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Sheriff and jail leadership object to proposed patrol supervisor cuts; commissioners point to new patrol capacity
Summary
Sheriff Ford and jail command raised objections after the budget committee's draft would remove patrol supervisors and reassign or redefine positions. Commissioners and staff said the committee intends to fund additional road deputies, a community resource officer and a DA investigator but said implementation and hiring will determine coverage.
Sheriff Eric Ford and jail leadership told the Curry County budget committee on June 16 that proposed changes in the draft 2025'26 budget would remove patrol supervisors and create operational risk without advance notice or consultation.
In prepared public comment read by Lieutenant Kron, the jail commander said the draft county budget eliminated two patrol sergeants and one patrol lieutenant and would demote a patrol lieutenant to a deputy role. Kron warned that the proposed reorganized span of control in the sheriff's office would increase supervisory ratios and expose the county to liability and failures in supervision.
Sheriff Ford told the committee he and his team had submitted a status-quo worksheet with a 10% personnel-cost placeholder at staff's request, and said the sheriff's office was not given notice that the Board of Commissioners had produced a different version of the sheriff's budget. Ford said supervisors perform many duties that support patrol operations, including scheduling, training, investigations, evaluations and call review, and objected to language that would move animal control under his office.
Commissioners'response and plan Commissioners and staff said the draft budget is intended to add capacity for patrol coverage by funding a net increase in deputies and other positions. The commission's presentation listed funding to add two road deputies (bringing road deputy authorizations from three to five), one community resource officer, one marine deputy, one forest patrol deputy, one civilian animal-control/civil deputy, and one investigator for the district attorney's office. Commissioners emphasized that the budget creates capacity and does not direct the sheriff how to assign personnel; one commissioner said the staffing as proposed "has the capacity to increase patrol coverage from 10 hours a day, 5 days a week, to 20 hours a day, 7 days a week should the sheriff choose to."
Public and staff concerns Lieutenant Kron and other sheriff's office staff highlighted apparent gaps in the BOC's proposed worksheets: omitted overtime and holiday pay in patrol/criminal budgets, a correction needed in corrections pay/promotions, and discrepancies in communications staffing counts. Sheriff staff argued those underlying worksheet errors should be corrected before finalizing allocations.
Committee direction and next steps The budget committee approved forwarding the proposed budget to the Board of Commissioners but directed that departments and the sheriff's office work with commissioners and finance staff in the first fiscal quarter to actualize staffing plans, refine cost details and prepare any necessary supplementals. Committee members urged the sheriff and commissioners to meet to ensure the proposed capacity can be implemented without creating coverage gaps.
Ending: Commissioners said they will proceed with the budget as a framework and expect detailed implementation plans, hiring progress and supplemental requests to be brought back to the committee and the Board in the coming weeks.
