Commissioners approve $110,000 supplemental for sheriff overtime after months-long staffing debate

Collin County Commissioners on July 28 approved a $110,000 supplemental appropriation to cover overtime expenses in the sheriff's office, and spent an extended portion of the meeting airing competing explanations for why overtime remains high despite recent hires.

The supplement — described by staff as a transfer from the sheriff's pretrial release budget to pay overtime for the pay period ending July 20 — passed on a unanimous voice vote after a commissioner moved and a second was recorded. "I'll move to approve because we have to pay overtime. People have worked it. We have to pay it," a commissioner said during the vote.

Why the overtime persists despite new hires was the core point of the discussion. One commissioner warned the court that the sheriff's office appears to have exhausted salary-savings options and said the court would consider taking funds from other departments if needed for the remainder of the fiscal year. "If we can't get it out of the sheriff in 1 way, shape, or form for the rest of the year, we're gonna notify all the other department heads... that we will be cutting their budgets to fund the sheriff's overtime for the rest of this year," the commissioner said.

Sheriff's office officials and chiefs responded that most overtime is predictable when detention operations must be maintained and when many staff are in training or otherwise unavailable. The sheriff said the office follows the National Institute of Corrections staffing model and that temporary duty assignments, comp time and training requirements are part of the relief-factor calculation. "We are very, very lean. There is no... glory possessions," the sheriff told the court, defending current staffing choices and urging the court to consider the statutory duties the office must perform.

Finance staff told the court that the $110,000 transfer this week came from the pretrial release program…