Sheriff outlines staffing shifts, transport unit and in-house counsel to cut costs and strengthen countywide policing

Sheriff Byron Roberson told the Board of County Commissioners the office has reallocated staff and launched several initiatives intended to reduce outside-contract spending, lower overtime and improve countywide support for municipal police departments.

Roberson described five operational changes in the past year: a staff analysis that eliminated an executive-level position, the creation of an in-house legal advisor to cut outside-counsel fees, expanded vehicle upfitting done internally, renovation of a jail module for a training center, and a revived T-100 prisoner-transport unit that allows cities to keep officers on patrol.

"We transferred that FTE, back to the county in exchange to work with Peg Trent on obtaining an in house legal counsel," Roberson said, describing the new legal advisor as a cost-saving measure for contract reviews and trainings. Budget staff confirmed the new counsel began work in the week before the presentation.

The sheriff said the department has hired 12 deputies since January and was down three certified vacancies at the time of the presentation; he said redeploying existing staff allowed the T-100 and directed-patrol units to start without adding net FTEs. The sheriff also reported lower overtime spending year-to-date compared with 2024.

Budget staff walked the commission through the department's 2026 proposed budget, which concentrates roughly 80% of costs on personnel and another 10% on inmate medical and mental-health services. Contractual increases for inmate medical, food and prisoner transportation accounted for a recommended ongoing RAR of about $1.2 million.

Unfunded sheriff requests include additional vehicle upfitting funding and a 10-deputy request primarily aimed at overtime reduction; budget staff and the sheriff said some of the original 10-deputy ask had been mitigated by internal reallocation.

Sheriff and budget officials also noted capital improvement funding was approved for operations campus security (fencing, gates, bollards and covered parking), and that the crime lab equipment replacement was recommended to be funded from the lab fee fund.

Ending: The sheriff asked the board to consider renewing public-safety sales tax revenue that supports department operations and noted continuing regional coordination with municipalities and federal partners to rebuild relationships and improve countywide public safety.