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Sheriff asks board for six deputies, higher starting pay and 5% raises amid staffing strains at 911
Summary
Sheriff's office and 911 director told the Board of Supervisors the county is short-handed across patrol, court security and dispatching and asked for six new deputy positions, a higher starting salary and targeted pay increases to reduce overtime and safety risk.
Sheriff Hess told the Fluvanna County Board of Supervisors on Feb. 26 that the sheriff’s office and the county 9‑1‑1 center are operating under persistent staffing shortfalls that are increasing overtime, reducing routine patrol coverage and creating potentially unsafe single‑deputy responses.
Hess said he is asking the board to fund six new deputy positions (one to investigations, one to court security/judicial affairs and four to patrol), a higher starting salary for deputies ($61,000 a year proposed) and a 5% across‑the‑board raise proposal (with additional step increases to address compression). Major Hurd and Director Grama joined the presentation to describe the operational impacts and technical support needs.
The sheriff’s office presented several operational details: most patrol shifts operate with just three deputies, a single arrest or lengthy transport can remove much of the county’s on‑road coverage for hours, and dispatch handles roughly 80 incident calls that require a physical response on an average busy day. The office reported rising maintenance and data‑storage costs for body‑worn cameras, extradition and vehicle maintenance and said that some extradition expenses previously assumed to be reimbursable from other jurisdictions are not being returned in full.
Sheriff Hess also described long training timelines — roughly a year to field a newly hired deputy — and said adding multiple positions will allow the office to hire and train non‑certified applicants without sacrificing patrol staffing. He asked the board to fund associated operational costs (radios, uniforms, weapons, vehicle equipment) and noted vehicle replacements are handled through the CIP process.
“We are at the tipping point of officer safety in the county,” the sheriff said in the presentation, urging the board to consider both immediate staffing and pay changes to improve recruitment and retention.
The supervisors did not take an immediate vote on hiring six deputies during the Feb. 26 work session. The request was added to the budget discussion as a priority item; the board later set a maximum advertised real‑property tax rate for public hearing as part of the FY‑26 budget calendar (see “Votes at a glance” article).
