Tabor Contracts With Mills County Sheriff's Office For Law Enforcement Coverage

As of Midnight, Saturday, Aug. 1,  the Mills County Sheriff’s Office  is the primary law enforcement agency serving the city of Tabor, replacing the Fremont County Sheriff’s Office.

A partnership between the two entities was approved by Tabor officials last week and will be brought before the Mills County Board Of Supervisors next week, Mills County Sheriff Greg Schultz said.

Tabor’s partnership with Mills County was announced in a public notice on the city of  Tabor’s Facebook page late last week.

“As the contract for law enforcement services with Fremont County has expired, the city has worked diligently to ensure a smooth transition and continued public safety coverage for our residents,” the notice stated. “We would like to thank Fremont County for their years of service and cooperation. We also look forward to building a strong working relationship with the Mills County Sheriff’s Office as we continue our commitment to providing quality public safety services to the citizens of Tabor.”

Schultz said his office was approached by Tabor officials in late July about providing protection for the city. The sheriff said the added duties  won’t create a burden on his deputies because the department already covers the southern end of Mills County, which includes a portion of the city. The north side of Tabor is located in Mills County and the central and south side of the town is in Fremont County.

“We provide coverage to the city of Tabor on the Mills County side. That’s always been part of our responsibility,” Schultz noted. “It was never what we call a contract, but I do believe we provide service and coverage to the top end of Tabor already. We patrol around the Tabor area - on the rural side of the north end of Tabor, so I don’t think it’s going to be a drain on our resources.”

Schultz pointed out his office has six other cities in Mills County under contract for law enforcement coverage.

“Adding Tabor won’t be a problem at all,” he said.

Schultz said the contract is for two months with an automatic renewal.

The change in coverage comes after Tabor officials heard complaints and concerns from citizens about law enforcement service in the community and Tabor Police Chief Derek Aistrope, who is the son of Fremont County Sheriff Kevin Aistrope. In May, the

Tabor City Council approved hiring an outside  firm from Des Moines to conduct an investigation into the city’s single-person police department. Findings of that investigation have not been made public.

Tabor Mayor Devin Juel said the city signed the initial contract with the Mills County Sheriff’s Office on a short-term basis so specific details can get worked out.

“We did a short-term, simple contract for now - just trying to work some things out as far as how to work across county lines,” he said. “We just did it two months for now  so we can get the rest of it worked out.”
Juel was asked if the city still has a police chief.

“No comment on that at this time,” was the mayor’s response.