KIMBALL -- The Kimball County Sheriff’s Office conducted the first-ever drug search at Kimball Jr./Sr. High School Jan. 27. 

The Laramie County Sheriff’s Office assisted and provided the drug dogs for the search of the school halls and parking lot. 

“No drugs were located,” said Sheriff David Hottell. “We didn’t have any information that there were drugs there, it was just a random search.” 

The sheriff’s office will likely do more random searches in the future, but they do not have a schedule set up to determine the frequency of the searches. 

Hottell said there isn’t an immediate concern about drugs being in the school. 

“I just think it's good to make sure we have a drug free school zone,” he said. 

The sheriff’s office coordinated with the school administration to perform the random search during a class period where the students were kept on lockdown. 

“One of the dogs was a bite dog and we didn’t want anybody to get injured accidentally so they kept everybody in the classrooms,” Hottell said. 

The sheriff’s office was unable to coordinate with the Kimball City Police Department in using their K-9's as they are not yet certified in Nebraska. 

Both the K-9’s, Lucy and Trudy, are certified through a trainer for narcotics detection; however, they still need to complete further certification in the state of Nebraska before they can work in the field. 

The dogs have completed their individual training in Casper, WY with Ragnar Defense, as well as their training with their handlers. 

Chief of Police Jose Ruiz said the department plans to send Lucy, the single purpose K-9, to the Nebraska State Patrol K-9 academy to complete her certification this spring. Trudy, the dual-purpose K-9, will likely complete hers this summer. 

“The process is taking a bit longer than we expected, and we are unfortunately at the mercy of the evaluator's availability,” Ruiz said. “In the interim, we have been training with the dogs extensively. We want to keep their drives for detection going strong.”