Livestock Board expands MOU patrols with sheriffs; missing‑livestock reports fall, agency seeks more participation

The Livestock Board briefed the Management Audit Committee on its rural enforcement unit, a memorandum‑of‑understanding (MOU) program with county sheriffs, and signs that beefed‑up patrols are reducing missing‑livestock reports.

Director Steve True said the board added a second investigator (funding partly from an animal remedy fee) and established an MOU model to reimburse off‑duty sheriff deputies for targeted livestock patrols at $65 per hour. True said the program is funded through a $500,000 appropriation for the MOU account and that 14 counties currently participate in the program.

Program results and trends: True told the committee that since the MOU rollout the Livestock Board has recorded 718 contacts involving pickups and trailers in participating counties and that the number of missing‑livestock reports has fallen from a prior average of 55–70 per year to about 23–30 per year in recent seasons. "We have 14 counties in that program...and those sheriff's offices have made 718 contacts with pickups and trailers," True said.

True also described training and interstate intelligence sharing: the board’s investigators have attended national enforcement meetings and a rural‑crime task force, and the board trains deputies through an accredited classroom program to prepare them for livestock investigations.

What the board wants: True said the Livestock Board may propose a narrowly targeted statutory change to give investigators enforcement authority more aligned with Game and Fish in some felony situations, and asked the committee for legislative contacts as needed.

Next steps: Committee members thanked the board and a legislator asked for contact information so producers can report missing livestock quickly. The board said it will continue recruiting county partners for the MOU program and pursue modest statutory clarifications to improve investigators’ operational authority.