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Board approves perimeter fence for detention center using grant funds; staffing request referred to next budget
Summary
The board approved using North Carolina Department of Public Safety Detention Center grant funds (about $189,225) to install a perimeter fence at the sheriff’s detention center and agreed to consider four additional detention positions in the next fiscal budget after jail staffing concerns were raised.
Sheriff’s Office staff requested board approval to use North Carolina Department of Public Safety detention grant funds to install perimeter fencing around the Columbus County detention center and presented a separate staffing request for four additional detention officers.
Robert Creech and other sheriff’s office representatives described the fence work and said the $189,225 quote would be covered entirely by grant funds; the board approved the purchase. Commissioners questioned why earlier estimates had been higher, and staff said they received limited bids and used a firm with prior detention facility experience.
Separately, jail staff requested that four previously unfunded detention positions be filled, citing the jail inspector’s staffing concerns and the facility’s design expectations. Commissioners discussed budget timing: one motion directed staff to work with finance to consider funding the positions in next year’s budget rather than add them mid‑year; that approach was recorded as the board’s direction.
Ending: The fence purchase will proceed using grant funds; staffing requests will be reviewed as part of next year’s budget process.
