December 2025 Newsletter (Volume 11, Issue 12)
December 2025 Newsletter (Volume 11, Issue 12)
Headlines are provided below. Click to read each story in the newsletter.
Salvation Army Bell Ringing
A big thank you to staff and family members who joined in to help ring the bell for the Salvation Army this year!
Our team spent the day at Hy-Vee spreading cheer and accepting donations for the kettle! The money raised will help meet needs in Olmsted County. Each dollar is used locally to support 30 different programs and services of the Rochester Salvation Army.
Please consider signing up to help ring the bells! Or consider helping the Salvation Army with a donation!
Honor Guard
Sergeant Chad Miller
A law enforcement honor guard is a specialized unit within a law enforcement agency that is dedicated to representing the agency with professionalism, dignity, and respect during ceremonial events. Honor guard members are highly dedicated officers who serve as a symbol of discipline, tradition, and respect for fallen officers, the law enforcement profession, our country and the community.
Our honor guard embodies the core values of law enforcement: integrity, professionalism, and honorable service. The team’s presence at memorials and ceremonies serves as a powerful reminder of the sacrifices officers make to protect their communities as well as providing comfort and support to the families of fallen officers, reinforcing the idea that their loved ones' service will never be forgotten.
In addition to traditional functions at peace officer funeral services our team assists in community events including local conventions, parades, graduations and sporting events among many others. At these events the team posts and retrieves colors to open and close the proceedings, performs ceremonial flag folding, provides firing party honors, carries and presents the colors in parades and sporting events and even assists in honoring military veterans during the November Veterans’ Day service in Rochester. During the tragedy of a peace officer funeral our team travels to assist the Minnesota Law Enforcement Memorial Honor Guard team. In those services our team has typically been tasked with guard duty at venues, as well as gathering with other honor guard teams and uniformed officers to guard families and agency personnel during the rendering of honors for the fallen officer. While the guarding of venues and loved ones is at times, actually guarding, it is largely meant to provide loved ones with a strong show of support. The support we provide cannot be understated. It is truly awe inspiring to witness a grieving family and agency completely encircled by hundreds of honor guard teams with colors in action, preventing the outside world from seeing into their protected space.
The Olmsted County Sheriff’s Office Honor Guard was officially established in 2003 following the Sheriff’s Office participation in a 9-11 memorial parade at Soldier’s Field the previous year. Deputies Tracey Pagel and Dean Thompson were the first to attend the LEMA Honor Guard Camp in 2003 and were soon joined by the team’s founding members: Brad Tighe, Joe Trygstad, Dean Pike, Tracey Pagel, Jon Strum, Dean Thompson, Todd Peterson and our own Kevin Torgerson. Since then, the team has had numerous deputies that have served the mission, many of whom still serve the team to this day. Current team members include Dean Thompson, Tracey Pagel, Todd Peterson, Mike Strelow, Zach Wagner, Natalie Falls, Nate Heeren, Mike Peterson, Mike Gengler and Tyler Heiden. Our Honor Guard has attended and assisted with numerous peace officer funerals throughout the years as well as conducting honors and functions for many more community events. In addition to annual events and functions such as the May 15th wreath laying and memorial guard in St. Paul, our own local Peace Officers’ Memorial ceremony during Police Week, our team has participated in or lead 32 significant honors details in the past four years. Our team also regularly attends the annual, weeklong honor guard training at Camp Ripley.
For many years our team, along with the Rochester Police Department’s Honor Guard team, has hosted an annual memorial service during Police Week. In recent years we have been proud to invite and welcome honor guard teams from other agencies in the southeast Minnesota region. We now include honor guard teams from the Minnesota State Patrol, Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, Bureau of Prisons, Faribault Police Department and this year the Owatonna Police Department. In the past this service was held at the Soldiers Field Memorial site. With the threat of severe weather, we were not able to hold this ceremony at our new Peace Officers’ Officer Memorial nearby as we moved the event indoors. We look forward with hope for next year.
Your honor guard stands to preserve tradition and to honor those who serve and sacrifice. Our duties extend beyond ceremonial functions. Our duties symbolize the unwavering dedication of law enforcement officers to their profession, their communities, and their fallen comrades. Wearing the honor guard uniform is a privilege, signifying a deep commitment to tradition, duty, and honor. It is a role our team members have taken with great pride and responsibility, ensuring that law enforcement agencies uphold their highest standards of respect and discipline.
Know that we do it all to support you and your loved ones.
PREA Compliance Audit
Captain Andy Danielson
This past Summer and Fall months, the Adult Detention Center (ADC) and the Work Release Facility (WRF) went through a PREA Compliance Audit. PREA compliance is adherence to the Prison Rape Elimination Act of 2003, a federal law that establishes standards to prevent, detect, and respond to sexual abuse and harassment in correctional facilities. Compliance involves implementing a zero-tolerance policy, providing staff training, conducting regular audits, investigating allegations, and ensuring the safety of inmates, staff, and facilities. Facilities must be audited by an independent third party at least every three years to ensure they are meeting PREA standards. This year the ADC and WRF was due for its PREA audit. The audit began in June and lasted through October. A PREA (Prison Rape Elimination Act) audit involves four main phases: pre-onsite, onsite, evidence review, and corrective action, and it is a comprehensive process of site review, interviews, and document review to assess a facility's compliance with PREA standards. The onsite portion includes a physical tour of the facility, observation of daily operations, interviews with random inmates and random staff, and the review of records and policies related to preventing and responding to sexual assault. The auditor also checks for facility vulnerabilities and the effectiveness of prevention and reporting methods, such as how inmates are educated and how cross-gender staff interactions are limited.
Pre Onsight phase (June-August)
Initial notification: At least six weeks before the onsite visit, a notice is posted in the ADC and WRF to inform everyone of the audit date and provide contact information for the auditor to receive concerns.
- Documentation submission: The facility provides the auditor with extensive documentation, including policies, procedures, training records, and a pre-audit questionnaire, via a flash drive or similar format.
Onsite phase (August 18th-21st)
- Facility tour: Auditors conduct a thorough tour of the entire facility, looking for potential vulnerabilities and assessing the physical security and monitoring systems, like video surveillance.
- Interviews: The auditor interviews a representative sample of people, including inmates, staff, contractors, and volunteers.
- Observation: The auditor observes daily operations and checks if staff are following policies, such as how they announce their presence in a unit to limit unexpected cross-gender contact.
- Record review: Auditors review facility records on-site as well.
Evidence review and interim report phase includes (August-October)
- Analysis: The auditor analyzes all the evidence collected during the on-site visit, including documents and interview feedback.
- Report: The auditor writes an interim report and communicates with the facility to identify any issues.
Corrective action and final report phase (October 10th)
- Corrective action plan: If the facility is not compliant, the auditor and agency develop a corrective action plan to address the findings.
- Verification: The auditor verifies that the corrective actions have been implemented within a specified timeframe.
- Final report: The auditor issues a final determination and completes a final report on the facility's compliance with the standards.
6th Annual ADC Soup Cook Off
Captain Macey Tesmer
On November 6th, the ADC held its annual soup cook off. They had 10 soup entries from four different departments of the county all hoping that they would be chosen as number one. There was a panel of three judges, who blindly sampled each soup and for the first time in the history of the cook off first, second and third place were won by ADC staff. Corporal Zane Malcomson took first place with a Mexican meatball soup, Training Deputy John Wade took second with a cheeseburger soup and Captain Macey Tesmer took third with a potato, ham, corn chowder soup.
The people’s choice award went to last year’s winner Kyle Bradt who is the media development specialist for the Sheriff’s Office and won with a tortellini soup.
All that entered are appreciated and helped raise money for Channel One and for Correctional Officer week that is held in May.
December 1
Oronoco Township Meeting
Pleasant Grove Township Meeting
Quincy Township Meeting
Rochester City Council Meeting
December 2
Elmira Township Meeting
High Forest Township Meeting
December 3
Salem Township Meeting
December 4
Dover City Council Meeting
Olmsted County Board Meeting
December 8
Cascade Township Meeting
Chatfield City Council Meeting
Orion Township Meeting
Rock Dell Township Meeting
December 9
Byron City Council Meeting
Marion Township Meeting
New Haven Township Meeting
Stewartville City Council Meeting
December 11
Eyota City Council Meeting
Rochester Township Meeting
December 15
Eyota Township Meeting
Kalmar Township Meeting
Oronoco City Council Meeting
Rochester City Council Meeting
December 16
Farmington Township Meeting
Olmsted County Board Meeting
Pine Island City Council Meeting
December 17
Haverhill Township Meeting
December 22
Chatfield City Council Meeting
Viola Township Meeting
December 23
Stewartville City Council Meeting
Storm Spotter Training
December 25
Christmas
December 29
Dover Township Meeting
Senior Administration
Sheriff
Kevin Torgerson
Director - ADC
Samantha Reps
Captains
David Adams
Andy Danielson
Macey Tesmer
Chief Deputy - LEC
James Schueller
Captains
Jon Jacobson
Kelly Lee
Ryan Mangan
Tim Parkin
Chris Wallace
Executive Assistant
Laura Collins