Sheriff asks Greene County Council to raise courthouse security pay, adds request for two jailers and transport officer; 911 fund deficit flagged
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Summary
Sheriff sought parity increases for courthouse security to match front-office pay and asked for two new jailer positions plus a transport officer. The sheriff's office also told council that 911 equipment billing was previously charged to the commissioners and that the 9-1-1 fund faces a multi-year deficit unless revenue lines change.
The Greene County sheriff told the county council Wednesday that courthouse security staff need pay parity with front-office employees and asked the council to consider adding two jailer positions and a transport officer to the sheriff's budgets.
Sheriff (name not specified) told the council that courthouse security handles weapons and volatile situations and that keeping experienced staff is getting more difficult in the current labor market. "If something really bad happened here, he's the guy you want coming up," the sheriff said of his security staff, later adding that the courthouse team had made 38 arrests so far this year and that the work "is more than meets the eye most days."
The sheriff asked the council to consider lifting courthouse security base pay toward parity with administrative positions. The sheriff estimated that bringing two courthouse security staff to parity would cost approximately $9,359 total between the two positions (each roughly $4,675 in additional annual pay, as discussed in the meeting). Council later voted to accept the sheriff's budget "minus the raises and the parity increase" in the same hearing, then separately approved a motion to accept the sheriff's budget minus raises but signaled they would continue to consider parity requests as the budget process continued.
911 funding and telephone billing: The sheriff also told the council that a recurring AT&T bill for 9-1-1 equipment had been paid out of the commissioners' budget for several years and only recently was assigned to the sheriff's 9-1-1 budget. That back billing helped drive the county's 9-1-1 budget toward a deficit position in 2025. The sheriff described renegotiated AT&T contracts and said the 9-1-1 fund had a reserve but that projected outflows exceeded current tax revenues in coming years under existing rates. "There's approval. There's there's about a little over a million dollar, give or take Yeah. Reserve in there," the sheriff said, but added the fund "is a problem that we all need to collaborate and address in the near future."
Why it matters: Courthouse security and jail staffing affect court operations, prisoner transport and public safety. The sheriff framed the requests as retention and operational readiness issues in a competitive labor market that has already seen deputies leave for higher pay elsewhere.
Council response and next steps: Councilors approved the sheriff's budget at the hearing with raises removed but signaled they would revisit parity and new-position requests later in the budget process based on final totals and tradeoffs across county priorities.
