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Sheriff's office presents staffing, inmate housing and medical cost items; Harrisburg to fund four deputies
Summary
Cabarrus County sheriff's staff presented operational items including a temporary housing arrangement for Union County inmates, a budget amendment option to cover an unusually large inmate medical bill, a town-funded expansion of Harrisburg deputy positions and the planned surplus of a K-9.
Cabarrus County sheriff's office staff presented several operational items to the Board of Commissioners during the Feb. 3, 2025 work session, including an interlocal detention arrangement with Union County, a proposed budget adjustment to cover an out-of-pocket inmate medical expense, a town-funded expansion of deputy positions for Harrisburg, and the planned surplus of a K-9.
Chief Tessa Richat told commissioners that Union County is undertaking construction at its detention center and needs to relocate entire pods of inmates. "We currently actually keep female inmates for them and that's under the approved $70 per inmate agreement that we took before you 2 years ago," Richat said, explaining the existing per‑diem arrangement. For the current construction-related transfer, Union County would supply detention officers to staff the pods and reimburse the county for overtime for one Cabarrus officer to operate the control panel, she said.
Richat also presented a proposed budget amendment to cover a medical expense that exceeded the inmate-health contract cap. The sheriff's office contracts with Southern Health Partners for inmate health care; that contract covers up to $5,000 per inmate. Richat said a recent hospitalization drove costs well past the $5,000 cap and that the office proposes to use revenue from the State Misdemeanor Confinement Program (SMCP) to cover the excess rather than drawing from contingency.
On intergovernmental staffing, Captain Chris Meissner described a multi-year build-out by the Town of Harrisburg that grew from a 2020 law-enforcement feasibility study. Meissner said the town's FY2025 request would add four fully town-funded positions—two sergeants and two deputies assigned to traffic patrol—as part of an 8-year staffing plan that extends through 2028.
The sheriff's office also asked to surplus a police canine because of ongoing medical issues; the K-9 will be housed with its former handler, who has signed a waiver and will assume responsibility for future medical and care costs. The sheriff's office said funds are available in the normal budget cycle to replace the canine when appropriate.
Commissioners asked clarifying questions during the presentations. The items were presented for the board's consideration in the work session; no formal votes on these specific operational items are recorded in the transcript of the Feb. 3 work session.
