KIMBALL -- The Kimball Police Department and County Sheriff's Office have come to an agreement to keep the city dispatch services within Kimball County. 

The Chief of Police and Sheriff met to discuss the matter following a City Council meeting on Nov. 7 where city officials received backlash from the community about the possibility of transferring dispatch services to Cheyenne County. 

“The talk of moving dispatch services to Cheyenne County has been seized,” said Chief of Police Jose Ruiz. “We have discussed some of the issues and concerns and have come to an agreement on things.”

The dispute started with concerns the police department and other emergency services had with the Kimball County dispatchers being jailers as well. 

Kimball County Sheriff David Hottell explained that as many other small communities, the Kimball County Jail is “grandfathered” in so that the jailers can be dispatchers as well. 

“I do not believe this system is perfect, but we are a community of 3,500 people,” Hottell said. “This helps keep the cost down in small communities such as ours.” 

It was mentioned in the city council meeting that there have also been technical difficulties with the CAD system that allows the units in the field to communicate with the dispatch center.

Ruiz said these technical issues have since been resolved.

“The sheriff and I are moving forward with a new plan, and the goal is to work together to provide the best public safety for our community,” Ruiz said. “At the end of the day, we are all neighbors, we all live here, and the sheriff and I want the same thing for the citizens we serve.” 

Hottell echoes Ruiz in that everything is being resolved and moving forward. 

“We will continue to do our best to serve the citizens of Kimball County and always have continued improvement,” he said.