Water pours into Turner County Sheriff's Office

PARKER, SD (KELO) — Monday's rain was not a welcome sight at the Turner County Courthouse, where water was getting inside.

The staff at the Turner County Sheriff's Office had quite a mess to clean up.

“We dumped 30 gallons of water today. 5:30 p.m. Saturday and 30 p.m. this morning so far,” Turner Co. Sheriff Jamie Buteyn said.

To top it all off, water came in after another downpour this afternoon. Unfortunately, this has been a problem for months.

“Well, we were greeted with water infiltration, as has been the case since the beginning of December, and this morning it was particularly bad. You could see that the situation had deteriorated. So we talked with a few commissioners and made the decision to move to another location in the courthouse,” Turner Co. Deputy Sheriff Nolan Clark said.

A building that shows its age at 120 years old.

“I think the commissioners are still in talks. I mean, between the auditor's office, the state's attorney and the county commission, they're trying to figure out what to do with this building. When you turn onto Parker, it's onto Main Street. It’s the first thing you see, so it has a valuable place in the community,” Buteyn said.

Until a solution is found, the sheriff's office will have to do what it can to get by.

“You have to stay positive. You can make the choice, you know, to get grumpy or to resolve the problem and move on,” Buteyn said.

Flooding will not affect deputies on patrol. You can always contact Turner County's non-emergency number or call 911 in an emergency.