Sheriff Richard Vaughn asked the Grayson County Board of Supervisors at its August meeting to restore $125,000 to the sheriff's office budget so the department can hire two patrol deputies.

Vaughn said the office previously had 14 deputies assigned to patrol, four investigators and seven school resource officers; after budget cuts the office has 12 patrol deputies, three investigators and six SROs. "We cannot adequately cover the county with just 12 patrol deputies," he said, adding that short staffing creates "an unsafe work environment" for deputies and reduces response coverage for citizens.

Vaughn cited a 2022 needs assessment commissioned by the board that recommended at least 18 patrol positions to cover Grayson County’s roughly 450 square miles and said the office is spending hours on each arrest because it lacks a local jail van. "On average 3 hours for every arrest that you make," he said, describing processing and waits for transport. Mental-health transports and out‑of‑area transfers also consume multiple staff hours, he said.

The sheriff said the office was roughly $300,000 below last year’s budget and that adding $125,000 would allow the county to hire two deputies and restore patrol staffing to two shifts of seven deputies. "If I can get a $125,000 back in salaries, we can hire 2 more deputies," he said.

Board members did not take a formal vote on the request during the meeting; the item was presented as an appropriation request and discussed. Vaughn said he would answer questions from supervisors and left the request with the board for consideration.

The presentation included quantified staffing levels, comparisons to national guidance and local geographic factors the sheriff said affect staffing needs. No formal motion or appropriation vote appears in the meeting record.

Next steps: Vaughn presented his request for board consideration; the board did not adopt a budget change at the meeting and no implementation timeline was set.