Rockwall County hears sheriffrequests for dispatch staffing and pay increases

Sheriff Garrett told the Rockwall County Commissioners Court on Sept. 4 that the county's emergency communications center needs three additional dispatch positions and pay adjustments to sustain 24-hour, seven-day coverage and support multiagency operations.

"We had 3 dispatch personnel requested," Sheriff Garrett said, outlining the sheriff's FY2026 request. He said the center is authorized for 14 positions and currently staffs fewer than that, and that dispatchers handle both call taking and radio dispatching from three active consoles each shift.

The request seeks to address what Garrett described as operational stress and liability risk when a single dispatcher must take and dispatch multiple incoming calls. "Dispatchers are not just call takers. They are crisis managers, legal safeguards and lifelines for both citizens and first responders," Garrett said.

Why it matters: The sheriff's office dispatches for multiple jurisdictions across Rockwall County, including the Rockwall County Sheriff's Office, Royse City police and fire, Fate police and fire, McLendon-Chisholm fire, and most of Rockwall County EMS. Commissioners and staff said staffing and pay decisions for county dispatchers affect public-safety response, interlocal agreements with cities and county finances.

Commissioners pressed for data. One asked for reports showing 911 and other call volume, error/incident statistics and attrition rates; Garrett said some monthly statistics are available from the CAD system and that two recent resignations account for part of current vacancies. Payroll and market data presented in the meeting showed a regional starting pay for dispatch of roughly $52,000 while the county's low-end starting salary for dispatchers is about $49,000, with the sheriff asking for increases that would move starting pay closer to local peers.

Commissioners also questioned how much revenue the county receives from partner agencies and whether the county should allocate the additional cost among the jurisdictions that use the service. Melissa from the treasurer's office reported that, for FY2025, Royse City and Fate each paid about $120,000 and McLendon-Chisholm paid $10,000 under existing agreements; commissioners said the county should revisit contract formulas and renewal terms given rapid population growth.

Discussion, not final action: Commissioners debated options including (a) funding the full personnel request plus pay increases, (b) funding fewer positions but raising pay, or (c) a hybrid of partial staffing and pay changes with one or more positions left unfunded as contingency. No final vote on the sheriff's dispatch request was taken at the Sept. 4 special meeting; commissioners asked staff to provide call-volume and contract details before the budget adoption vote.

Clarifying details and next steps: The sheriff identified three additional dispatcher positions as the operational need; commissioners asked for 3-4 months of CAD and call-taker statistics and copies of the interlocal agreements (Royse City, Fate, McLendon-Chisholm and any others). The treasurer and payroll coordinator were asked to verify the full "fully loaded" budget impact of proposed pay increases and to show how much of the additional cost could be offset by partner revenue.

The court left the item open for the FY2026 adoption meeting, asking for the requested operational data and for a review of interlocal billing formulas.