Utah County authorizes short-term staffing increase in sheriff'civil office using existing funds

The Utah County Commission authorized a temporary increase of an existing three-quarter senior office specialist position to full-time in the sheriff's civil office for calendar year 2021, using existing department funds to avoid increasing the general fund.

Yvette Rice of the Sheriff's Office described workload pressures and noted the department had processed nearly 3,000 civil-process requests so far this year and more than 6,000 last year. "When [the eviction moratorium] is lifted, we will be inundated with requests," she said, urging commissioners to consider staffing to meet legally mandated civil duties.

Ralph Barnes, human resources, reviewed workload and cost implications and recommended full-time FTEs for efficiency. Barnes said the incremental cost for the remainder of 2021 would be about $3,621.62. Commissioners discussed options to fund the increase without affecting the general fund and were told service-fee revenue collected for civil-process service (ballpark $200,000 since 2015 and $10,000 so far this year) could cover the modest increase.

After discussion, a commissioner moved and the board voted to authorize increasing the position to full-time for calendar year 2021 using existing departmental funds to be identified and encumbered this year. The motion passed 3-0.

Next steps: sheriff's staff will identify the specific funding account to cover the remainder of 2021 and return during the budget cycle with any request to make the change permanent as part of the 2022 staffing plan.