Will new talks yield different results?

As we reported in last week’s issue of the Custer County Chronicle, both the Custer City Council and the Custer County Commission have expressed interest—or at least agreed to take part—in renewed talks regarding the city’s contract, or lack thereof, with the county to have the Custer County Sheriff’s Office provide law enforcement for the city. The two sides are working on setting a date and a place to have those talks. A public meeting will be preceded by a private get-together between some members of the council, commission, as well as current sheriff Marty Mechaley and soon-to-be sheriff Derrick Reifenrath.
We certainly welcome the new round of talks, but we wonder if it will yield any different results than we had the first time around. To be sure, we are very much in favor of the city and county reaching an accord regarding a contract, but both sides seemed pretty dug in and over each other by the time the negotiations ended late last year. The two sides were also pretty far apart with their final offers.
In case you never saw those offers, or have since forgot, the commission sought a three-year pact that would see the city pay $500,000 in 2026, $650,000 in 2027 and $750,000 in 2028. This allowed the city to budget accordingly to get to the requested dollar figure, the commission said. The city’s final offer was $500,000 for 2026, with a 6 percent increase in each of the next two years. That was the offer the county rejected at its Dec. 18 meeting. So, the two sides agreed on the city paying $500,000 for 2026, but were pretty far apart on how the contract would go from that point.
Since 2000 the two entities have had a series of agreements, including one-year deals, a pair of three-year deals, one four-year deal and one five-year deal. In 2025 the two operated under a one-year deal that saw the city pay the county $435,000. More recently the contracts saw a $10,000 annual bump that the city paid to the county. That was until last year, when the commission said it needed more money from the city for the services provided.
When the two sides couldn’t come to an agreement, the contract expired. That was Dec. 31. That didn’t mean the sheriff’s office just abandoned the city, but it did mean it would no longer respond to certain calls (think barking dogs, loud music complaints, fireworks complaints, neighbor disputes, etc.) It also means not helping with city parades, extra help with Gold Discovery Days, July 4, the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, etc. Felonies of course, are still pursued, but the ancillary things that are more of a city ordinance and not state law are not.
We are encouraged the two sides are still interested in coming to an agreement. We know some interested county and city residents have also been working to facilitate continued talks. I think everyone realizes it’s better for the city when the county is providing law enforcement via its sheriff’s office. The question is, how we get there.
Perhaps both sides will have to give a little to get things done. A side neither entity is entirely happy with may be the way to go. We just hope this public meeting won't just be an outlet to blame the other party. We’ve got some good people working on it. Let’s get it done.