The City of Audubon and the Audubon County Sheriff’s Office will merge the two entities as only one officer remains on the force. On Monday night’s city council meeting, the current standing police chief, Coby Gust, announced that he is resigning, as he has accepted a position as a deputy for the Audubon County Sheriff’s Office. The department had lost two serving officers before Gust announced his departure, as both accepted positions at other agencies. To accommodate a short-staffed department, the Audubon City Council has approved a resolution to increase the hourly wage of as-needed police officers to $30 an hour for 90 days while the city and county work on an agreement to consolidate. In previous meetings, Audubon County Sheriff Todd Johnson says the city will need to establish a pay rate and how many hours a sheriff would be contracted to work inside the city limits, but states at least two deputies must be available within the county in case emergencies arise. While this transition was first discussed last year after the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office combined forces with the Harlan Police Department, it didn’t become a priority until there was no longer an adequately staffed department for the City of Audubon. There is no specific timeline for when this merger will be completed, but city officials are looking to combine departments sooner rather than later.
