KETCHUM, Idaho — The City of Ketchum has a little over 100 days to establish its own police department after canceling its 18-year contract with the Blaine County Sheriff's Office in early April.
A week later, the sheriff's office served notice that they would vacate city hall in 120 days, starting the clock for the city to operate on its own.
WATCH: Ketchum is rebuilding its own police department after ending an 18-year contract with the Blaine County Sheriff's Office.
Daniel Hansen, director of community engagement with the city of Ketchum, said the transition process is already underway.
"We feel really confident that the recruiting is going really well and we will be ready for that 120-day transition period. We’ll likely be announcing a Ketchum Police Chief in the next couple of weeks, and then the full police roster will be announced soon after that," Hansen said.
Because the city already owns all the police equipment and office space, little is needed in terms of infrastructure to get the department up and running.
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"Really, all we’re doing in this transition is recruiting the staffing, changing out graphics on police vehicles, new uniforms— there is some access to some computer software, but the infrastructure is already there," explained Hansen.
The city anticipates having 11 full-time employees to start, which is down only one from the sheriff's staff. However, recruiting and retaining police officers in one of the most expensive zip codes in Idaho presents a challenge the city is taking head-on.
"A lot of that is achieved through benefits and compensation. Our goal is actually to have better compensation than they would otherwise be able to get to increase that retention," Hansen said.
The city previously operated its own police department before contracting with the sheriff's office in the early 2000's. Rod Kegley, who has lived in the Wood River Valley for 50 years, remembers the old Ketchum Police Department.
"In the very beginning, we had a chief of police and one deputy. And those were the good old days, I call it, of policing," recalled Kegley.
Kegley noted that the early days of the department were full of juicy stories.
"Both of those guys became very controversial characters. The deputy was handcuffed to the steering wheel of his cop car out by Trail Creek by a bad guy he stopped for a DUI. And the chief of police was having an affair with somebody— I think his wife found out about it and that didn't end well," Kegley said.
Following those days, the department adopted a more professional presence in Ketchum before the city ultimately decided to contract with the county.
"I think that in the end, it was a budgetary decision they made – they thought they would save money to contract with the sheriff's department for that extra service," explained Kegley.
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