Merrimack County commissioners voted to authorize recruitment of two part-time deputies to help the county Department of Corrections (DOC) cover medical and other inmate transports and ease mandated overtime. Sheriff Lopez and County Administrator Ross Johnson presented the staffing proposal and asked the board to allow the hiring effort and to report back in 30 days.
The move is intended to reduce overtime and mandated overtime in the DOC, which Lopez said is down 33 positions. “We're down, 33 today,” Sheriff Lopez said, adding that the workload the sheriff’s office is absorbing has increased because neighboring towns are also understaffed.
County officials said part-time hires would be posted by the sheriff’s office, paid from the DOC budget, and work primarily on transports. The sheriff and administrator discussed recruiting retirees and noncertified hires, and noted training schedules could delay putting new part-time deputies on the road: “The next academy is not till January, and it goes through May,” Lopez said. The parties also discussed the statutory limits on hours for retirees who collect state retirement, which restricts their weekly work.
Commissioners asked about fiscal impact and alternatives. Johnson estimated two part-time positions combined to 40 hours would cost roughly $65,000 a year; a single full-time 40-hour position would cost roughly $105,000 annually (health plan selection could swing that figure by about $15,000). Johnson said if the county pursued both two part-time hires and a new full-time position, total costs for three positions could be about $200,000 annually, pending actual hires and benefit choices.
The board approved the recruitment effort and requested a status update in 30 days; commissioners said if no qualified applicants are found the board will revisit authorizing a full-time hire. There was no recorded roll-call tally in the transcript; commissioners approved the motion by voice vote.
The Sheriff's office emphasized that medical transports impose variable time obligations, including occasional multi-hour round trips to distant designated receiving facilities; Lopez noted those longer transports can require two deputies and add to staffing strain. He also said the sheriff’s office is pursuing federal inmate transport revenue that could ease budget pressure in the future.
Commissioners also discussed whether some towns that lack local police (Danbury and Salisbury were mentioned) should contribute for coverage; that is a separate policy matter outside the DOC staffing motion.
The action was procedural approval to recruit; no new ordinance, statute, or budget appropriation was passed at the meeting.