SUPERIOR — From one side of the state to the other, Billings native Mike Toth is back in the Mineral County Sheriff’s Office where he was once served as a deputy.
New Mineral County Sheriff Mike Toth had a lot on his plate when he took over the position back in August.
Since then he said he’s got a lot done, but also has a lot more to do -- such as reopening the Mineral County Jail.
“The commissioners -- that was one of the first things that they said was reopen the jail get this jail open and I told them I don’t see why not,” Sheriff Toth said.
Sheriff Toth has also added new body cams, tasers and is working on new radio equipment to upgrade technology in his department.
The sheriff is also making an effort to reconnect with the community they serve to protect, something he says was lacking from the past administration.
“I just posted that we hired the two guys, put their photos out there, and said ‘hey, welcome these guys to the community’,” Sheriff Toth told MTN News.
“And so far, a lot of people are really excited that we are doing that because before they didn’t share stuff like that. They didn’t even know who the deputies were,” he added.
Sheriff Toth says all of these efforts are an attempt to show Mineral County is moving in a new direction.
“Mineral County was getting a bad rep for how it's been running. I’m trying to show we are changing things here.”
Reopening the jail, new technology, and equipment -- as if that weren’t enough, Sheriff Toth is also working on replacing the patrol units with brand new vehicles.
A lack of staffing due to low pay has prevented the jail from opening but Sheriff Toth has increased hourly rates from around $12 an hour to $15 an hour.
Sheriff Toth says he’s close to getting close to having six jail staff members, the magic number he says to reopen the facility.
