Hello,

We hear about ice rescues pretty regularly in northern Minnesota every winter, but did you know that local law enforcement has to foot the bill for those rescues? The federal government reimburses local sheriffs for open-water rescues, but ice rescues have no reimbursement mechanism. The local communities are on the hook.

I have a bill that would fix that. Senate File 3882, which received its first hearing on February 29, would allow local sheriffs offices to get reimbursed from the DNR for costs incurred while rescuing individuals who have fallen through frozen lakes, rivers, or ponds.

The bill addresses an urgent need for many Minnesota communities, especially in our region. Ice rescue operations are extremely dangerous and require significant personnel, equipment, and training. Allowing reimbursements will ease the financial burden on local law enforcement so they can continue responding to those in need. It is a pragmatic, common-sense solution.

I was honestly surprised to learn we didn’t do this already. We should have fixed this a long time ago. It is an easy way for us to be a better partner with our counties and sheriffs in this important effort.

I know what some of you might be thinking: the people being rescued should be on the hook for reimbursing. I do not necessarily disagree, and it was in the bill originally. But there is a very real, very reasonable concern that fewer people will call for help if they have to pay for it. We decided to err on the side of keeping people safe.

We had two great testifiers in support of the bill:

Sheriff Brian Welk from Cass County, who shared a story of a December incident where his county's dive team recovered a drowning victim from Lake of the Woods but could not get reimbursed since it was on ice.

Sheriff Gordon Ramsey of St. Louis County. St. Louis County regularly has the most ice rescues in the state. His team coordinates over 100 volunteers for frequent ice rescues and often works with neighboring jurisdictions.

Thank you to both of them for making the trip down to St. Paul to talk about why this is so important.

If you want to read more information, this is the media release I issued on the bill: https://www.mnsenaterepublicans.com/eichorn-bill-to-provide-relief-to-local-law-enforcement-in-ice-search-and-rescue-operations-receives-first-hearing/

If you have any questions or feedback, please let me know. Have a great weekend!