Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Sheriff Midyear topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Sheriff reports midyear jail and patrol trends; committee approves $25,000 opioid‑use‑disorder grant recommendation
Summary
Sheriff Schutte told commissioners the department is hiring, reported reductions in homicides and staff assaults, described jail capacity pressures and said a state opioid‑settlement grant of $25,000 would offset medication and treatment costs in the jail; the committee voted to forward the grant recommendation to the full board with approval.
Sheriff Schutte briefed the committee on the department’s midyear operations and staffing and asked the committee to forward a state opioid‑settlement grant award recommendation.
The sheriff said the department spends roughly $7.51 million a year on medications for inmates with opioid use disorder and that the $25,000 grant would help offset medication, screening and assessment costs in the jail. Sheriff Schutte said the county applied for the grant and he was told the county would receive the full $25,000 if approved.
On staffing, Schutte said the department has made multiple hires — two road deputies, three corrections deputies and additional recruits in the academy — and currently has two openings on the road division that he expects to fill after sending candidates to the academy in January. He said one new position was added for a Grass Lake School Resource Deputy and that the department’s positions increased from 35 to 36.
The sheriff reported several operational statistics: patrol calls for service were down about 1,500 compared with the prior year while miles driven increased; citations were up by about 500, arrests and OWI arrests were down; traffic accidents the department responded to were down; and FOIA requests and purchase permits were down. For corrections, bookings and releases are lower than typical — the jail was operating near capacity (reported 195 people in a 185-bed facility) and the presence of higher-bond and embedded inmates has limited the facility’s ability to accept additional front‑of‑court (FOC) arrests.
Schutte reported improvements in safety metrics: staff assaults and suicide attempts were both down, the county recorded one inmate death and two lives were saved from overdose this reporting period, and he said homicides were down 50% compared with last year (one homicide so far this year versus two last year).
Regarding the opioid‑use‑disorder grant, the committee voted to forward the approval recommendation to the full board. Chair Kennedy requested a roll call; commissioners Williams, Bair, Walls, Ducham and Chair Kennedy voted “yes” and the motion passed.
Ending: The sheriff invited commissioners to request additional metrics for future reports and said he will continue to pursue state and federal funding (including ongoing requests for jail funding).
