Walworth County staff told the Finance Committee on Thursday that the sheriff's office is projecting a possible $1,500,000 overtime shortfall for 2025 and will likely ask the County Board to use vacancy savings to cover part of the cost.

The notice to the committee came during an update on the sheriff's overtime budget. "Right now, if we had to say how much do we need, it's $1,500,000. But we wanted one more month to get a little bit closer and feel better about those numbers," said a Sheriff's Office representative during the meeting.

The announcement was presented as an informational item rather than a formal action. Committee members asked about staffing and hiring plans. Human resources and department staff said they are actively recruiting and scheduling background checks. "Human resources anticipates for July: three hires for communications, two for corrections, and three for patrol," a staff member said.

A sheriff's office representative described recent hiring activity: "On Monday, we swore in a new deputy who was a lateral transfer. We swore in two correctional officers, and we have more scheduled, following this." Committee members and staff also said the department has recorded several recent departures, including one corrections officer who left for another agency and a patrol captain retiring July 1.

Committee members pressed whether the department expects those hires to reduce overtime. A sheriff's office representative said filling vacancies will affect overtime levels but emphasized uncertainty: "That, of course, will also determine how much overtime then they believe they'll have for the rest of the year." The committee was told the department is working with HR and that some candidates have passed suitability testing and are undergoing background checks.

The sheriff's office also discussed implementation of new records/reporting software from Axon. A sheriff's office representative said the department intends to implement the software as soon as it is approved and staff trained, adding they were "hoping to have it... before the first of the year." A member of the committee noted the contract paperwork had arrived and was being routed.

Next steps: staff said they will collect one more month of data before bringing a formal resolution to the committee and County Board to authorize use of vacancy savings for communications, corrections and patrol overtime. No formal appropriation was made at Thursday's meeting.