The Walton County Board of Commissioners approved two budget requests from the sheriff's office: a $25,000 allocation for a night shift differential and a $2,186,721.83 budget amendment to fund 25 additional detention officers, uniforms and equipment. Both votes passed unanimously.
Sheriff (unnamed in the transcript) told the board he inherited a large number of vacancies when he took office and said raising pay and adding positions were central to recruitment. The sheriff said he faced "a total of 143 vacancies" on day one and that the department has since hired 87 people.
The sheriff said the 25 additional positions are the "bare minimum" to operate the new facility the county is opening and that an independent study by the Georgia Sheriffs' Association recommended a larger staffing level. He added the county currently is paying to house inmates out of county at per-diem rates and said local detention capacity, medical needs and processing time increase costs.
County finance staff confirmed the $2,186,721.83 amendment would come from the county's fund balance. The finance staff member said, "It comes out of fund balance." Commissioners asked whether the county could absorb the recurring costs in next year's budget; staff said that depends on future revenue growth and emphasized there are no guarantees.
Board members approved the night-shift pay differential (a $1 per hour differential funded at about $25,000) and separately approved the budget amendment to add the 25 detention positions and equipment. Commissioners emphasized the decision was to ensure staffing and safety at the jail and to reduce the county's outside housing and overtime costs.
Why it matters: adding detention staff and paying shift differentials are recurring costs that affect the county's personnel budget and, per earlier discussion, are tied to broader questions about using fund balance to meet mandated public-safety needs and opening a larger jail facility.
The sheriff said work to move inmates into the new facility is planned to begin Sept. 15 and be completed in October, and the county intends to staff the facility to operate it without unnecessary outside housing costs.