Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Public Safety Sheriff Budget topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Sheriff outlines staffing changes, falling revenues and jail capacity pressures in FY26 presentation
Summary
Sheriff Nathan described personnel restructures (adding a chief deputy and converting several sworn sergeants to civilian roles), declining revenues from housing other counties, jail capacity constraints that raise juvenile and out-of-county costs, and projected shortfalls in room-and-board security funding.
Sheriff Nathan briefed the Board of Supervisors on Jan. 21 about operational and budget pressures in the sheriff’s office, describing personnel changes intended to restore administrative capacity and several revenue shortfalls that are pushing fund balances lower.
The sheriff said he promoted a chief deputy (named in the meeting as Jason Kronos) to restore administrative capacity and prevent excessive overtime among captains. He described a personnel rebalancing that will convert three sworn sergeant positions to civilian sergeants over time (each civilian position was described as roughly 10% lower cost than a sworn sergeant) and will increase civilian detention-officer staffing to reduce sworn-jail staffing costs.
On revenue, the sheriff reported declining receipts from housing inmates for other counties and reduced contract and onboard fees; he said he reduced revenue projections in the draft budget and cited a $70,000 downward adjustment on one line tied to inmate housing. The jail’s bookings were reported as up in the period shown, but the sheriff said average accounts and some revenue streams have declined. He described specific cost pressures: juvenile housing can be expensive (the sheriff cited a recent external juvenile placement cost of about $250 per day), and the county has spent large sums in recent years to house inmates out of county when bed balancing was necessary; the transcript showed historical monthly charges into the tens of thousands on occasion.
The sheriff requested capital items be funded appropriately (including cameras and equipment upgrades) and reported that the room-and-board/security fund is projected to run a deficit in FY26 without further adjustments; staff estimated an $8,000 shortfall on one fund-side projection and an $85,100 projected deficit for the 60-side fund on the FY26 draft. The sheriff also raised courthouse-security funding as an item for future discussion.
Ending: Supervisors asked questions but did not take immediate action; the sheriff’s staffing changes and revenue adjustments will remain under review as part of the FY26 budget process.
