Wilson County Sheriff told the Law Enforcement Committee on 2025-11-09 that the sheriff's office is short-staffed and needs immediate funding and pay adjustments to retain employees.

The sheriff asked the committee for a $100,000 transfer from the department's salary line to cover overtime and required training through Dec. 31 and said he will return next month with a formal grant acceptance for a tactical vehicle. "We're bleeding," the sheriff said, describing recent departures of detectives, supervisors, corrections officers and dispatchers. He said the office has about 90 employees and that staff must complete an additional four hours of training by Dec. 31 to maintain certification.

The request for $100,000, which the sheriff said would be pulled "out of salary line out of $1.00 6," was moved, seconded and approved by voice vote; the transcript records the chair asking, "All in favor? Aye," but does not record a roll-call tally.

The sheriff also proposed a temporary one-grade pay increase for every sheriff's office employee to improve retention, saying the adjustment would be roughly an 11 percent comparable increase. He told the committee the short-term cost to implement the raise from January through July would be about $1,200,000. "It's gonna cost you $1,200,000 to get you from January to July," the sheriff said.

Chester, a county staff member, outlined funding options and cautioned that using fund balance or interest income would not be a long-term fix. "You can make a transfer out of the interest income, but I don't expect those to be your long-term sources," Chester said.

Committee members discussed next steps and the sheriff asked that the committee forward the pay-adjustment idea to the budget committee so the full commission could consider funding during the budget process. A motion to send the proposal to the budget committee with a positive recommendation was made, seconded and approved by voice vote; the transcript records the committee saying "Aye." The transcript does not show a recorded roll-call vote or list of dissenting members.

The budget committee will review funding sources and advise the commission; the sheriff said more substantive budget work would follow in the regular budget process to produce a longer-term solution.