Sheriff Villanueva spoke to the Grant County Board of Commissioners on June 12 to clarify two personnel requests and several equipment items in his FY26 budget submission, and to describe new enforcement priorities for narcotics investigations.

Villanueva told the commissioners he requested two items in April: additional debt funding and “support of another office assistant” for the civil division. He said the office assistant would take over administrative tasks now performed by a supervisor so that a certified deputy could remain in the field, noting his civil process team currently has four of an authorized five positions and one supervisor handling both paperwork and field duties.

The sheriff described the civil process workload — serving subpoenas, domestic protection orders and coordinating transports tied to the courts — as time-consuming and said moving the supervisor back into field duties would improve service. He said if the position is not approved this year he will reapply next budget cycle.

On a separate line item he said he had not requested a $50,000 capital allotment for a unit but that he would accept it if the commission approved it. Villanueva said he previously used federal grant funds (Stone Garden and other grants) and a 2023 $500,000 capital outlay award to purchase patrol units; some recent leased vehicles were civilian models and required upfitting. He said the office swapped police-ready vehicles to ensure deputies assigned to civil process were in appropriate units while administrative staff operate the civilian models.

Villanueva also said he has funding from U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich’s office to begin purchasing in-car dash cameras and is coordinating with the county manager to start that project. He called dash cams “very expensive” and welcomed additional county support.

Commissioners asked for organizational charts and job descriptions to clarify existing civilian staffing and reporting lines. Commissioner Flores said she had requested an org chart and job descriptions to confirm span of control and civilian duties; Villanueva agreed to provide the requested documents. Commissioners noted the civil process unit includes a sergeant in the office and an administrative lieutenant who oversees multiple assignments, including court security and grant coordination.

Villanueva said he plans to assign three narcotics investigators effective July 1, with one assigned to a task force and others focused in Grant County. He said keeping the civil supervisor out in the field — by adding an administrative assistant — would avoid shifting deputies from patrol into civil process. He asked for the commission’s support as the budget process continues; commissioners said final budget approval is expected in July and that they will consider his requests as part of that process.

The board did not take an immediate vote on the sheriff’s staffing request; commissioners said they will review the materials and may follow up with additional questions before finalizing the FY26 budget.