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Grand Forks County Commission recommends firing correctional center administrator

Apr. 1—GRAND FORKS — A majority of Grand Forks County Commissioners on Tuesday told Sheriff Andy Schneider they would like to see Correctional Center Administrator Bret Burkholder fired. The commission voted 3-2 to recommend the action, with Commissioners Bob Rost and Cynthia Pic dissenting. The reason for the suggestion is that the correctional center department did not follow the expenditure rules for a state grant it had received. According to Schneider, the North Dakota Attorney General's Office told the county last week that the way the funds were spent was not allowed under the grant's language. "(The grant) says that it's to be utilized specifically for hiring and retention bonuses and for tuition and fee payments," Schneider told commissioners during a Tuesday meeting. "The correctional center had spent some of that funding that was allocated for that on other items like vending machines and appliances (for employee use)." Schneider made the commission aware of the situation at the correctional center as he consolidates it into his department. Burkholder did not speak during the meeting. According to the material provided to commissioners, Burkholder said that giving a flat bonus to the correctional officers would have meant that most of the money would have gone to employees no longer employed by the county. "While a simple solution to utilizing these funds would have been to simply divide the award amongst the current officers, and officers know of agencies that have done this, we are looking for a long-term impact from this money to positively affect current and future officers as (the) current trend is is a turnover rate of approximately 20 officers per year," Burkholder wrote in his progress update to the attorney general. The "Back the Blue" grant was created back in 2023 to aid with helping recruitment and retention for law enforcement and correctional officers. Both the sheriff and correction center, at the time separate departments, applied and received funds from the grant. Both were required to submit progress reports at the end of 2024 for progress on the grant, which had to be spent by March 31 of this year. The state had not given a reply to the notice until recently, if at all. Schneider said that after he took over the department, he used the grant funds to give employees bonuses and use other line items to pay for the already bought items. He added that this is a likely issue for communities across the state, given the lack of notification or feedback given on the use of the grant. The total grant received by the correctional center was $88,000 and $37,966.42 had been spent. The move to terminate Burkholder, led by Commissioner Terry Bjerke and seconded by Mark Rustad, was first motioned to eliminate Burkholder outright. However, due to a 2017 North Dakota Supreme Court decision, State's Attorney Haley Wamstad told commissioners that only Schneider, as the elected sheriff, has the authority to terminate employees in his jurisdiction. The commissioners can make a recommendation. "Not happy that we have a state grant that wasn't followed," Bjerke said. "Inexcusable, unacceptable, and we have issues, so taking the bull by the horn." If Schneider decides to fire Burkholder or if Burkholder resigns, the commission receives a receipt of the outcome as part of county employee policy. In other news, the commission: * Laid out priorities for the 2026 budget. Bjerke presented his proposals to raise additional revenues and cut spending. Some of his proposed revenue increases include leasing space at the youth assessment center. The proposed cuts include funding to Safe Kids Grand Forks and Grand Forks Young Professionals, along with reducing some of the mills that are allocated to various entities, like the county weed board and library. * Approved contracting with Larimore and Northwood to have the sheriff's department do local policing. Larimore has contracted with the county for roughly 15 years for the service and a co-op was formed following the closure of Northwood's police department.