Optimist Club Hosts Respect For Law Banquet

Last Night, the Optimist Club of Maquoketa held their Annual Respect for Law Banquet at the Timber Center in Maquoketa with approximately 78 people in attendance.

Sheriff Brent Kilburg & Maquoketa Police Chief Brendan Zeimet Presented- Deputies – Brandon Coin, Joel Driscoll and Maquoketa Police Officers Kane Kopp & Richard Ewoldt with a Plaque & Life Saving Awards. On 04/19/24 at approximately 11:13pm, Deputies Brandon Coin and Joel Driscoll and Maquoketa Police Officers Kane Kopp and Richard Ewoldt responded to the report of a violent altercation where the limited details were still developing, but a man was bleeding as a result. Upon arrival, the Deputies and Officers located the man who was covered in blood from head to toe. The man had made a 3″ long cut to his wrist, and it was deep enough the tendons could be seen. He was exclaiming that he “just wanted to die”. 

The man refused to comply with law enforcement’s requests to cooperate and then disappeared into the woodline. They were able to retrieve him from the woods, and even though he was bleeding profusely, he was still resisting their help. He eventually had to be taken to the ground where the Deputies and Officers worked together to apply a tourniquet to the left arm of the uncooperative subject. Due to his resistive struggling, the 1st tourniquet was ineffective. Shortly afterwards, a 2nd tourniquet was applied, and this finally stopped the bleeding. The man was transported to Mercy One in Dubuque where he had to be elevated to a higher surgical care facility in another state due to the sliced tendons. 

Due to these Deputy’s and Officer’s selfless actions, they were presented a plaque and the “Life Saving” award by Jackson County Sheriff Brent Kilburg and Maquoketa Chief Brendan Zeimet. If it weren’t for their quick life-saving measures, the man could have died prior to receiving the higher medical care required. Many law enforcement officers work their entire careers without attaining the distinction of saving another human being’s life. Deputies Coin, Driscoll, and Kopp and Officer Ewoldt should display their “Life Saving” ribbon with pride so the entire community can see how dedicated they are to their residents. 

Jackson County Sheriff’s office & Andrew Long  Presented the Above & Beyond Award to Field Training Officer Nick Hager.

As many of you are aware, the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office moved into a new jail facility in November of 2024. Jackson County went from a two-cell, 11-bed jail that looked like it came from Mayberry to a new, modern, 50-bed facility. We are very fortunate to have a large number of very dedicated correctional officers that go above and beyond every single day. We have decided to implement an annual “Above and Beyond” award to recognize correctional officers that go above and beyond in their duties. With this move came many changes, to include the introduction of significantly more technology. Doors, cameras, and intercoms are now controlled by a touchscreen computer system. Log entries and documentation that had previously been done manually after the fact are now automated with a series of hard plastic RFID tags with documentation entered on a modified cell phone. The technology associated with these systems did not come to us ready to go, but required significant and meticulous testing, adjusting, and programming.  The move to the new jail facility also came with a complete change of internal systems and processes. A significantly larger jail with a completely different design required our correctional officers to adapt, and continue to adapt to find the best ways to perform tasks – large and small. Field Training Officer Nicholas Hager has been instrumental in the preparation, implementation, and oversight of these technology systems. FTO Hager has spent innumerable hours preparing and perfecting these systems. He’s also been the go-to person for all of our correctional officers when these systems fail, as technology often does, day and night. FTO Hager’s dedication does not stop there. He has spent numerous hours, often during his own time, researching how to perfect our processes during our first year in the new facility. FTO Hager researches best practices and reaches out to other counties for information on their procedures to compare with our own policies. FTO Hager also goes to great lengths to prepare and analyze statistics using data from the technology systems that he has implemented to see where we are succeeding, identify shortcomings, and what processes we could implement or change to improve our day-to-day operations. The fact that Nick puts his heart and soul into the jail, often on his own time, to make the jail successful is worthy of recognition. FTO Hager is forward thinking and excels as a shift lead by ensuring that his shift does things the right way, every time. He is a top-notch correctional officer and a dedicated leader in our jail.  The Jackson County Sheriff’s Office is proud to present this award to FTO Nick Hager in honor of his distinguished and dedicated service with our first annual “Above and Beyond Award” for leading by example, and for striving to always go above and beyond.

Maquoketa Police Chief Brendan Zeimet presented a plaque to Darin Risinger.

Sheriff Brent Kilburg presented Deputy Scott Heiar- Life Saving Award & Plaque. On 7/11/24, at approximately 02:30am Deputy Scott Heiar responded to the report of a woman who was ill and had gone unresponsive. Her husband reported that he could feel a pulse, but it was weak. Her chest was rising and falling, but her breathing was short and labored. She started to vomit and when her husband went to initiate CPR, he was unable to as her jaw was locked. Air Care was initiated due to dire circumstances. Upon Dep. Heiar’s arrival, he took life-saving action by implementing CPR and also deployed the AED for up to 6 minutes before the ambulance personnel arrived and took control of the operation. According to the other emergency personnel who arrived on scene, Deputy Heiar definitely saved the woman’s life by taking immediate action to provide CPR.  Due to Deputy Scott Heiar’s selfless actions, he is proudly being presented the “Life Saving” award by Jackson County Sheriff Brent Kilburg today. If it weren’t for his quick life-saving measures, the man could have died before receiving the higher medical care required. Many law enforcement officers work their entire careers without attaining the distinction of saving another human being’s life. This isn’t Deputy Heiar’s first recognition for his valiant efforts. Previously he was recognized for attempting to save someone when he entered fast moving current to try to prevent someone from drowning. Deputy Heiar should display this ribbon with pride so that the entire community knows how dedicated he is to the Jackson County residents. 

Special Attendees included Penny Vacek- from the Senator Chuck Grassley Office and Senator Mike Zimmer & his wife Tammy Zimmer

Photo Credit goes to Lois Fischer.