Sheriff highlights staffing, budget and jail trends in Washington County 2024 annual report
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Summary
Sheriff Schulteis and captains presented the Washington County Sheriff’s Office 2024 annual report, covering a $26.4 million budget, staffing levels, 43,000 calls for service, jail bed counts and rising average daily population.
Sheriff Schulteis presented a summary of the Washington County Sheriff’s Office 2024 annual report to the Public Safety Committee, highlighting budget figures, staffing, and operational trends documented in the 41‑page report.
“...we have 1 of the largest budgets in the county. For 2024, so $26,400,000 our total budget. 21,500,000 was the county levy,” the sheriff said, adding the office finished 2.6% over budget in 2024, a variance of about $691,000 that the sheriff attributed to overtime in the jail and a budget “contra wages” vacancy factor.
Captains and division leaders presented detail. Captain Laymon (corrections) said the county jail has 321 adult beds and a co‑located juvenile detention facility of 26 beds that houses youth ages 10–17. The jail recorded 3,868 total bookings in 2024 (3,607 adults and 261 juveniles) and an adult average daily population (ADP) that rose from 170 in 2023 to 200 in 2024. Laymon said combined ADP (adult and juvenile) increased about 11.3% year over year, a figure officials linked to longer stays in custody even as bookings held steady.
Laymon also described service contracts: medical services from Advanced Correctional Healthcare (the office increased nursing coverage from 128 to 208 hours per week during contract negotiations) and food service provided by Summit (202,575 adult meals and 9,929 juvenile meals served in 2024). Laymon said mental‑health and opioid treatment remain the jail’s chief operational challenges.
Other operational figures presented by the sheriff’s office included roughly 43,000 calls for service in 2024, six traffic fatalities (five fewer than 2023), about 186 OWI arrests for the year, and roughly 59 patrol deputies (including contract deputies). The sheriff described multi‑jurisdictional units in 2024: a SWAT team with 23 operators (15 from the sheriff’s office) and a new field force team of 26 individuals across local agencies. Communications and dispatch consolidation also continued as Hartford and Germantown integrated with county dispatch.
Committee members commended the quality of the annual report and the sheriff’s leadership. The sheriff noted the report is maintained as a historical record and that staff will answer follow‑up questions as needed.
No formal policy actions or budget votes were recorded during the presentation; the report was informational and committee members were invited to follow up with staff for additional detail.
