The question of whether the use of high power rifles for deer hunting in Faribault County, beginning in 2026, came up when the county commissioners held their regular board meeting on Oct. 21.

Faribault County sheriff Scott Adams told the commissioners they will have to make a decision on the matter during the next year.

“Last Wednesday, I had my normal Fifth District Sheriff’s meeting,” Adams said. “One of the topics we discussed was something the board is going to have to address next year is slug hunting versus high-powered rifle hunting for deer hunting.”

Surveying the other Fifth District sheriffs, Adams shared it appeared about 60 percent of the counties in the district are going to remain slug only while the other 40 percent are going to allow high-powered rifles for deer hunting for the 2026 season.

“Martin County is leaning towards staying with slug, Watonwan is going rifle, Blue Earth is going rifle, Waseca is staying slug,” Adams reported. “Freeborn County is not in our district.”

Adams stated his ultimate goal is public safety.

“To recap, it was in the 1940s that the state eliminated high-powered rifles and went to slug to let the population of deer grow,” Adams commented. “Now the Minnesota DNR (Department of Natural Resources) says the population has grown and it can be opened to rifle hunting.”

In the calls he’s received on the matter, Adams noted more of the people have been in favor of just allowing slug hunting because of safety.

“A lot of people are not aware that you can use a high-powered rifle in a pistol form currently in this area,” Adams said. “It is legal to use an AR-15 pistol to hunt deer in our area and it has been legal for a fair number of years.”

Adams stated he would recommend that the board would accept public comment on the matter before making their decision.

“I think it is odd that the State is putting this on the County Board,” Adams added. “But it is what it is.”

During committee reports commissioner Tom Loveall told the board members there of possible problems with the Region Nine Development Commission.

“I don’t know where this goes but there are serious problems at Region Nine,” Loveall stated. “We are over $400,000 in debt.”

Loveall said he will update the County Board as more information becomes available.

County Public Works director April Wellman was at the meeting and informed the board that the Minnesota Department of Transportation had completed load ratings of all the bridges in the county.

“As a result, 10 bridges will have reduced capacity,” Wellman commented. “These bridges were already load restricted and most are already scheduled to be replaced in five to 10 years.”

The board also made the decision to apply for funds through HSIP (Highway Safety Improvement Plan).

Wellman shared that these funds could be used to put edge rumble strips on County 14 which has seen an increase in accidents in recent months.

“The cost of edge rumble strips is estimated to be $3,000 to $3,500 per mile,” Wellman noted.

While acknowledging that some people complain about the sound that comes from cars driving over the rumble strips, Wellman and the board felt it was a good thing to do.

“If we are looking at public safety, I’d rather hear the sound of the rumble strips than the sound of the sirens,” commissioner Bill Groskreutz said.

At the request of Wellman, the board also approved a motion to move the public hearing for a Local Options Sales Tax (LOST) aka Local Transportation Tax to the Nov. 4 board meeting at 9 a.m.

The board also heard an update on the opioid settlement applications from Caroline McCourt of Human Services.

“In addition to the three applicants we have had before which are FariCares, Faribault and Martin County Human Services and Healing Hearts Inc., we have two new partners who have applied for funds,” McCourt said. “They are Advocates for Health and the Shepherd’s Inn. Percentage wise, 61.3 percent of the $117,400 in requested funds go towards treatment and 38.7 percent go towards prevention.”

The commissioners also:

• Voted to appoint Kelly Hendrickson as the interim county recorder effective Nov. 3.

• Approved the Sales Order and Security Agreement purchasing order with Metro Sales Inc. for the purchase of a Ricoh IM C4510 at a cost of $15,072.

• Approved the training request of Kara Bendickson of the assessor’s office to attend the Vanguard User Group Training seminar.

• Approved a four-year renewal contract with the Public Employees Insurance Program with a 9.9 percent increase in premiums for 2026.