Commissioners vote unanimously to send case to state court of appeals

 

The Freeborn County Board of Commissioners voted unanimously Tuesday to appeal the decision by a Waseca County District Court judge to raise Sheriff Kurt Freitag’s salary to almost $114,000.

The resolution, motioned by District 2 Commissioner Dan Belshan and seconded by District 1 Commissioner Glen Mathiason, moves the case to the Minnesota Court of Appeals.

Belshan, after motioning for the resolution, noted that the action is allowed by law, just as Freitag was allowed to appeal the salary set by the board initially.

The sheriff in December appealed the salary the board set for him for 2019 at $97,020, a 4.99% increase from his $92,403 pay in 2018.

The matter came before Waseca County District Court Judge Carol Hanks in May, and Hanks last month ruled after a court trial that evidence showed the board did not sufficiently take into account the extent of the sheriff’s responsibilities, experience, qualifications and performance when it set his salary.

Hanks said the county board presented no evidence about what it considered in arriving at the $97,020 salary and did not have any discussion about Freitag’s almost $114,000 salary proposal between its Nov. 27, 2018, workshop and the Dec. 11, 2018, board meeting.

She ordered Freitag be paid $113,952, based on comparisons to salaries of sheriffs in other counties and taking into account Freitag’s responsibilities.

The higher salary was effective Jan. 1, according to the order.

Freeborn County Administrator Tom Jensen said the cost of the appeal would be substantially less than the rest of the court proceedings thus far, estimating between $2,000 and $5,000, depending on how the case proceeded, according to initial discussions from the county’s attorney. He said the county would also need to get a transcript of the initial court proceedings.

In other action, the board:

• Approved writing a letter of support for a new outpatient chemical dependency treatment program through Independent Management Services.

Jack Wittkopp with Independent Management Services, who is retired from Fountain Centers through Mayo Clinic Health System, said the organization seeks to bring the services to Albert Lea because of the need. He commented on the waiting lists for people to get into outpatient treatment.

Wittkopp said the longer range goal would be to first set up an office in Albert Lea and apply to have a second site in Austin.

Jensen said the effort has been in the works for the past couple years.

• Approved school nursing contracts between Freeborn County Public Health and Hollandale Christian School and the Glenville-Emmons, Alden-Conger and Albert Lea school districts.

Public Health Director Sue Yost said the contracts include services such as early childhood screening, and vision, hearing and scoliosis screenings, depending on the contracts for each district.

• Set prices on four tax forfeiture parcels for the 2019 sale to adjoining land owners.

The price for properties at 418 Ulstad Ave. and 1718 E. Hawthorne St. in Albert Lea were amended to $100 each, and the price for properties at 203 Netherlands Ave. in Hollandale and 4th Place SW in Geneva were amended to $1 each.

• Approved repairs to the drainage system.