Boone County sheriff reports retirements, K‑9 deployment and rising jail population

The Boone County Sheriff presented the department's monthly report Thursday, outlining several upcoming retirements and operational updates. He said Chief Deputy Pat Malloy will retire, with a sergeant retiring in January and a lieutenant in February, and called Malloy "a huge loss" for the department.

The sheriff introduced the new patrol K‑9, "K‑9 Doug," who has graduated state exams and is paired with Deputy Bobby Pester. He said the department’s training center at McKinley hosted multiple out‑of‑county courses in November, including an accident reconstruction class run by Northwestern and taser train‑the‑trainer sessions, and that the county’s $80,000 training line item helps cover internal instructor development.

On calls and corrections, the sheriff reported November was busy: "2,100 calls in 2024, just under 2,100 calls," and cited corrections averages rising to an average population of 88 in November (compared with 67 in October 2024) and an average daily population of 73 for 2025 (versus 60 in 2024). He said the corrections division transported six detainees to the Illinois Department of Corrections and booked 114 people in November.

The sheriff also noted personnel changes in dispatch: lead dispatcher Teresa Nyman is retiring after nearly 30 years and staff transitions are underway; he congratulated dispatcher Kate Nestor for a recent statewide award. The sheriff invited questions from board members about training costs, saying some classes are included for visiting agencies and that host organizations such as Northwestern sometimes pay to use the Boone County facility.

Board members thanked the sheriff for the update and asked whether the K‑9 could be brought to a future meeting; the sheriff said he would check the schedule. The presentation concluded with recognition for staff and a brief question‑and‑answer period.