SAGINAW, MI — The day after a national news show highlighted the Saginaw County Sheriff's Mine-Resistant Ambush Proof (MRAP) vehicle during coverage of citizen-police clashes in Ferguson, Missouri, Sheriff Bill Federspiel confirmed that plans had already been laid for the vehicle to leave the county for good.

Read original story about sheriff receiving MRAP

The sheriff's 19-ton MRAP was shown during a Sunday, Aug. 17, segment of HBO's "Last Week Tonight with John Oliver" entitled, "Ferguson, MO and Police Militarization." The host mentions Saginaw County's vehicle about 7:45 into the clip.

The vehicle that the Saginaw County Sheriff's Department received free of charge earlier this year from the U.S. Army was shown in a motorist's March 2014 Youtube video driving on a Saginaw street.

The clip shows something a Saginaw County resident will only see again if they catch the vehicle driving out of town, Saginaw County Sheriff William Federspiel said Monday, Aug. 18.

"I made the decision about a month ago to decommission that vehicle," Federspiel said, noting he did it based on financial concerns due to unforeseen maintenance costs.

While the military was to provide any needed parts, Federspiel said he still had to pay for a specialized mechanic to install the parts, along with insurance and fuel for the vehicle.

When Saginaw County Commissioners asked him to look for cost-saving measures before setting the budget in July, the MRAP was the first thing to go, he said.

The decision also came because Federspiel decided to direct funds from drug forfeitures into the county's general fund, he said. He previously planned to use drug forfeiture funds to pay for any costs associated with the MRAP and did so during the installation of a new starter and a new locking mechanism for the door since the vehicle has been in Saginaw County.

When drug forfeiture funding was put into the county's general fund, Federspiel said it created a situation in which taxpayers might have to fund some of the costs of the MRAP, which also prompted him to send it back to the Army.

He said the idea to get the vehicle came from former undersheriff Robert Karl, who was recently fired. The sheriff said he was "a little hesitant" but he agreed to get the vehicle and see if it would be useful.

Federspiel said he has since spoken with administrators of the Michigan State Police and now feels comfortable that similar vehicles could be made available to the department if needed.

About a month ago, Federspiel said he had members of the department remove the striping from the vehicle "so no one would be tempted to use it."

"Once I made the decision to decommission it, that's it," he said, adding, "We had it for six or eight months and didn't use it once. Why keep it around?"

During the several months the department had the vehicle, Federspiel said he has not heard anything from constituents in support of or against the vehicle.

When questions of police militarization came into the national news spotlight because of clashes between citizens and police over the police shooting of a man in Ferguson, Federspiel said he was surprised no one asked him about the vehicle.

He said when the department commissioned the vehicle, it was a tool he planned to use only in the case of a natural disaster or an emergency, like an armored gunman with high-powered weapons.

— Brad Devereaux is a public safety reporter for MLive/The Saginaw News. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook and Google+