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Depoe Bay council renews one-deputy contract; discusses adding a second deputy
Summary
Council voted to renew its contract with the Lincoln County Sheriff's Office for one full-time deputy at the current contract rate and discussed, but did not finalize, adding a second deputy; sheriff and councilors discussed staffing, costs and scheduling options.
The Depoe Bay City Council voted to extend its contract with the Lincoln County Sheriff's Office for one full-time deputy, after a presentation from Sheriff Adam Shanks on department activity and cost.
Sheriff Adam Shanks told the council the current single-deputy contract has delivered steady community policing: "we had to draw all our resources basically onto that search given the complexity and time sensitive nature of that investigation," and he outlined the deputy's monthly workload and traffic enforcement numbers during his presentation.
The council unanimously approved continuing the single-deputy contract at the fiscal-year cost Shanks provided. Shanks said the annual cost to continue one deputy under the contract for fiscal year 2025-26 is $190,009.07 and described the office's staffing limits and training timetable if the city were to add a second deputy.
Council members pressed the sheriff's office on options and scheduling if the city added a second deputy. Shanks and Lieutenant Carl Bertner described a variety of shift models (day-shift coverage, night-shift coverage, overlapping days for project work) and said hiring and full deployment of an additional, noncertified deputy could take into account academy time and three months of field training.
Councilors and members of the public urged adding a second deputy to increase weekend and evening coverage during the summer tourist season. Mayor Short and others said the city budget and revenue sources (including transient room tax transfers discussed in the meeting) would factor into any decision about adding staff. The sheriff's office said it could sometimes provide additional coverage for limited periods (example: a month in August) depending on county staffing and training progress.
The council directed staff to continue working with the sheriff's office on scheduling and to return with any required contract amendments or budget language; the council did not adopt a separate, fully executed amendment adding a second deputy during the meeting.
Council members and the sheriff emphasized that final details ' including start dates, scheduling, any one-time startup costs (vehicle and equipment) and proration ' would be set out in a contract amendment to be reviewed by city staff and the council before execution.
The council also heard public comment in support of continued and expanded deputy coverage. Several residents stood and thanked the council for the deputy assigned to Depoe Bay and asked the council to consider adding resources.
Council staff said the contract amendment adding a second deputy would include a one-time startup estimate for vehicle and equipment and a prorated service start date that would not be charged until an additional deputy was available to provide services.
Next steps: staff and the sheriff's office will prepare contract language and scheduling options for the council to review; any formal addition of a second deputy would require a subsequent council action to amend the contract and appropriate budget authority.
