Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Public Safety topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Surry County commissioners approve two sheriff’s-office reclassifications over budget timing objections
Summary
The Surry County Board of Commissioners approved reclassifying two sheriff’s-office positions — a lieutenant and a sergeant — in a 3-2 vote. Commissioners who opposed said raises should be addressed during the budget process; county staff said the sheriff will fund the changes from his department budget.
The Surry County Board of Commissioners voted 3-2 on Feb. 17 to reclassify two positions in the sheriff’s office, changing ranks to lieutenant and sergeant to provide additional supervision for school resource officers.
Commissioner Eddie Harris said he pulled the item from the consent agenda and opposed the change on principle, arguing pay and classification changes “ought to be synced with the new coming fiscal year.” He said he preferred addressing reclassifications during the board’s budget retreat and not in the current meeting. “I asked for this to be pulled. These are two position reclassifications at the sheriff’s department that I, as a matter of principle, felt it would be more appropriate for these to be taken up at budget time,” Harris said.
County staff and other commissioners said the sheriff has agreed to fund the raises from the sheriff’s own budget so the county general fund would not bear new costs. A county speaker summarized that “no extra monies will be coming from the county budget. The sheriff has agreed to use his own money for these reclassifications.” The board then approved the reclassification motion; the clerk recorded the vote as “Motion carried 3 2.”
Board discussion noted the increase in staff to supervise newly added SROs. Commissioners described the SRO unit as one of the sheriff office’s larger divisions after adding officers last year; county speakers said the reclassifications create a supervisory structure that includes a sergeant under the lieutenant to manage the expanded unit.
The action was purely a personnel classification decision; no additional county appropriation was approved at the meeting. The board did not record member-by-member roll-call votes in the meeting minutes.
Looking ahead, several commissioners reiterated that broader pay and classification changes will be revisited during the board’s upcoming budget retreat and formal budget process.
