Sheriff's department reports lower-than-expected spending, staffing shortages and jail transport statistics

Sheriff's department staff reported to the Public Property and Law Enforcement Committee that department spending is under budget so far this year but persistent deputy vacancies are affecting coverage.

County staff said the department is at "46% of our budget" while the year is more than 46% complete, which they described as running under budget in some areas; staffing shortages were cited as part of that variance. A department representative told the committee hiring deputies remains difficult and several positions are unfilled.

At the meeting the sheriff's report supplied operational metrics for patrol and the jail: 52 arrests, 147 citations, 188 complaints to investigate, total cost of service figures, and a jail-side booking count reported in the record as "840 bookings" with a daily average of 43 admits. The speaker also provided transport totals and mileage, including juvenile transports and warrant-related transports; total reported transports were 35 with cumulative hours and mileage for those transports provided in the report.

The report noted one individual is on an electronic monitor and that there are currently no inmates enrolled in the jail's MAT (medication-assisted treatment) program. The jail population breakdown reported in the meeting listed 46 inmates with the following self-reported or recorded race categories: 19 Native American, 1 Hispanic, 2 African American, 18 white, and 6 unknown.

Committee members said the department will schedule the required jail tour for the October meeting and coordinate timing with the sheriff's office; the committee also discussed that the timing of the tour may depend on jail operations.

No formal action was taken on the sheriff's report; it was provided as a standing verbal update to the committee.