Charles Crane/MDN Ward County Sheriff Robert Roed swears in Reserve Deputies Ian Snodgrass, Dylan Pausig, Melinda Vandemark and Sharhonda Salazar at a ceremony in the Ward County Administration Building on Wednesday.

The ranks of the Ward County Sheriff’s Department have been bolstered after four correctional officers were sworn in as reserve deputies at a ceremony in the Ward County Administration Building on Wednesday.

The new reserve deputies make up the first class to complete the department’s Reserve Deputy Program, which was redesigned after a legislative change in 2021. The legislation required all reserve deputies in the state to be licensed by the North Dakota Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) board.

Ward County Sheriff Robert Roed said his department embraced the change, resulting in WCSD becoming the first POST-approved reserve training academy in the state.

“We had a reserve program for several years. It wasn’t really a recognized program in the state. Due to COVID we just kind of did away with it. In 2021 the legislators passed the bill that allowed the reserve program to get its start. Thanks to a lot of hard work from instructors in our own department, they created the classes, they taught the classes. Captain (Jason) Kraft spearheaded the whole thing and did all the work to get our class approved to get us where we’re at today,” Roed said.

The four graduates, Dylan Pausig, Sharhonda Salazar, Melinda Vandemark and Ian Snodgrass, are all employed as correctional officers at the Ward County Jail. The reserve deputies completed 84 hours of training over the course of eight weeks in firearms, traffic and criminal law, use of force, search and seizure, ethics, defensive tactics and utilizing pepper spray.

The reserve deputies are required to complete the POST board exam following the completion of the curriculum, and all four scored over 90%, which Kraft said was “an excellent job.”

“Thank you for doing such a great job. For a first class for us going into it, we had no idea what the POST board’s expectations were other than ‘study everything.’ Thanks to the instructors. They did an excellent job putting the course together. It took a lot of time,” said Kraft, who also commended the students. “They took the classes and studied hard. I look forward to each and every one of you getting some extra duty and seeing you out in the community.”

Kraft said the reserve deputies will be required to be accompanied by a deputy when out in the field and will be mostly employed in supplementing the department’s presence at the State Fair, Norsk Hostfest and other events throughout the year. Kraft said the reserve deputies will not have off-duty authority

“It’s not a 24-hour thing like a regular officer would be. It not only will add to our manpower, but it will help them develop in their career, if it’s something they’d like to do full time later on,” Roed said. “They dedicated a lot of work and a lot of their own time.”