State's attorneys and sheriffs ask for six more state transport deputies amid mounting court transport delays

Statehouse — Officials from the Department of State's Attorneys and Sheriffs told the House Appropriations Committee on Feb. 13 that a shortage of state transport deputies is increasing overtime costs and delaying court appearances, and asked the committee to fund six additional transport deputies.

The department’s executive staff said the transport workload has grown as the Department of Corrections (DOC) has less capacity to move people between correctional facilities and courthouses. “We generally need to give Al [Cormier, DOC] and his team about 10 days notice,” Annie Noonan, director for finance for the Department of State's Attorneys and Sheriffs, told the committee, describing scheduling burdens that often do not allow that lead time.

The shortage and the resulting overtime have pushed the department’s vacancy savings requirement and forced it to run crews on limited staffing. Noonan said the appropriation currently includes a vacancy savings figure of $673,000, which the department estimates equates to roughly five state transport deputies; the department asked for six new deputies to ease the backlog and reduce overtime costs. Noonan also said court and corrections staff, and judges, are all stretched thin and that the department is being asked to fill gaps: the department “is acting like the air traffic controller for the system,” she said.

Committee members pressed whether more remote hearings could reduce transports. Representatives and department staff said remote hearings are used frequently for status conferences and some non-detained matters, but that judges set local rules and detained-person hearings present more safety and logistical challenges. Noonan said remote hearings can help in some cases but do not eliminate the need for in‑person transports for many serious matters.

The department reported that DOC has reduced capacity to move people, that local sheriff offices have also lost personnel (one county’s nonstate deputies fell from about 60 to 25), and that these declines shift more transport duties to the state transport team. Noonan said transport duties now include hearings the DOC once handled, and that these shifts have increased overtime and scheduling complexity.

The department requested six deputies and asked the committee to consider reducing or eliminating the vacancy savings line that requires holding positions open to balance the budget. No formal committee action was taken during the hearing; the request was offered for the committee’s consideration during FY26 budget deliberations.