At their Tuesday evening meeting, the Stanhope City Council addressed the issue of its affiliation with the EJS (Ellsworth Jewell Stanhope) Police and the 28E agreement. Stanhope mayor Jeff Schroeder attended the most recent meeting of the EJS board on May 7th. He stated that the EJS board voted on April 2nd,2026 to proceed without Stanhope in the 28E agreement. The motion was carried to not include Stanhope in the agreement. As of April 2,2026, there was no 28E agreement that included Stanhope, therefore there was nothing for the Stanhope City Council to vote on. EJS Chief Kaleb Morton stated that was not the intent of EJS and that the EJS board should be approached again and ask to include Stanhope in the 28E agreement for law enforcement. Chief Morton, who was in uniform and was attending the city council meeting in official capacity made statements that could be construed as engaging in political conversations, which could be in violation of the HATCH Act, which states in part, ” Generally prohibited from Engaging in political activity while on duty, in a federal building, while wearing an official uniform or while using a government vehicle”.Stanhope City Council member Grant Young pointed it out to Chief Morton. The chief said that he was unaware that he is unable to speak of the intent of the EJS Board. Young replied that it appeared that Chief Morton was lobbying for his job in uniform at a public meeting. The current 28E agreement with Stanhope and the EJS Police will expire on June 30th at midnight. The Stanhope City Clerk was directed to reach out to the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office to inquire about the process to update the long standing 28E agreement between Stanhope and the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office, to reflect the change of not being included in EJS effective July 1st,2026. The email communication has been ongoing since January when Stanhope City Council members Hetland and Jensen reached out to both the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office and EJS for research in making a decision in how to proceed with law enforcement coverage on or after July 1,2026. The Stanhope City Council minutes stated that Chief Morton declined to meet with Hetland and Jensen at that time.