Hometown

Brown County Sheriff’s Office handled 8,833 calls in 2025

NEW ULM -- The Brown County Sheriff's Office handled 8,833 calls for service in 2025.

Sheriff Jason Seidl provided the number as part of The Journal's first responders tab. Total dispatch calls in Brown County were 25,189 in 2025.

"The Brown County Sheriff's Office covers 618 square miles," Seidl said.

That includes 611 square miles of land and seven square miles of water.

Seidl joined the Brown County Sheriff's Office in 1994 and has served as sheriff since 2019.

Seidl has spent more than 30 years in law enforcement.

According to state law, the sheriff's duties are to enforce the law in the county, take custody of the jail, attend the courts, and serve all process.

"The Sheriff's Office budget for 2026 is $2,361,722," Chief Deputy Andrew Konechne said. "The Sheriff's Office oversees five budget areas."

Konechne said the 2026 breakdown is:

Dispatch is $940,411.

Jail is $2,275,422.

Emergency Management is $115,264.

The 911 EMS system is $225,183.00

The total for all five departments in 2026 is $5,918,002.

The Sheriff's Office oversees patrol, investigations, court security and civil process.

The jail houses corrections officers, sergeants, a program coordinator, assistant jail administrator and jail administrator.

Dispatch handles calls for the sheriff, New Ulm Police, Springfield Police, Sleepy Eye Police and other county agencies.

For rural search-and-rescue, the office has specialized equipment available.

"The Brown County Sheriff's Office has drone, UTVs, boats, dive team, etc. available," Seidl said.

UTVs are used for field roads and trails. Boats and the dive team cover the Minnesota River and county lakes. Drones are used for missing persons searches, crash scenes and fire support.

Mutual aid on Highway 14 works differently than on county roads.

"On Highway 14, the Minnesota State Patrol is typically the primary agency for a Highway 14 call as that is a U.S. Highway," Seidl said. "The other agencies would assist the Minnesota State Patrol on their call."

Scheduling and staffing patterns are not public data,Seidl said.

The 8,833 calls for service in 2025 include civil process, transports, welfare checks, crashes and search operations

across the county. The 25,189 total dispatch calls include calls handled by other agencies that use the same dispatch

center.

The Sheriff's Office is the primary law enforcement

agency outside city limits. It works with New Ulm Police, Springfield Police, Sleepy Eye Police and the Minnesota

State Patrol through mutual aid.

Residents can contact the Sheriff's Office at the Law Enforcement Center in New Ulm or through the county website.

The office is located at 15 S Washington St, New Ulm.