Officials in Hardin, Mont., have authorized the formation of a Hardin Police Department, and again assured their residents they would not hire a mysterious California security firm to run their jail, the Flathead Beacon reports.
The department will be formed by July 1, 2011, and will consist of a police chief and seven officers. The city has been paying $300,000 a year to Big Horn County for law enforcement services.
Forming the new agency will cost $1 million.
A city agency's consideration of a contract with American Police Force to manage its jail unraveled, when the private company changed its name and arrived with an SUV with the decal "City of Hardin Police Department."