In response, Sheriff Stanek issued a statement explaining that his office responded to the request from North Dakota to maintain "the public's safety, preserve the peace, and protect the constitutional rights of protesters" and that the deployment was a routine mutual aid agreement between law enforcement agencies. Minnesota deputies were released from their duties in Morton County on October 31 after the state fulfilled its part of the EMAC agreement. Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton stated in an interview that the deployment was a routine mutual aid response, and that "It sounds like they conducted themselves very professionally." Financially, North Dakota eventually reimbursed Hennepin County for the salaries of the officers sent there, but not for the overtime hours needed by the officers who remained behind on duty in Hennepin County.