Prosecution on record pace in Richardson County
Court issue more search warrants in 2021 than they typically would over a six-year time span
By News Channel NebraskaFALLS CITY – The Richardson County courts have issued a record-number of search warrants in 2021 and the county's criminal prosecution is on an unparalleled pace.
Richardson County judges authorized law enforcement to search personal property 53 times, ten times more than the warrants issued a decade ago and four times more than last year.
From 2012 to 2020 county judges never issued more than 12 warrants in a single year and averaged just under eight making this year’s warrants six times higher than the 10-year average.
The escalating number of search warrants corresponds to the busiest court docket in the decade.
A total of 645 criminal cases, nearly a thousand traffic cases and 30 juveniles cases have been filed with Richardson County courts this year.
The number of criminal cases this year is more than double the amount 10 years ago and 33 percent of the 2021 charges allege a felony.
A recent search warrant was issued after Sheriff Rick Hardesty and two sheriff’s deputies arranged the purchase of a quarter ounce of marijuana from Ty Larson for $100 at Grandview Park.
The sheriff’s office was authorized to search a Stella residence on Dec. 7 after a Facebook Live video showed a resident there using a pipe to smoke suspected methamphetamine.
So far in 2022, there are 16 new cases filed in Richardson County court, including two felonies.
Tiffany Berube, 27, of Sherburn, Minn., is charged with carrying a concealed weapon and possession on Dec. 17.
Sir-Justin Andersen, 36, of Muskogee, Okla., is charged with possession of illegal drugs on Dec. 21.