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Kerr County sheriff asks commissioners to add deputies, dispatchers and vehicle outfitting to next budget edition
Summary
Sheriff presented an expanded staffing and outfitting request after recent storms, asking the court to add deputies, dispatchers, investigator positions and vehicle outfitting costs to the next budget edition; commissioners discussed numbers and timing but took no formal vote on the requests.
KERR COUNTY, Texas — Kerr County’s sheriff told the commissioners court he needs more sworn deputies, additional dispatch personnel and money to outfit vehicles after a recent storm disrupted operations and stretched staff.
The sheriff said he originally put in requests for “a jailer and a deputy” and that one deputy and one investigator (CID) have already been approved. He asked the court to add “1 more deputy, 2 dispatchers” and additional CID personnel to reach staffing levels he said are necessary for safe coverage: “I need to get to 8 deputies, but we gotta get to 7 first.”
The sheriff described operational pressure during recent storm response: with deputies using PTO, medical leave and long transports he said the office often falls to two or three deputies and cannot safely cover the county. He gave a sample workload number: “253 today. Last year, full year, 253.” He also said mental-health transports and unattended-death responses further reduce patrol availability.
The sheriff asked that three additional vehicles be outfitted and provided a rough cost for outfitting and lease payments; the figure cited for outfitting three vehicles was about $174,000 and the annual personnel cost for the new positions (after removing a CID already in the budget) was shown in the materials as approximately $258,955. On staffing reclassifications for jail/corrections personnel, county staff and the sheriff’s office presented several line-item estimates; one highlighted annual roll-up figure for two reclassifications was $21,427, and a separate block of three positions (in or entering the academy) was shown as about $31,139 when fully annualized.
County staff cautioned that some of the sheriff’s requests had already been included in the “second edition” of the proposed budget and that the court was preparing a “third edition” that could incorporate additional requests. The judge and auditor said outfitting for an investigator already hired will be addressed in the current-year budget; the additional outfitting requests for future hires would need to be added to the next budget edition. The sheriff also asked for a $15,000 contingency line-item citing repeated vehicle damage and other unpredictable costs.
Discussion vs. decision: the court received the sheriff’s presentation, reviewed three pages of supplemental position requests (two dispatchers, a patrol deputy and CID/investigator positions; reclassifications of corrections officers to deputy/corporal; and three pre‑deputy/academy positions), and instructed staff to produce updated budget figures. There was no formal vote to adopt the sheriff’s supplemental requests at the meeting; county leaders said they would prepare the next budget edition with the additional pages for the court to consider.
Why it matters: The sheriff framed the requests as operationally urgent after a large storm response and an ongoing trend of rising call volume; the court must weigh personnel and vehicle costs against fund-balance targets and other demands when finalizing the budget.
What to watch next: The court signaled it will publish a third edition of the proposed budget with updated numbers; commissioners and the auditor will need to decide whether to include the sheriff’s full supplemental staffing and outfitting costs in the recommended budget to be filed by the statutory deadline.
