Sheriff outlines staffing, decentralization and victim‑advocate expansion in FY26 budget request
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Summary
Loudoun County Sheriff Mike Chapman presented a multi-part FY26 staffing request covering conversion of temporary positions to permanent roles, field operations decentralization with additional leadership for a third shift, expansion of a victim-advocate unit and other training and traffic safety positions.
Loudoun County Sheriff Mike Chapman told supervisors the Sheriff’s Office request for FY 2026 is intended to align staffing with rising operational demands and recommendations from the department’s 2021 International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) study.
What the sheriff requested: Chapman described a multi-faceted package that totaled 61 positions the department views as needed over time; 23 positions were included in the county administrator’s proposed budget. The department’s priorities described in the meeting transcript included: - Converting six temporary positions to regular status (administrative assistant, public information officer, civilian financial detective, two civilian background detectives and an ADC program assistant). - Enhancing field operations with 13 positions, including five second-lieutenants for decentralization (initially focused on establishing an Eastern Loudoun station command), plus positions to enable a three‑shift patrol model and improved supervision during peak hours. - Building out a victim‑advocate unit with four positions (two civilian victim advocates, one civilian manager and a first lieutenant) to provide trauma-informed support and follow-up outside the courtroom. - Additional requests (outside the FY26 recommended package) included training-center staffing, traffic-safety unit expansion and a phased elementary school resource-officer program.
Why it matters: Chapman framed decentralization and a shift to three operational patrol shifts as a way to align personnel with peak demand and provide more consistent community-oriented policing in service areas. The victim-advocate expansion intends to provide earlier, specialized support for victims of sexual and violent crimes and to allow investigators and uniform deputies to focus on investigations.
Board reaction and context: Supervisors asked clarifying questions about where positions would be assigned (Eastern Loudoun station was cited as an initial decentralization pilot), whether the requests would satisfy IACP recommendations and how many vacancies the sheriff currently has (the sheriff reported total agency vacancies around 66 at the time of the discussion). Multiple supervisors emphasized the workload in the southern and western parts of the county and asked about parking-enforcement civilian positions that could relieve deputies for other duties.
Implementation notes: The sheriff said the proposed conversion of temporary to permanent positions is the department’s top priority. Staffing decisions will be phased and informed by workload analysis; the department emphasized recruiting and retention trends and the multi-year nature of operational adjustments.
Speakers (key participants) - Sheriff Mike Chapman — presented the department’s FY26 requests. - Lieutenant Colonels Chris Sawyer and Bob Mosher — accompanied the sheriff and were available for operational detail.
Provenance: Sheriff’s presentation and supervisor Q&A appear in the transcript when the sheriff’s office presented its FY26 request; the transcript records detailed position descriptions and counts.