(Algona)--Kossuth County Sheriff’s Roger Fischer says he will cite himself and pay a fine after failing to check a live trap for 24 hours after a raccoon was found in the trap.

Fischer says because of issues with some type of animal digging under the foundation of a county building in Algona, he had asked the building maintenance department to attempt to use a live trap to capture and relocate the unknown type of animal or animals that were digging under the foundation. This location is not staffed by employees and Fischer says since he had requested the trap to be set it was his responsibility to make sure the trap was checked daily.

Fischer says he was first notified of the trapped raccoon at approximately 4:30 p.m. on October 4th. After a few phone calls, he discovered that a local DNR Officer had been notified of the situation. He took possession of the raccoon and determined it was not injured and was healthy enough to be relocated and released into a wildlife refuge area out in the county.

Fischer says as Sheriff, he takes full responsibility for failing to make sure the trap located on county property was checked daily. Fischer says forgetting is not an excuse so he issued a citation to himself for failing to check a trap at least once every twenty-four hours. Fischer says he intends to pay the scheduled fine himself and not use taxpayer funds.