City Begins Process to Secure Location for New Police Station

The City of Bismarck has begun the process of securing the location for its new police station, making the first of three payments over three years totaling $5 million for a 9.8-acre parcel of land in northeast Bismarck.

Construction on the site located near the intersection of Century Avenue and Valley Forge Street isn't expected to begin until 2027.

"I'm very excited to be part of designing Bismarck's next police station," said Bismarck Police Chief Jason Stugelmeyer. "This location will allow us to grow with the community and the size of the lot will allow the department to centralize many of our significant assets under one roof and expand our intelligence-led efforts."

The land purchase was made possible through a strategic reallocation of reserves approved by the City Commission in 2023 as part of the 2024 budget. The building's construction will be supported through a voter-approved sales tax initiative in November 2024, rather than solely bonding.

"By modifying our reserves policy, we were able to access funding to make this purchase possible," said Bismarck Mayor Michael Schmitz. "This change ensured we still had three months of reserves available in the event of an emergency, while still giving us access to additional funds that would not have been available otherwise."

"We have been extremely fortunate to have had the financial foresight to set aside enough funds for this project," said Finance Director Dmitriy Chernyak. "Without that planning, and a clear vision, we may not have been able to set ourselves for success with a facility that could serve the community for the next 50 years."

Bismarck's current police station once housed multiple emergency response entities including the Police Department, North Dakota Patrol and Central Dakota Communications Center (CenCom). In 1989, the Bismarck Police Department employed 63 sworn officers. Today, there are 136 sworn officers and about 30 non-sworn support staff in the department.

The land for the new police station is being purchased from the current owner, Channel Properties, LLLP.

A request for proposals (RFP) for architectural work will be issued to begin work on designing the new police station. The future of the current police station, located at 700 South Ninth Street, is yet undecided. One option is to repurpose it as an expanded training facility.

"Retaining our current police station for training and maintaining a police presence in south Bismarck will allow us to build a smaller facility in north Bismarck than was originally proposed," said Bismarck City Commissioner and Police Portfolio Holder John Risch. "This will save taxpayer money while at the same time improve our ability to provide the safety and protection our citizens need and deserve."

More information about Bismarck Police Department is available online.