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Earlier this week, the Washington County Commissioners approved a contract with the Town of Copan for law enforcement services.

For $40 an hour, an off-duty deputy from the Washington County Sheriff's Office will provide the services for Copan. Pete Elkens with the Copan Senior Center said this should help address the spike in crime that is seen in town. The town, Elkens said, has been without police protection for years, and he says Copan has been tabbed as the "drug center" for Northeast Oklahoma and Southeast Kansas. He said that the time for that to go away has come.

Two deputies already live in Copan. Elkens said with them living in town and having their deputy vehicles sitting in the drive way, which should help some when it comes to crime control.

The law enforcement contract was not reviewed during the Town of Copan's last Town Hall meeting on Tuesday, but Elkens did say that they may address it in an upcoming special meeting. We will have more on this when more becomes available on that Town Hall meeting.

In the Commissioners' meeting on Monday, Sheriff Scott Owen said the Town of Copan and their attorney approached the Sheriff's Office at the beginning of the year about the services. He said this came about after the town's failed attempt at implementing a police department.

According to the Sheriff, there are issues in Copan that town officials want to see addressed. He said there has been a couple spikes in criminal activity in the area, which is why Copan feels as if they should proceed with extra patrol that they can afford.

If the Town of Copan's budget gets to a point where they can afford full-time services, Sheriff Owen said they can always sit down and re-negotiate the services being offered. With that being said, he said they will still continue to provide patrol and law enforcement services for Copan even when the extra deputies are not on to serve.

Code enforcement will be up to the Council in the Town of Copan. Sheriff Owen said he does not see a ton of citations being given by the extra on-duty deputies. If any citations are issued, he said they will be traffic infractions or animal control infractions.

Tracy Lovelace is about a month or two into the Code Enforcement Officer role in the Town of Copan. Elkens said with as handicapped as the position is, Lovelace is doing a good job. He said she still has some training to go through.

Again, the law enforcement contract between the County and the Town of Copan was approved by the County Commissioners this week. The contract lasts through June 2020.