Retired members of the Marshall County Sheriff’s Department will now get to keep their service weapon following action by the Marshall County Commissioners.
Marshall County’s steps to provide law enforcement officers with their service weapon follows similar action taken by the City of Plymouth to bestow their police officers with their firearm upon retirement.
A draft ordinance was developed by county attorney Jim Clevenger that allows the retiring officers to obtain a special badge. Clevenger says the ordinance outlines a few standards that must be met.
“If there’s a deputy that retires with at least 20 years of service and the Sheriff feels it’s appropriate, he can issue him a badge, an identification card, signifying the officer is retired and has the authority to retain their service weapon,” says Clevenger.
Apart from the badge identifying the officer as a retired deputy, it could also act as an identifier that the individual possesses the necessary skill sets to deal with emergencies while awaiting current first responders to arrive.
The proposal was reviewed by Marshall County Sheriff Matt Hassel prior to recommendation to the Commissioners. Under the ordinance, the service weapon would be declared surplus property by the county.
Hassel says the process, if implemented, would be simple to follow.
“Weapons are bought by the county, yes,” says Hassel. “What happens is the commissioner would vacate the property to the individual.”
The serial number for the firearm would simply be removed from the county’s database.
The Commissioners approved the ordinance on first reading. The board ultimately suspended the rules to implement the changes immediately.
