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WALKER - Cass County Sheriff Tom Burch obtained county board approval Tuesday to sign a contract with Morrison County to board 15 Cass County prisoners per day at the jail for $50 per day per bed.

The six-month contract is renewable.

Burch said Cass has been boarding 15 prisoners per day since last July at Morrison when it had space available. The contract will require Cass to pay for 15 beds a day, but also will ensure Cass will have 15 Morrison beds open for Cass prisoners.

Last August, there were not enough Morrison beds available for all of Cass's needs, so some prisoners had to be taken further away to Mille Lacs County where there were more open beds, Burch said.

The Morrison contract is in addition to the 40 beds Cass guarantees to Crow Wing County at about the same daily rate.

Cass additionally averaged 24 prisoners a day in the Cass County Jail at Walker during 2015.

The board approved a contract with Longville to provide a deputy to patrol the city for $20,000 in 2016. Longville will contribute a nearly new squad car to the county valued at $29,900. Longville would owe the county no cash for the first 18 months if the contract is extended into 2017.

Burch purchased a new 2016 Lund Alaskan boat for $12,675, using funds from three boats he sold for $11,000 and $3,242 from a grant received to buy a dive team boat.

Margaret Brown of Hackensack donated $100 to the sheriff's K-9, Yankee.

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