St. Croix County Sheriff reported first-quarter activity to the Public Protection and Judiciary Committee, saying overall calls for service remain consistent with last year and describing several recent high-resource incidents.

The sheriff told the committee the county handled a 25-hour emergency detention in early April that tied up resources; he also described a grass fire that generated 79 calls to dispatch and an hours-long domestic incident that required drones and a K-9 to apprehend a suspect. The sheriff said the K-9 apprehension led to the suspect being taken into custody with minimal injuries.

The sheriff credited corrections staff with saving a person who attempted suicide in the jail through CPR; that person survived and remains in custody. He also reported results from the recent drug take-back event: 480 pounds of unused medications were transported to Eau Claire, with Hudson turning in 192 pounds and the sheriff's office lobby collecting 85 pounds.

The sheriff said staffing remains a concern in multiple areas: dispatchers "are still spinning a lot of plates," a jail captain (Captain Anderson) is retiring after 29.5 years and the county has posted a captain vacancy and a sergeant vacancy as a sergeant will attend recruit school.

Committee members asked whether domestic incidents are increasing; the sheriff said he has no specific numbers but anecdotally serious domestic incidents have been frequent, and noted the county has had three homicides this year tied to intimate partner relationships. He also confirmed dispatch is currently fully staffed.

No committee action was taken on the report; it was received for information and committee members thanked the sheriff and staff for their work.