The sheriff told the board he wants to reestablish an explosives‑detection canine and requested a one‑time appropriation of $25,000. The sheriff said the county’s prior explosives canine retired two years ago and that an on‑site canine would allow daily sweeps of the courthouse and grounds; he described the dog as an insurance policy against incidents at county facilities.

Board members generally supported the one‑time purchase and agreed to fund the dog from the public‑safety sales tax unrestricted balance. The sheriff noted recurring costs (care, handler assignment) would remain on his operating budget; he estimated an explosives canine typically serves about eight to nine years. "I view this as an insurance policy. We hope we never need it," one board member said when supporting the purchase.

Separately, the sheriff asked the board to consider converting anticipated overtime spending into permanent positions. He presented figures showing historic overtime on the corrections side and in law enforcement and proposed shifting that expected overtime into several full‑time positions on both sides of his agency. Staff cautioned the arithmetic is not one‑for‑one: training and first‑year costs for a deputy are high (the sheriff presented a $205,000 first‑year cost for a deputy including training), and adding deputies across shifts does not eliminate all overtime; corrections positions, however, are likelier to reduce recurring overtime because of daily staffing patterns.

The board encouraged proceeding on the canine purchase and asked the sheriff and budget staff to return with line‑level modeling showing projected overtime savings versus first‑year hiring/training costs before converting overtime into full‑time headcount.

Why it matters: The canine purchase uses PSST unrestricted funds and was treated as an intended public‑safety expense; staffing choices the board may approve later would alter long‑term personnel costs and could change overtime outlays and service continuity.

Next steps: The county will fund the explosives canine from PSST unrestricted funds; staff will model overtime reallocation scenarios (corrections and patrol) and return to the board with projected year‑one and recurring costs and expected overtime reductions.