Front Page

Cops and Coffee

Saaranen to hold weekly meetings in September

HOUGHTON - Houghton County Sheriff Josh Saaranen will hold weekly meetings throughout the month of September. The informal meetings are scheduled for every Thursday in September at 2 p.m., and an additional meeting scheduled for 5 p.m. Tuesday, September 22. All meetings will take place at the Houghton County Jail.

Saaranen said coffee with the sheriff is an open invitation to the public to see the current jail facility. "That's number one," he said. "Number two is to sit down with me or anybody just to answer any questions they may have, not only regarding the jail but any questions regarding the sheriff - just open education."

Saaranen said tours of the jail will be conducted during the meetings as long as nothing critical is occurring at the facility at the time.

The Houghton County Jail Committee has long sought to provide opportunities for the public to tour the jail and see for themselves the size and condition of the 62-year-old facility.

"We can do short tours of smaller groups of people," Saaranen said.

So far, he said, no one has attended the meetings, but that may be because they have not been highly publicized.

"We have these scheduled for this month," he said, "and I think we're going to continue them through the next month as well."

"I just want to emphasize that the meetings are just an opportunity for the people to come and see their facility and ask any questions or give comments or voice concerns they might have."

At the general election, the county will ask taxpayers to approve a jail millage of 1.27 mills for a $28 million, 30-year bond for the construction of a modern facility that meets the current standards of the Michigan Department of Corrections.