Sheriff and county discuss staffing, inmate costs and BCCMC arrears during budget workshop

Sheriff Cruz and county staff presented the sheriff's office and jail budget during Baker County's February 2025 budget workshop, asking the Board of County Commissioners to fund higher starting salaries, add investigative capacity and share the cost of a new accounting position with the Baker County Corrections & Management Corporation (BCCMC).

The sheriff said the office has seen recent increases in violent crime and two homicides since January, and that staffing shortages and mandatory overtime are driving retention problems. To address pay competition and turnover, the sheriff's budget asks to raise the department's minimum starting salary for deputies and for corrections officers to $50,000.

County budget presenter Randy and Sheriff Cruz outlined estimated costs tied to the proposal. Randy said the requested housing cost for inmates at the county-run BCCMC facility for the next fiscal year is $4,160,567, based on an average population of about 144 inmates; outside inmate-related costs (hospital transports, one-on-one/suicide watches and overtime) were estimated at about $164,000. Randy also said BCCMC's annual budget is about $2,752,000, with roughly $2,014,000 of that going toward principal and interest on the facility's debt. Randy reported BCCMC reserves of about $1,000,067 above USDA-required minimums but said the facility faces a separate cash-flow issue: ICE (immigration) payments were roughly $1.4 million in arrears, creating short-term strain.

Officials described how pay changes would affect different groups. Randy and Sheriff Cruz said roughly 36 deputies across patrol and operations and three positions in judicial services would be affected by the proposed move to a $50,000 floor, though not every person would move from $43,000 to $50,000 — some already earn between those amounts and would be adjusted upward. The sheriff also requested adding a detective position and said investigators are needed to handle larger crime scenes, witness interviews and multi-jurisdictional work. The sheriff requested a part-time or shared CPA/finance position; Randy said BCCMC has agreed to split the cost of half that position because both the correction facility and sheriff's office need greater redundancy and accounting capacity following staff departures.

The sheriff and presenters stressed that some costs are driven by factors outside local control, including health insurance and pension (FRS) contribution increases and contractual or debt-service obligations. Commissioners asked about alternatives, grant funding and which costs could be covered by outside sources; staff said some positions are partially covered by grants or partner agencies but that the county portion remains substantial.

Discussion points: commissioners asked for itemized breakdowns (including how many individuals would receive raises and the county share versus other funders), copies of the BCCMC financial packet, and historic monthly inmate averages. County staff committed to emailing the detailed packet and supporting numbers to commissioners.

Next steps: commissioners instructed staff to provide the full BCCMC budget, the inmate-cost face sheet and a clearer line-item accounting of how the proposed pay changes interact with potential 3%–5% across-the-board raises. No final decisions or votes were taken during the workshop.

Ending: Commissioners and the sheriff acknowledged the budget pressure facing public safety but did not adopt any motion at the workshop; they requested follow-up materials to evaluate trade-offs and potential funding sources.