Davis County sheriff urges funding for deputies, dispatchers and uniform allowance during budget hearing

Sheriff Kimberly Sparks told the Davis county Budget Committee on Oct. 24 that the sheriff’s office needs additional personnel and resources to keep up with rising calls, court obligations and staff turnover across the county.

"Our patrol division handles over 51 calls for service every day and they conduct about another 21 traffic stops every day," Sparks said, summarizing the office’s workload while asking the committee to preserve competitive pay and staffing levels.

The sheriff’s presentation laid out staffing and program requests and offered numbers the office says justify them: patrol and detectives workloads, court security obligations, jail population and supervision, and repeated attrition. Sparks said the office has lost 75 deputies in three years — 24 in 2023, 9 in 2024 and 22 so far this year — and estimated the conservative training cost to certify one new deputy at about $16,000.

Why it matters

The sheriff framed the requests as a response to both daily workload and emergent community risks: 380 9-1-1 calls a day handled by dispatch, roughly 21 bookings and releases a day at the county jail, and roughly 630 inmates housed at any given time. Sparks said staffing gaps strain working conditions and increase overtime and burnout, and that some recent departures reflect employees leaving the profession entirely rather than transferring to other agencies.

What the sheriff requested

- Reinstatement of seven deputy sheriff positions in corrections that were relinquished in the 2023…