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Candidates for Richland County, N.D.'s, commissioner and sheriff positions spoke and answered questions at a Monday, Oct. 10 forum in Hankinson. From left, incumbent Commissioners Sid Berg, Nathan Berseth and Rollie Ehlert, commissioner candidate Terry Goerger, Chief Deputy Gary Ruhl, Deputy Jason Weber and Bob Wurl, an event co-organizer.
Candidates for Richland County, N.D.'s, commissioner and sheriff positions spoke and answered questions at a Monday, Oct. 10 forum in Hankinson. From left, incumbent Commissioners Sid Berg, Nathan Berseth and Rollie Ehlert, commissioner candidate Terry Goerger, Chief Deputy Gary Ruhl, Deputy Jason Weber and Bob Wurl, an event co-organizer.
Department protocol and personal integrity were among the topics that Richland County’s sheriff candidates were asked to comment on at a Monday, Oct. 10 forum in Hankinson.
Chief Deputy Gary Ruhl and Deputy Jason Weber are each running for a four-year term to succeed retiring Sheriff Larry Leshovsky. Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 8. Ruhl and Weber were among the 11 Richland County and North Dakota District 25 candidates speaking at the forum, which was broadcast live by 3 Borders Sports Network. The forum can be seen in its entirety on YouTube as “Meet The Candidates (10/10/22).”
Weber is director of Richland County’s branch of the Southeast Multi-County Agency (SEMCA) drug task force. Law enforcement’s use of confidential informants inspired a question about how the use is regulated.
“With confidential informants, obviously, we go by what’s outlined in state law,” Weber said. “The law didn’t really change anything with how we operate. How we operate is that we operate under the guidelines of the North Dakota (Bureau of Criminal Investigation). Those are the guidelines that we operate under. It’s strictly documented and everything.”
Earlier in October, attorneys for parties including John and Tammy Sadek and Weber appeared before the North Dakota Supreme Court. Prior to his death in 2014, the Sadeks’ son Andrew was a North Dakota State College of Science student and confidential informant recruited by Weber. The couple are appealing a 2019 district court ruling, upheld by a 2020 state court ruling, regarding their case against both Weber and Richland County.
“(They argue that) the district court made a mistake when it ruled the case was no longer ongoing and when it ruled their motion was frivolous and worthy of sanctions,” Forum News Service reported.
Laws regarding the usage of campus police officers have changed, Weber said Monday, Oct. 10, but he reiterated that the use of confidential informants has guidelines.
“We’ve always acted under the guidelines under the North Dakota BCI and if those ever changed, we would continue to operate under those guidelines,” Weber said.
A question and answer session among the sheriff candidates and forum attendees included a more than four-minute exchange between Ruhl and Dustin Hill, Breckenridge, Minnesota, a business owner and retired former Wahpeton police officer.
Saying that he had some concerns about integrity, Hill asked about any role Ruhl may have had in officers’ loss of training certifications or delay in an officer receiving certification to respond to DUI incidents.
“I was waiting for that one,” Ruhl said to Hill. “So, don’t you think, for once, maybe the guy needs to know the parameters of his job? He joined the sheriff’s office to do more than chase tailpipes and write DUIs.”
“So, you think DUIs is ‘chasing tailpipes’?” Hill asked.
“You gotta do domestics — I don’t don’t know if you ever did that — domestics, paper service, civil process, all of that stuff before you go into a specialty field,” Ruhl said.
Hill also asked Ruhl about alleged personal behavior including making a racist comment to an African-American officer and involvement in the handing of a DUI incident involving a member of Ruhl’s family.
The sheriff candidates’ question and answer session also included Dave Paulson, Hankinson, asking about candidates’ plans to regulate truck travel in Richland County.
Richland County and its commissioners have raised the maximum weight before fines are imposed for a truck without a permit to 82,500 pounds, Ruhl said. County patrol deputies are able to stop trucks and call for weigh-ins or escort the truck to a scale outside Mooreton.
Truck-related patrolling by Richland County’s regulatory officer can be hindered, Weber said. The regulatory officer has sometimes been asked to handle general patrolling along with his specific work.
Near-heated dialogue recurred throughout the forum, which was hosted by Rollie Lipp, 3 Borders Sports Network. Bob Wurl, among the event’s organizers, also took part by reading anonymously-submitted questions from audience members.
Comments were particularly calm when the four Richland County Board of Commissioners candidates made statements and answered questions. Three board positions, each with a four-year term in office, will be decided on Election Day. Incumbents Sid Berg, Nathan Berseth and Rollie Ehlert face candidate Terry Goerger.
Highlights of the commissioner candidates’ statements include:
• Sid Berg — “We have challenges in every department. … I think the problem we’re looking at and that we’re trying to resolve is our salaries and benefits. … We lose some (employees) because they’re going someplace else for a few dollars more. Those are positions that are very critical to the county to keep full.”
• Nathan Berseth — “I would like to continue to focus on an economic base. Next year, Richland County will be building 55 homes throughout the county. And it’s (in) Wahpeton, Wyndmere, Lidgerwood, Hankinson, Colfax, Abercrombie. It’s a builder-driven program and I’m really excited to see the opportunities that brings.”
• Rollie Ehlert — “This is our third opportunity to receive Prairie Dog funding (for infrastructure). Finally, after six years, our bucket should finally see some money. That’s going to go a long way to reconstruction of some of our roads. It’s not the answer to everything, but it’s $4.8 million. It’s considerable.”
• Terry Goerger — “(While playing football, I learned that) to be a great leader, you gotta be a servant to those you are leading. That would be the employees of the county, the managers of the county, in each of the different areas. … We have to work together. To make the guy next to you better, you’re gonna be successful.”
A five-member group, the Richland County Board of Commissioners is completed by Tim Campbell and Perry Miller. Commissioner Miller was among those attending Monday’s forum. Former North Dakota District 26 legislator and current Fargo radio host Joel Heitkamp also attended.
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