Sheriff Ernie and county law-enforcement leaders told commissioners they had removed only a few line items from their combined sheriff's office, jail and dispatch budgets, while reinstating planned vehicle purchases. Commissioners and the sheriff negotiated reducing the sheriff's proposed vehicle purchase amount and discussed repurposing older vehicles.

The most contested items were patrol vehicles and jail medical coverage. Chief Kevin (Sheriff's Office) said the department planned to replace multiple worn units; packaged replacement cost estimates discussed during the meeting were about $72,000 per equipped pickup plus roughly $6,000 per vehicle for cameras if new cameras are required. Commissioners and the sheriff agreed to reduce the vehicle request from roughly $400,000 to about $260,000–$372,000 range depending on final unit counts and whether cameras are paid for in another budget.

On jail medical staffing, the sheriff described a liability gap when medical coverage was limited to five days: "Right now, we're going at risk to only cover 5 days of healthcare for the inmates," he said, arguing for 7-day coverage at longer daily hours to reduce emergency-room transports and liability. The sheriff estimated the jail-only net increase would be roughly $500,000 compared with last year's jail budget, but later clarified SB 22 funds were also reallocated into salary lines, making year-over-year comparisons non‑parallel.

Other details: The sheriff said the department had cut miscellaneous and fuel lines, but commissioners questioned how small cuts (for example, $4,000 in miscellaneous and $2,500 in office supplies on a multi-million-dollar budget) would meaningfully contribute to the county's needed reductions. Commissioners pressed the sheriff to identify which vehicles were frontline patrol units and which were administrative so staff could prioritize replacements. The chief said many high-mileage units are used daily and some earlier-model cars would be reassigned to non-patrol duties.

Decisions and direction: The court asked staff to treat cameras as an IT budget item (so vehicle line items exclude camera costs) and to consider purchasing two vehicles this year instead of four if necessary. Commissioners also discussed redistributing serviceable Tahoe vehicles to emergency management and the fire marshal; one commissioner moved, seconded and the court voted to allow emergency management to use an available Tahoe pending formal value transfers between departments.

Ending: The court and the sheriff's office agreed to finalize an updated vehicle and camera plan and to return revised totals at the next workshop.