Weber County sheriff says general fund is subsidizing contract cities, asks commissioners for 10–20 deputies to clarify allocations

Sheriff Ryan Harvont told the Weber County Commission during its April 28 work session that the county’s general fund and its contract cities are subsidizing each other because deputies routinely respond across jurisdictions and assignment codes don’t reflect actual duty time.

“We are absolutely subsidizing … the general fund is subsidizing the contract cities,” Harvont said, urging the commission to adopt clearer baseline staffing numbers so invoices to contract cities reflect actual services.

The sheriff and his staff presented a 0‑based look at staffing that compared Weber County to national averages and peer agencies. Harvont said the contract cities’ aggregate staffing equates to about 0.57 officers per 1,000 residents — a figure he said falls below commonly observed staffing levels. He told commissioners that, given current vacancies and overtime, that contract‑city figure is likely closer to 0.445 per 1,000 in practice.

Why it matters: Commissioners and the sheriff said unclear assignment lines make it difficult to bill contract cities equitably or to show when a municipality is being subsidized. Commissioners said they want a line‑item baseline for a fully staffed department to inform the 2026 budget and any…