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Sheriff asks for staffing increase, district-based policing and a health nurse; commissioners tell office to prioritize within set funding
Summary
The sheriff asked commissioners for additional sworn and civilian positions, district-based policing, a permanent health nurse and equipment; commissioners told the office to prioritize and return with a reconciled plan reflecting a set funding target.
The St. Mary’s County sheriff and command staff outlined a broad FY22 budget request on March 9 that included more deputies and corrections officers, district-based policing, expanded traffic-safety personnel, and a community health nurse to support employee wellness and pandemic response. Commissioners asked the sheriff to prioritize requests and return with a reconciled funding plan.
The sheriff said the office seeks district-based policing—creating four district commands with assigned lieutenants, sergeants and deputies to increase supervision, reduce response times and foster community relationships. The request included two lieutenants, two sergeants and four deputies dedicated to district policing, additional deputies for a north-end cops unit, expansion of the traffic safety unit (including one sergeant) and a lieutenant for professional standards/inspections. The sheriff’s presentation also sought a permanent community health nurse (the department currently has a temporary part-time nurse), a corrections analyst, vehicle replacements and technology such as license-plate readers and a body scanner. The sheriff said the nurse has been essential during the pandemic: she coordinated vaccinations, quarantine/isolation tracking, and became a trusted resource for employee wellness and referrals.
Commissioners emphasized uncertainty about state-level police-reform legislation and its potential fiscal impact, saying they could not match every pay increase proposed elsewhere (state police and neighboring counties). The board and county staff agreed to include in the baseline the correctional-officer positions already placed in the capital-improvement program (CIP); commissioners described the 20 correctional-officer positions tied to the new detention facility as a committed item. For the remainder of the sheriff’s request, commissioners proposed a compromise funding target: send the sheriff back with a prioritized plan showing how he would allocate roughly $2.6 million (a mid-range figure arrived at during the session) or, alternately, around $3.2 million depending on how payroll and step increases are counted.
Traffic safety and automated enforcement were discussed at length. The sheriff described the county’s collision profile and argued visible traffic enforcement deters crime and reduces serious right-angle crashes; commissioners and staff discussed red-light camera feasibility, license-plate readers’ recurring costs, and the need to place traffic officers in the field rather than rely solely on automated enforcement. The board asked staff to separate CIP-committed items (the 20 correctional officers) in the sheriff’s budget presentation so future sessions do not conflate previously approved CIP costs with new operating requests.
Commissioners also agreed to begin countywide compensation planning with a 2.5% step (see separate item), and directed the sheriff to return with a reconciliation showing how he would spend the agreed funding amount, separating nonrecurring capital-equipment purchases from recurring personnel and licensing costs.
