WALLACE — Facing an aging patrol vehicle fleet, the Shoshone County Sheriff's Office has presented county commissioners with a plan to get vehicle purchases on a sustainable track for the future.

Undersheriff Lance Stutzke and Capt. Seth Green recently outlined to the board the department's concerning rise in high-mileage vehicles due to past purchasing delays. About 80% of the fleet currently runs around the clock due to repair needs and decommissioned units awaiting replacements.

“We’re dealing with 13 cars that are over 100,000 miles, and 10 of those are going to be over 140,000 miles in less than a year,” Green said. That far surpasses the 100,000-120,000 mile thresholds when other agencies typically retire patrol vehicles over safety concerns like pursuit performance and reliability, he said.

A school resource officer for the sheriff’s office is currently driving a vehicle with a mileage of 260,000.

“It’s not a fun predicament we’re in, but those are the numbers,” Green said.

Previously, there hasn’t been a county budget line item for vehicle purchase for the department because purchases were made more on an emergency need basis.

“We want to avoid the process of bidding out three or four vehicles at a time, so what we’re trying to establish is a schedule,” Stutzke said.

Commissioner Jeff Zimmerman said he understands the logistics of the proposal from the sheriff’s office, but with the financial issues facing the county, it’s uncertain what purchasing power the county will have in the future.

“One of the biggest problems we’re going to have this year is our budget. We’re all really going to have to look at that because we’re just starting,” Zimmerman said.

Commissioner Tracy Casady said it seems like a good time to start considering cuts that could be made next year to help offset the budget squeeze Shoshone County is facing.

In an effort to ease the blow of costs, the department hopes to purchase two bare-bones vehicles to make ends meet, and in the following two years they anticipate purchasing a vehicle every few months so there isn’t a backlog of vehicles needing to be ordered.