryan. And we upgraded the fire permit system so you can go online and update your burn permit each year.” 

The county covers the cost of burn permits when residents renew online. 

“The evidence room has been inventoried and catalogued. We have cases that go back to the 80’s there and I don’t know when the last sheriff had the court issue a destruction order for what’s in there, but we’re going to do that. We have a much larger training budget so we’re sending the deputies to as much training that makes sense for what they do in Mineral County. Sgt Allard is at an FBI Leadership Training this week and Wayne and I are slated for February. Firearms have been upgraded which will provide more office safety measures.” 

Funke and Cashman assist the deputies with patrolling for a few hours each day but administrative duties tug them into the office. They answer the phones, type letters and reports, respond to emails, schedule training and vacation for everyone. The two-coordinate information delivery to the city councils and commissioners and attend community meetings and civic events as much as possible.

The 2024 wishlist includes the inmate occupancy rate increase, with better pay for deputy, detention, and dispatch so it will be more competitive with the same positions offered in Missoula, which is an hour drive each way, but for more than $20,000 a year in salary. 

“The only way I can see of bridging that gap so we can keep our good employees is to do a possible Public Safety Levy. And I know that everybody’s taxes have gone up so this isn’t the best time. But my remark is, ‘What’s the price safety? How much does your safety cost for you and your family?” 

Funke knows his staff. 

“We’ve got a great bunch of guys and we can’t afford to lose any of them to Missoula County. The levy will also bring on board a School Resource Officer at no cost to the schools. The original plan was to split the cost with them (Alberton, Superior and St. Regis Schools), but this way the schools will keep their budget intact by this office covering the salary of the SRO. And also, we need to look at hiring an investigator that is also badly needed with the type of crime we are dealing with now.” 

In closing, Funke reiterated that visibility has been and will remain a priority.

 “If something is going on, I want a deputy there.”