Sheriff details staffing shortfalls and rising jail medical/food costs; community providers say grants ended and programs were paused

Sheriff Alicia Dyer told the county Board of Commissioners on June 4 that her office is facing persistent staffing vacancies, higher-than-expected contracted medical and food costs in the jail and a constrained public‑safety millage that limits flexibility for unplanned overages.

Dyer opened by reading the sheriff’s new mission statement: “Together we are committed to creating a safer or just and compassionate Washtenaw County for all.” She said that renewed community engagement, revised traffic‑stop policy and a new internal wellness team have been implemented in her first 100 days. Dyer said the department has focused on recruiting local hires and improving training and mental‑health supports for first responders.

But she told commissioners persistent vacancy and cost pressures remain. She said the sheriff’s office budgeted 359 FTEs and had roughly 70 current vacancies, with the largest gaps in union‑mandated areas: about 29 vacancies in the jail, 27 in road patrol and eight in dispatch. Dyer said those vacancies drive overtime and that vacancy savings were not available last year to balance the sheriff’s general‑fund budget.

Dyer also called attention to long‑running increases in the jail’s contracted meal and medical costs. She showed a multi‑year trend in which contracted medical and meal costs rose from roughly $1.8 million in 2021 to much higher levels as average daily jail population increased after the pandemic. She said the county faces a structural need to identify sustainable funding for the jail’s food and medical contracts; she said costs previously not anticipated left last year’s bottom line strained and that “this makes the food and medical issue extremely important.”

Dyer asked the county to consider: - sustainable funding for jail food and medical contracts (she cited the food/medical area as a major budget pressure); - revisiting attrition assumptions that affect department vacancy savings; and - identifying sustainable approaches for community corrections and electronic monitoring caseloads.

The sheriff emphasized efforts to reduce other costs, such as renegotiating Axon (body‑camera) contracts, cancelling costly special arrangements with other municipalities, and updating pursuit and vehicle policies to reduce fleet damage. Dyer said she’s working with county finance and other partners to identify cost savings and longer‑term solutions.

At the same time, several nonprofit community providers and reentry program leads told the board they had experienced abrupt changes to their county funding or to grants that supported jail programming. Multiple speakers from late‑night public comment and the working session said state or federal grants — notably a multi‑year Innovative Reentry Initiative (IRI) Bureau of Justice Assistance grant that funded reentry work inside the jail — had been fully expended and that, in some cases, organizations were required to stop providing services inside the jail when the grant ended.

Dr. Ariana Gonzales, who identified herself as the founder/executive director of the reentry nonprofit Life After Incarceration, told the board: “Our recent experiences with the current administration had left us disheartened and disappointed,” and asked for transparent transitions so clients aren’t left without services. Others from groups that had provided therapy, life‑skills and harm‑reduction programming told commissioners they had been asked to stop in‑jail work when grant funding expired; several said they were allowed to complete some sessions in May but were concerned about ongoing continuity.

Dyer and county staff said some of the interruptions came because multi‑year grant funds had expired and could not be extended; she also said the sheriff’s office has sought alternatives and that county leadership is working to help identify ways to sustain services while the department deals with budget and contractual constraints.

Ending: Commissioners pressed for more detailed numbers and asked county administration and the sheriff to bring back options for one‑time and ongoing funding; they also asked for details on how county contract processes and grant transitions were handled so that community providers and clients could be transitioned with fewer service gaps.