Community Review Board adopts FY26 budget modifications, requests three compliance officers and a vehicle

The Nashville Community Review Board on Feb. 7 at Howard School voted to adopt proposed modifications to its fiscal year 2026 budget and to ask Metro government for a total of three compliance officers and one vehicle to support community outreach and investigations.

The board said the requested changes increase capacity for case review, community engagement and staff training. The board’s chair characterized the request as an “investment” in transparency and accountability as the agency continues reviewing misconduct complaints after its reconstitution.

Why this matters: Board members and staff told the board that the Community Review Board (CRB) is handling an increasing caseload while operating with a small staff and that additional compliance officers are the most critical hires to reduce backlog and shorten response times. Board materials and speakers said the CRB currently has about 75 open cases and compared the board’s budget to a national “1% of police budget” benchmark for civilian oversight bodies; speakers said the CRB remains well under that benchmark for the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department (MNPD).

Discussion and details: Staff presented budget modifications that reallocate existing line items and add positions. The changes the board approved during the meeting include:

- Adding positions and associated object-account increases for professional services, advertising and other operations tied to the board’s four stated strategic pillars (deliver excellence, strengthen relationships, improve internal processes, leverage data). - A request to add compliance-monitor positions (the board directed that the budget reflect a request for a total of three compliance officers); the budget file discussed the cost increase for additional ASO-5 (Administrative Officer) range positions and an approximate additional salary total cited for two added compliance positions of roughly $140,000 (staff said fringe and exact totals would be added before submission). - A request for one Metro vehicle to support outreach and reduce reliance on staff personal vehicles or multiple rentals for events. - Increasing the stipend for two seasonal interns (the board discussed an uplift to about $2,500 per intern for the summer program).

Staff and board members emphasized workload and process distinctions with MNPD’s Office of Professional Accountability (OPA). Director Fitchard (CRB executive staff) told the board she has reviewed OPA standard operating procedures in the course of evaluating cases and that the CRB performs both case-level evidence review and a review of OPA’s processing of complaints. Directors and members noted the CRB’s compliance team is the largest team in the office and that current staffing (described in the meeting as five compliance positions with one vacancy) does not provide the bandwidth the board says it needs for timely reviews under the recently negotiated memorandum of understanding (MOU) with MNPD.

Board members pressed for more staff during the discussion. Some members argued for requesting more than the two additional compliance monitors originally proposed; one member urged caution about asking for too many positions at once so the board does not jeopardize the rest of the request. The chair and staff said they would adjust salary steps within Metro pay-scale rules where feasible before the Feb. 7 submission deadline.

Procedural note and vote: The board took a voice vote after discussion. The final motion adopted the budget modifications as discussed and included the request for a total of three compliance officers and one vehicle. Meeting minutes record one nay during the voice vote and otherwise the motion carried. Names of individual aye/nay votes were not called in the transcript.

Operational follow-up: Staff said they will calculate fringe benefits and adjust object-account totals and salary step/grade choices overnight and circulate the updated budget file by email for the Feb. 7 4 p.m. deadline. Staff also noted the MOU with MNPD imposes no additional budget obligations the board must fund in this request.

What happens next: The executive staff will submit the revised budget to Metro by the stated deadline and will send the updated figures to board members. Board members said they plan focused outreach this spring and a summer public safety town-hall event to increase community awareness of CRB services.

Ending: Board members closed the meeting after scheduling an executive-committee meeting for Feb. 12 to finalize follow-up tasks and thanked staff for preparing the materials.