Ottawa County: Dog warden agreement renewed with sheriff

The Ottawa County commissioners have renewed a memorandum of understanding with the sheriff’s office to oversee the dog warden office.
The two-year agreement went into effect Jan. 1 and expires Dec. 31, 2022.
“We did this as a partnership to help each other. It gives me extra people out there. We have equipped the dog warden personnel as our deputies are,” Sheriff Steve Levorchick said. “We are training them into the field officer program; not so they can handle calls or make traffic stops but this way they know what our deputies are doing. If a deputy calls for backup in the area they can be a good backup unit. That is personnel we couldn’t utilize in the past.
“This benefits the county commissioners because it’s less oversight they are required to have. It’s another office we can take off their hands because it is an enforcement office anyways. So it made sense to become a partnership between the commissioners and our office and we handle all administrative duties for the dog warden’s office.
The arrangement with the sheriff’s office began in 2020 when the commissioners floated the idea of placing the dog warden office under the auspices of the sheriff’s office.
Sheriff Levorchick said JoLynn Hetrick, chief dog warden, was planning to retire and the board of commissioners decided it would be a good time to make the change.
The sheriff agreed to their request and, in turn, asked Hetrick if she would stay on.
“I told her I wanted to hire you back because I want you running that office. You’ve done a great job for 30 years and you know what you’re doing out there. She came back and is doing a phenomenal job for us. She is a sergeant at the sheriff’s office for us now overseeing the dog warden office,” the sheriff said.
One other dog warden employee handles office and dog shelter responsibilities.
According to the county’s 2019 annual report, the shelter fielded 1,202 phone calls that year and received 53 reports of dog bites, 62 reports of lost dogs and five reports of found dogs.
Fifty-nine dogs were impounded, 36 were redeemed and 16 adopted. Two were euthanized. The warden issued 41 citations.
The shelter operates on revenues from fees, fines and penalties.
Sheriff Levorchick estimated up to a dozen sheriff departments in Ohio are overseeing dog warden offices.