Leadership and town residents in Broadview are pushing Yellowstone County officials to help the small agricultural town get its own town marshal, but commissioners say no formal proposal has been submitted and the cost could be significant.
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Broadview resident Mark Hofman brought the concerns before Yellowstone County Commissioners, citing speeding and unenforced town ordinances as key issues.
"There is also a noticeable disregard for town ordinances within our town, which the county sheriff cannot address because he's county," Hofman said.
Hofman said the town's location — about 30 minutes from Billings at the northern tip of Yellowstone County — contributes to slower response times from county deputies.
"The response time of the Yellowstone County deputies — and this is to no fault of their own because we are at the very northern tip of Yellowstone County," Hofman said.
Commissioner Mark Morse said the request is not straightforward. Beyond hiring a marshal, Broadview would also need to establish an entire court system, dispatch services, and secure long-term funding.
"It would not be a cheap undertaking. I think it would be fairly expensive," Morse said.
Sheriff Kent O'Donnell echoed those concerns at the commissioners meeting, noting that while a visible presence is a starting point, it is far from the whole picture.
"A car and an officer in uniform are the easy ones," O'Donnell said.
O'Donnell said deputies and highway patrol officers have increased patrols in Broadview recently, but added there is no evidence of an unusually high call volume in the area.
"We're just not seeing a big number of calls for service in the Broadview area," O'Donnell said.
O'Donnell said he is still willing to meet with Broadview leaders to discuss the issue. However, commissioners say they have not yet received a formal proposal from the town.
