County cattle guards failing

First, the good news—the overwhelming majority of the culverts in the county that are managed by the county are in very good shape.
Now, the bad news.
The same cannot be said for the cattle guard situation in the county, as of the 148 cattle guards on the county system, 64 percent, are failing.
That was the report delivered by Custer County Highway Department superintendent Jess Doyle at the Aug. 20 meeting of the Custer County Commission, with Doyle adding another 17 percent are in “OK” condition, while 19 percent—29 of the 148 cattle guards—are in good condition.
“Long story short, commissioners, to me this is a pretty huge,” Doyle said. “Cattle guards are not a bridge. However, they can cause as much headache as a bridge. They are a structure on our system. To have a failing rating on that is a tough pill to swallow, especially considering the majority of these cattle guards are property of (the) Forest Service.”
In 2005 the Custer County Commission passed a resolution to adopt a policy regarding cattle guards in the county, which states the county and U.S. Forest Service will jointly inspect every cattle guard “in which the USFS has an interest to determine if the structure is needed. If the structure is not needed, Custer County will remove it.”
If the cattle guard is needed, the materials are to be provided by the Forest Service, and the county will install the cattle guard, while the permitee leasing the land for livestock will build necessary fencing to the cattle guard. The county also provides cleaning and routine maintenance.
On private land it is the responsibility of the landowner to provide the materials for the cattle guard, although the county will install the cattle guard.
The county recently inspected the cattle guards along with the culverts as a project to work on during the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally rather than try to haul material during that busy traffic time.
Doyle said he has experienced some success  getting private landowners to replace failing cattle guards, something he said he deals with in small increments.
Some landowners believe since the cattle guard is on a road the county maintains that it is the county’s responsibility to pay to have it repaired or replaced, which is not the case, per the aforementioned resolution.
“It’s exactly the opposite,” Doyle said. “It’s their cattle guard.”
Doyle said he will continue to work with landowners on updating cattle guards—many of which date back as much as 70 years and no longer meet county specifications—but said he needs the commission’s help to get the Forest Service to replace its failing cattle guards.
A handful of years ago there was a program through which such cattle guards were being replaced—those are the ones that are in good shape today—but that fell by the wayside and there is no longer a replacement program with the Forest Service.
“I would like ask the commission to please consider how we can move forward with Schedule A and cattle guards. There are two intertwined things that I’m going to say is placing a hell of a tax burden on our local people,” Doyle said.
Roads known as Schedule A roads are roads that are owned by the Forest Service but are maintained by the county. This is done through a contract that pays the county annually. The county agrees to maintain the roads because there are county residents who use the roads to get to and from their home.
Of the 405 miles of road in the county, Doyle said 185 are Schedule A. In 2024, Doyle said, maintaining those Schedule A roads cost the county $1.6 million while the county received $168,000 of what is called “forest apportionment,” also known as payment in lieu of taxes, from the Forest Service to maintain the roads.
“Everyone can say, ‘what does it matter, it’s all taxes?’ It does matter, because we aren’t seeing money come back for 185 miles of road we don’t have a lot of control over,” Doyle said. “They are not our roads.”
Doyle said the contract for the Schedule A roads comes up in April, and commissioner Mark Hartman suggested the commission look at having a work session to discuss Schedule A roads as well as the cattle guard issue.
“What I don’t want to have happen is a cattle guard collapse when we knew it was bad and someone gets hurt,” Doyle said.
Commissioner Jim Lintz asked what would happen if the county refused to replace the cattle guards or threatened to take them out if the Forest Service was not going to help with them. 
“They are going to have the same answer they always do,” commissioner Craig Hindle said. “‘We don’t have any money, we don’t have any money, we don’t have any money.’”
Doyle said the problem is not at the local Forest Service Office, but rather  above them “is where the communication stops.”
The commission also heard from county lien clerk McKinsey Scroggin, who updated the commission on her work to recoup money owed to the county by defendants in court cases and/or indigent people. The money is recouped either through a payment plan or via liens on personal property.
Scroggin has been in the position for nearly two years, during which time she has collected or helped collect around $120,000 through pursuing money owed through fines, fees, and/or court-appointed attorney costs by criminal defendants, abuse/neglect case reimbursement and even a recent $34,000 reimbursement from the state’s Catastrophic Legal Expense Relief Program to help pay for an expensive trial.
“These kinds of numbers are really encouraging to me,” she said. “I’m hoping it encourages other counties as well.”
Scroggin detailed how she goes about pursuing money owed to the county, as well as what is collectable and what is not. For instance, mental health debts are not collectible, nor are transportation costs to and from jail to court or appointments. Addiction treatment is on a case by case basis, as are autopsies. Any jail time paid for by the county is collectible unless the case associated with the jail time is dismissed.
Scroggin also touched on the new state law regarding autopsy costs, which she said was achieved with the help of Custer County Coroner Jim Allen, commissioner Mike Busskohl, deputy finance officer Michelle Zerfoss and South Dakota Legislature District 30 Sen. Amber Hulse.
The law states among other things that if a perpetrator of a crime dies during the commission of a crime or commits suicide during the commission of a crime, the county can recover the cost of an autopsy.
Scroggin’s work has not gone unnoticed at the county or by the state, as she has been invited to speak at the South Dakota Association of County Officials Sept. 8 in Pierre.
Finally, the county heard from Aaron Serviss of the Town of Hermosa, who told the commission Hermosa sought advice and help as to resources it could provide to help with law enforcement budgeting and ensuring the Custer County Sheriff’s Office worked closely with the town’s new marshal.
Serviss said the town would like to upgrade to electronic locks like the county courthouse has, and asked for guidance on getting such a system.
“We are building a law enforcement department from scratch in a lot of ways,” Serviss said.
The commission encouraged the town to reach out to the sheriff’s office for more information.