Once again, the Ramsey County sheriff's department is playing a major role in providing security for the Minnesota State Fair, following a late emergency request from state fair officials.
A year ago, the Ramsey County sheriff's department had an agreement to provide all security at the state fair.
But the agreement was not renewed by the fair, and expired in June.
That gave state fair officials less than a year to resurrect their own police department.
"The fact they got up to 99 officers in eight months is really a testament to how hard the state fair has worked," said Ramsey County sheriff's deputy Alex Graham.
The state fair's hiring goal for its police department was two-hundred officers.
Ramsey County is expected to have up to forty deputies on the fairgrounds every day of the fair.
Graham said this situation didn't have to happen if last year's agreement was renewed.
"Unfortunately, politics trumped public safety in this instance," he said. "Our deputy sheriffs are going to rise to the occasion, like they do every time they are called, at times putting aside their own plans to make sure every Minnesotan a great state fair that they've expected in year's past."
Thirty state troopers are also part of the fair's security effort for a second straight year.
State fair police chief Ron Knafla says they will have enough personnel for the fair, which starts Aug. 25 and runs through Labor Day.
The agreement to staff the 2021 state fair with Ramsey County deputies was reached, with reservations, less than two months before that fair opened.
This came after the state fair disbanded its police department after Police Chief Paul Paulos retired.
State Fair general manager Jerry Hammer last December announced that they would be re-establishing their own police department.
He also announced that the fair was continuing partnerships with the Ramsey County sheriff’s office and Minnesota State Patrol, along with officers from other law enforcement agencies and medical services providers, plus additional security contractors.