GREAT FALLS — The Cascade County Sheriff’s Office is getting a major boost to support public safety thanks to a new donation from Calumet. The donation will provide a significant boost to the Cascade County Sheriff's Office in its efforts to enhance public safety.
Sheriff Slaughter talks about how the donation will be used:
"The Cascade County Sheriff's Office, through the Sheriff's Legacy Foundation, received a $50,000 grant from Calumet to use for public safety. I'm quite excited about it." Sheriff Jesse Slaughter said, "I fully intend to use this funding to protect our schools."
Calumet, a large manufacturing and refining firm in Great Falls, gave $100,000, split evenly between the Sheriff's Legacy Foundation and the Great Falls Police Community Foundation.
“Cascade County Sheriff's Office, through the Sheriff's Legacy Foundation, received a $50,000 donation from Calumet for us to use for public safety. I'm super excited about it. I fully intend to use this funding to protect our schools,” said Sheriff Slaughter.
“We felt, you know, this was a viable donation to give to the brave individuals who are sworn to protect and serve our community. And with that, we felt this donation was the right place to start. It is an investment in our community,” said Kollin Schade, Senior Vice President of Montana Operations for Calumet.
In addition to financial support for public safety, Calumet has been participating in local food drives and collaborating more closely with United Way as part of a larger giving campaign.
“It's our responsibility, our responsibility to make sure that we operate safely, to protect our community as well. You know, that's a manufacturing plant out there. We take that very seriously,” Schade stated.
For Sheriff Slaughter, the $50,000 contribution comes at a critical moment.
“We’re looking to get involved in our school safety program and move that needle forward. And I know they're going to have a vote on that here really soon. So, we're really excited about that. And so, we have planned for the 2026 budget year that we are going to fund that.”
The Sheriff's Office plans to utilize the donation to initiate a new school resource officer (SRO) program, which may receive additional funding if new federal legislation is passed.
H.R. 6120, the SROS Act, proposed by US Representative Ryan Zinke and US Senator Senator Tim Sheehy, would provide tax breaks to retired law enforcement and military personnel who want to work as school resource officers.
"If you're retired law enforcement, military, you don't have to pay federal income tax on your retirement if you're working in the capacity of protecting a school anywhere in our nation," Slaughter told me.
Sheriff Slaughter believes the law will make it simpler to attract qualified officers and improve school safety across the state. The Great Falls School Board will vote on the proposed SRO program on November 24th, at 5:30 p.m.
