Walsh County Government

04/09/2026

Walsh County hires new Chief Corrections Officer

GRAFTON – Walsh County has a new Chief Corrections Officer.

Sheriff Ron Jurgens introduced Heather Baker in her new role with the organization Tuesday at the Walsh County Commission meeting.

“We are pleased to welcome Heather Baker back to Walsh County Corrections,” Jurgens said. “She is a valuable addition to our team, and I look forward to the positive impact she will have as we continue moving forward.”

Baker, who was born and raised in North Dakota, was raised in a military and law enforcement family.

She is in her second stint with the Sheriff’s Office. In 2019, she was hired as a Correctional Officer. Three years later she was promoted to Corporal, a position she served in until April 2024.

Prior to her starting in the Sheriff’s Office recently, Baker served with the Walsh County State’s Attorney’s Office as its Victim/Witness Service Coordinator.

“While there, I was asked to be the Interim Chief of Corrections,” she said.

Baker said she’s looking forward to the new correctional facility.

“What I would like to see as we move forward with the new facility is a new culture and way we interact with the incarcerated population in Walsh County,” she said. “ would love to see services be continued and brought into the facility to help the incarcerated population with rehabilitation and reentry to our community.”

She also looks forward to supporting the rehabilitation and reentry of the incarcerated population.

“The goal is always rehabilitation of our incarcerated population and the safety of our officers,” Baker said.

04/07/2026

GRAFTON – The following candidates have fulfilled all requirements to be placed on the June primary election ballot.

Walsh County Sheriff (in alphabetical order)
Eric Braathen
Ron Jurgens

Walsh County Commission (in alphabetical order)
Jay Gudajtes
Craig Jarolimek
Dennis Skorheim
Amy Suda

Walsh County States Attorney (in alphabetical order)
Kelley Cole
Rebecca Flanders

The election will be June 9.

04/07/2026

The Walsh County Commission would like to take an opportunity to clarify some concerns and provide answers to some of the most common questions regarding the status of the Walsh County Jail Project.

Housing inmates outside of Walsh County?

The transport vs. build option was heavily studied in the early stages of this process. In the first two months of 2026, Walsh County has paid just over $60,000 to house prisoners outside of Walsh County – in Grand Forks and Pembina jails. Even when Walsh County is not housing inmates in the County, we are still responsible for the transportation of inmates to-and-from Walsh County for court appearances and for medical appointments for the inmates. This takes at least one, and in some occasions two, deputies off the roads in Walsh County for extended periods of time. So far in 2026, more than $8,000 has been spent by Walsh County to transport prisoners to-and-from their jails to court appearances and medical appointments. If our jail is permanently closed, professional jail consultants have estimated it would cost over $40 million to transport/house inmates versus $23.6 million to build the current plan over a 20-year period. Transport still comes with a significant cost. Additionally, three of the biggest jails in the region are often at full capacity, which means we must transport inmates further distances, which puts more cost into the equation. To be conservative, the cost estimate above was calculated using the numbers associated with transporting to the largest local facility in Grand Forks.

Why didn’t you repair the current jail?

This option was considered and professional consultants were hired to assess the feasibility of this option; however, the infrastructure beneath the existing jail requires extensive work, necessitating the demolition of a significant portion of the facility. This would negate any potential cost benefits. The building has outlasted the life expectancy of jail facilities that are in use 24/7.

How are you still able to proceed after the vote failed?

The original proposed plan was to build a larger facility that included the Sheriff’s office, with an estimated cost of $42.6 million. To build that plan, a dual funding approach was needed. We sought approval from taxpayers to approve an increase in the general fund mill levy and approval to implement up to a .75% sales tax. The measure to increase the general fund mill levy failed, and the sales tax measure passed. This was an unexpected result, as most assumed they would both pass or both fail. At that point, the County was required to assess whether it was feasible to solve any of the most urgent problems with the funding that was approved. When the consultants drafted a plan to build a jail facility only (no Sheriff’s Office) that would fit into the budget funding available to us, the Commission ultimately decided to move forward with the scaled back plan of building a jail at the estimated cost of $23.6 million.

A regional jail versus local jail?

While the regional concept was considered, Walsh County did not have any willing participants to come together and form the regional jail. Multiple local counties were invited to come and discuss this proposal. We had some engaging discussions; however, ultimately there was a lack of interest and we were not able to move forward with that concept.

Financing the project?

The County explored many options to determine the best way to finance a project of this magnitude and accessed the services of an experienced financial advisor who specializes in working with public entities. One of the appealing aspects of funding with sales tax is that others from outside of Walsh County contribute to the important task of keeping our entire region safe by having adequate space to hold those who have committed crimes (or have been accused of doing so). Those who travel into Walsh County for appointments or shopping help shoulder the burden through sales tax.

Impact to businesses?

Some concerns have been expressed that the sales tax would be harmful to local businesses, especially those who sell larger items such as cars or farm equipment. We had those same concerns when the resolution was created. In the resolution adopted by the Board there is a Maximum Tax clause: Maximum Tax Imposed: Any patron or user paying a tax imposed by Walsh County Ordinance 2025-1 in excess of $25.00 upon any single transaction of one or more items may obtain a credit or refund of the excess tax at the time of purchase directly from the vendor or request a refund of the excess tax payment by filing a request for refund upon the forms provided by the Tax Commissioner.

Engage with us

You can engage with us by coming to a Walsh County Commission meeting in person or online. We meet the first and third Tuesday of every month at 9 a.m. The link to watch the meetings is on our website, or you can come to the Commissioner’s Room at the Courthouse to participate in person. Public comments are welcome at our meetings. Please call or email the Auditor’s office prior to the meeting if you want to speak at our meetings or submit comments. The contact information for every commissioner is on our website – email and phone numbers. We want to hear from you on the topics important to you.

Walsh County Commission

04/06/2026

‼️ROAD CLOSED‼️
153rd Ave NE (Thompson Bridge), from Co Rd 11 to 71st ST NE, Oakwood Twp, Sec. 9, is closed due to water on road

04/01/2026

Interested in being a leader on boards, councils and committees? See this post below for a training offered by NDSU Extension Walsh County!

NDSU Extension Walsh County is hosting a Lead Local training on Thursday, May 7 in Grafton, ND.

This training is for anyone serving on boards, councils, or committees.
The training helps participants:
*Feel better prepared to effectively serve
*Recognize components of an effective meeting
*Learn basic parliamentary procedure
*Understand personality styles
*Use effective tools when dealing with conflict.

Register at https://agext-northdakotastate-ndus.nbsstore.net/lead-local-walsh-county
The training is 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM MDT at AgCountry Farm Credit Services, located at 1005 Hill Avenue, Grafton, ND.

Contact NDSU Extension Walsh County with any questions at [email protected] or call 701-284-6624.

03/31/2026

‼️ROAD CLOSURE‼️
County 2 Rasmussen Bridge is closed due to water over the road. This is for 72nd St NE to 71st NE, Acton Township Sect. 1.

03/31/2026

The Walsh County Sheriff’s Office, in conjunction with the Walsh County Health Department, is announcing the results of its recent alcohol compliance checks.

The Sheriff’s Office conducted the compliance checks on March 25, at nine businesses in Walsh County. Of the nine businesses, one failed the compliance checks, resulting in an 89 percent rate of compliance.

The following businesses passed:

Hugo’s Wine and Spirits, 155 East 12th Street, Grafton

Zip Trip, 1111 West 12th Street, Grafton

Frosty Fox, 42 East 8th Street, Grafton

Rosie’s Place Too, 608 Hill Avenue, Grafton

JR’s Bar, 15532 County Road 11, Grafton

Harvey Avenue Saloon, 149 Harvey Avenue, Minto

Tom’s Lounge, 210 Front Street, Forest River

Wells Drinking Well, 119 Main Street North, Fordville

The following business failed:

The Sandbar, 66 Lovick Avenue, Pisek

“Research shows that adolescent alcohol use can have lasting effects on brain development, memory, and academic performance. Alcohol compliance checks are a critical public health strategy to help ensure alcohol is not sold to underage individuals,” Public Health Nurse Joelle Schmuck said. “By holding retailers accountable, we reduce youth access to alcohol and protect the long-term health and well-being of Walsh County residents.”

Walsh County Sheriff Ron Jurgens spoke about the results.

“I’m cautiously optimistic about the trend resulting from the most recent compliance checks,” he said. “It seems that some of this is due to the health district’s aid in using the forensic ID scanners, and I would encourage businesses to reach out to the Walsh County Health District to use these in their businesses.”

Walsh County Health District was awarded the Substance Use Prevention, Treatment, and Recovery Services Block Grant (SPUTRS) through the North Dakota Department of Human Services’ Behavioral Health Division in September 2023, which runs until September 2026.

“Our focus for this grant is preventing underage drinking in Walsh County,” Schmuck said. “Since we are a SPUTRS prevention provider, we were eligible to receive Forensic ID Scanners from the North Dakota Department of Human Services’ Behavioral Health Division. We then placed them at interested bars in Walsh County per their request.”

At the compliance checks, an underage buyer, under the supervision of the Walsh County Sheriff’s Office, attempts to purchase an alcoholic drink without concealing their age. They provide an ID, and if the sale is refused, the business “passes” the compliance check. If a sale is completed, it is observed by the officer and the business “fails” the compliance check.

Any failure results in a penalty to the individual responsible for dispensing the alcohol during the compliance check.

03/31/2026

If you're looking to take advantage of the , your time is quickly coming to an end!

Only one more day left to apply for your Primary Residence Credit! Don't miss out!!!!

03/31/2026

‼️ROAD UPDATE‼️

County 11 – Oakwood Township – between 154th Ave and County 4 is open

County 4 – Flats – Ardoch Township – between 57th St and 59th St – is open

County 6 – Forest River to County 15 is open

03/26/2026

County Road 6, Between 74th Pl NE and 75th St NE — North of Nash, has reopened

03/26/2026

CLOSURES:

County Rd 6 from Forest River to Hwy 15

153rd Ave NE (Thompson Bridge) Closed from Cty 11 to 71st ST NE, Oakwood Township 9

154th Ave NE (Gourde Bridge) Closed from Cty 11 to 71st ST NE Oakwood Township 10/11

156th Ave NE from 71st ST NE to 72nd St NE, Oakwood Township1 Acton 6

Cty 11 between 154th Ave NE and Cty 4 is in the process of being closed due to water over the road. Oakwood Township Sect 11/14

03/26/2026

County Road 6 and County Road 8, south of County Road 15, have been reopened