Blackduck ends police department, shifts coverage to sheriff’s office

Blackduck will now depend on the Beltrami County Sheriff’s Office for day-to-day police coverage after city leaders voted to end the Blackduck Police Department, a 116-year-old institution that has served the city since 1910. The decision marks one of the clearest signs yet of how staffing shortages and budget pressure are reshaping public safety in small-town Minnesota.

The Blackduck City Council unanimously voted to close the department after a public hearing at Blackduck City Hall on Monday, March 16, 2026. City Administrator Christina Regas said the council was “not taking the decision lightly,” while Beltrami County Sheriff Jason Riggs took part in the discussion about future coverage.

Blackduck’s department had dwindled to a part-time chief, one part-time officer and a single squad car. Although the city had budgeted for a full-time chief and a full-time patrol officer, officials said repeated recruitment efforts failed. The city had also set aside levy funds to support a second full-time officer in recent years, but still could not fill the position.

That left Blackduck weighing whether to keep carrying a department that could not be fully staffed or shift the work to the county. The council chose the latter, opening the door to a contractual arrangement with the sheriff’s office that will absorb the city’s law enforcement responsibilities. The change is expected to save Blackduck taxpayers about $25,000 to $40,000, according to projected estimates.

For a city of about 800 people surrounded by pines in southern Beltrami County, the move carries immediate county implications. Blackduck opened a joint public works and public safety facility in 2023, but that investment did not solve the underlying staffing problem. Instead, the city now joins a growing list of rural Minnesota communities relying on shared services or county coverage as local departments struggle to stay fully staffed.

The broader pressure is statewide. Minnesota Law Enforcement Labor Services said 204 law enforcement departments were short officers, and nearly half of the state’s agencies were dealing with vacancies. Blackduck’s decision shows how those shortages can push even long-standing local departments to the point of collapse, shifting responsibility for neighborhood policing from city hall to the county courthouse.