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Sheriff details equipment and staffing requests in Cooke County FY26 budget hearing
Summary
At a department budget hearing the sheriff outlined replacement and maintenance requests — a transport van, new tasers, body armor, commissary contingency and air‑handler work — and pressed for an additional CID investigator and an evidence technician salary adjustment amid staffing shortages and reliance on seized funds for equipment.
The sheriff (unnamed in the record) presented Cooke County’s Sheriff’s Office budget requests during the Oct. 11 department budget hearings, emphasizing equipment replacements, maintenance and personnel needed to sustain transport, jail and investigative operations.
On the jail side, the sheriff said the office is seeking funds for a replacement transport van after reducing a prior line from $282,000 to a quoted ~$99,000 for a 15‑passenger unit. He described the current van as 11 years old and said long‑distance inmate transports raise safety and reliability concerns.
The sheriff detailed equipment and maintenance requests: replacement tasers (he said current models are no longer manufactured and the department plans to buy roughly five per year for both jail and patrol, noting a single taser can cost about $4,000–$5,000), increased body‑armor purchases, and recurring maintenance for air handlers and compressors (figures cited included about $48,000 for air‑handler and $48,000 for compressor units). He also added a $50,000 contingency in the commissary line to support water‑related purchases if a suitable vendor is found.
On correctional operations the sheriff reported the county continues to house inmates from other jurisdictions and cited a per‑tray feeding cost of about $2.36. He said Denton and Grayson inmate numbers have dropped and the county hopes to keep housing revenue where possible.
On investigative staffing, the sheriff requested an additional CID investigator dedicated to crimes against children, citing a “large increase” in those cases and the end of a task force that previously handled many of them. He said the cost including benefits for that position is approximately $91,006. He also asked for a 5% salary adjustment for the evidence technician, an increase the sheriff estimated at about $5,002.92, describing the evidence technician’s role in complex digital forensics and chain‑of‑custody work.
The sheriff repeatedly emphasized recruitment and retention pressures. “We probably a month ago, we were, 8 short,” he said. “You think about 8 short and you only got 20 to begin with? That's that's a challenge to cover 900 square miles.” He said the office relies on overtime to cover patrol shifts and that pay competitiveness is the principal limiting factor.
The sheriff also discussed use of seized funds, saying the office has approximately “200 and something thousand dollars” in seized accounts and that some equipment and vehicles had been purchased from those funds but are pending court action to turn property over for county use.
Several training and equipment items were cited in discussion: a dispatcher subscription that would provide up to 16 hours of online training per dispatcher; an increased ammunition budget; and a move away from a vendor that delayed vehicle deliveries. The sheriff described choices county staff could make if budget pressures require cuts (for example dropping one marked vehicle), but he did not present a formal motion or request a vote; his comments were entered for the FY26 budget deliberations.
No formal action or vote on the sheriff’s requests was recorded at the hearing. Commissioners and staff asked clarifying questions during the presentation; several budget line items and personnel requests were left for the court to consider during formal budget adoption.
