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The Colorado County Commissioners Court approved an interlocal agreement between the Colorado County Sheriff’s Office and Weimar Police Department for the contract of one deputy during a special meeting, Thursday, Dec. 4.
Spurred by an understaffed pol ice force, Weimar Pol ice Chief David Socha proposed the temporary agreement to support law enforcement efforts in the city. Sheriff Justin Lindemann said his administration determined that the CCSO does not have enough full-time positions to assign a deputy to Weimar but proposed the contract deputy as an alternative.
“We concluded that the best way to address the situation was to allow deputies to volunteer on their days off to cover patrol shifts,” Lindemann said. “This arrangement will allow deputies to earn their approximate overtime rate while covering shifts within the Weimar city limits.”
Lindemann clarified that the contracted deputy will not present themselves as part of Weimar Police Department and cannot uphold city ordinances. The court approved a working draft of the agreement, subject to the expected approval from the Court Attorney. If later approved by Weimar City Council, the agreement will expire on Dec. 3, 2026, if not sooner terminated.
“The agreement is only temporary and intended to support the Weimar Police Department by providing their officers a break as they currently work continuously to provide law enforcement services in their community,” Lindemann said.
Lindemann said the breaks wi l l address mental health concerns stemming from overworked officers, especial ly considering increased crime around the holiday season. Weimar Police Department has eight total positions, but Chief Socha said that the department is down to one patrol officer, two sergeants and himself. He said he assigned one sergeant to tackle the seven-month backlog of investigative cases.
“We got so many guys pulling dual duty. I do have guys that do work probably…eight to 10 days, 12-hour shifts,” Socha said. “…It’s been really tough on them. They’re saying, ‘We can do it. We can make it.’ We all know you can’t do that for long.”
As positions in Weimar Police Department are filled, officials expect CCSO’s involvement in Weimar per the agreement to decrease. In return, Weimar “agrees to pay for 100% of all costs incurred by the County,” the agreement reads. The estimated cost includes the deputy’s hourly rate with benefits at $49 per hour and fuel and vehicle costs at “$0.70 [per] mile from departure from home/station and return.”
“The County is not intending to make any money from this arrangement or profit from it, merely to be reimbursed completely for the services, equipment and personnel extended,” County Judge Ty Prause said. “…We just want to help. That’s the purpose of this whole exercise—and to keep the citizens safe.”
Weimar City Council is scheduled to meet next on Thursday, Dec. 11, at 2 p.m., an earlier time than usual due to the Weimar Down Home Christmas celebration.
