Cochise County supervisors review jail district budget, salary requests and plan for separate mental-health facility

The Cochise County Board of Supervisors discussed the jail district budget at a work session, with staff outlining salary requests, staffing proposals and efforts to offload nonviolent mental-health cases from the jail.

Supervisor Gilman said she had asked jail staff to present their budget needs and described steps the jail is taking to reduce contraband and manage a growing population of inmates with substance‑use and mental‑health needs. "We're currently changing our policy on mail, where we're gonna photocopy all the mail and give the photocopy to the inmates," Gilman said, noting the change is intended to reduce introduction of fentanyl and other synthetic drugs concealed in mailed paper and bindings.

The discussion foregrounded three budget themes: pay and staffing, detention health funding, and planning for alternatives to incarceration for people with mental‑health or substance‑use problems. The issue matters because supervisors said high detention costs (including out‑of‑county competency evaluations and hospital placements), rising market pay for corrections staff, and new federal rules affecting jail revenue together risk pushing more costs onto the county.

On pay, staff presented a set of proposed increases targeted at detention and corrections personnel. The budget request lists a $2,400 fixed increase for detention officers and $1,200 increases for corporal sergeants, lieutenants,…