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Sheriff presents 2026 budget with projected 9.4% increase, cites medical and tech costs and jail staffing pressures
Summary
Sheriff Nate Beckman told Geary County commissioners his proposed 2026 sheriff’s budget would rise roughly 9.4%, citing higher inmate medical costs, necessary technology replacements and personnel pay-period timing as primary drivers.
Sheriff Nate Beckman presented a detailed 2026 budget proposal to the Geary County commissioners, describing staffing, jail operations and revenue projections. Beckman said the sheriff’s office anticipates a 9.4% overall increase in its proposed budget, and he explained primary drivers behind that rise.
Beckman outlined the office’s staffing and organizational structure: 36 sworn patrol/investigations employees, 39 corrections staff, nine administrative support staff and six part-time personnel for a projected total of roughly 90 employees in 2026. He said the county jail’s capacity exceeds 160 beds and that the average daily population (ADP) over the last several years has averaged about 100 inmates.
Beckman said the medical budget for inmates is exceeding prior-year projections. “Within the 4 months of 2025, we've already hit roughly a $114,000” of medical spending, he said, and projected a year-end medical total in the mid‑$300,000 range if current rates hold. He told commissioners that the prior sheriff’s medical budget of $190,000 for 2025 appears likely to be insufficient and that line-item budgeting is being improved to avoid shifting personnel funds to cover operational costs.
Beckman also said technology-hardware needs are higher than previously forecast: a 2025 technology-hardware line was budgeted at $15,000 but has already incurred more than $38,000 in expenditures and 20 computers (seven years old) will need replacement, with an estimated replacement cost of about $26,859 for those units.
On revenue, Beckman projected a $255,000 increase in reimbursable and other revenues for 2026 and said the office will begin invoicing for extradition and other recoverable costs that have not been billed historically. He also said the sheriff’s office is pursuing grant funding for school-resource-officer (SRO) positions and other programs that could offset personnel costs.
Beckman defended reductions in correctional-officer positions included in the proposed budget as part of a transparency effort; he said that for operations at the current ADP he expects to operate with fewer filled CO positions but warned that if ADP reaches about 120 inmates the office will return to request four additional correctional officers for safety.
Commissioners asked multiple budget questions about personnel, subscriptions and line items; Beckman described subscriptions (frontline reporting, training modules, license-plate readers and other software) that are paid from asset forfeiture and other program sources and said the department would seek cost controls where possible. The commission did not vote on the proposal during the hearing.
