Nelson County Fiscal Court approves sheriff's 2026 budget, maximum pay order amid objections

Nelson County Fiscal Court voted to accept the sheriff's proposed 2026 budget and a maximum pay order at a meeting where the sheriff objected to portions of the county-presented budget and said he would not sign the document as presented. The motion to accept the budget was announced as moved by Jeff and seconded by John; the court recorded at least one opposition (Adam), and the full tally was not specified on the record.

The sheriff told the court he did not agree with the county's version of the budget because several line items were left blank or handled differently from the itemized budget he submitted. He identified roughly $880,000 for deputy salaries in his budget and said the county's presented document lacked detailed line items for equipment and contracts, including a $200,000 allocation mentioned for vehicles and line items for automatic license-plate-reading or 'flock' cameras. "I will not sign this," the sheriff said, stressing he would not approve a budget that he characterized as incomplete.

Court officials and the treasurer (Rhonda) said the presented pay order follows Department of Local Government guidance and is structured so the fiscal court receives the collected fees and pays bills on behalf of departments. A fiscal court representative said revenue for the sheriff's office is fee-based and typically arrives late in the calendar year, so expenses incurred before those fees are collected are handled through budget transfers or budget amendments and, if necessary, general-fund reserves. "We pay the bills, and they show up on the fiscal court budget," one official said, describing the administrative process the court will use.

Speakers urged greater coordination between the sheriff's office and fiscal court staff before the next meeting to reconcile line-item differences; several participants noted the next scheduled meeting on the 20th as a target date to align budgets. A court member said most of the sheriff's revenue arrives late in the year and that the court has reserve funds to cover the first two months of anticipated expenses. The court also noted that the fee-pulling ordinance that changed how fees are accounted for has already been enacted and is in effect.

The formal motion to accept the budget and the maximum pay order was announced in open session; the motion was moved by Jeff and seconded by John, and Speaker 1 called the question. The record as provided shows an opposition by Adam; the transcript does not include a full roll-call tally or the exact numeric vote count. The court instructed staff (Heath) to follow up on vote materials and documentation. The court discussed transfers or amendments that will be required to integrate specific expenses into the fiscal court budget before the sheriff's late-year revenues arrive.

The court's immediate next steps were to work toward reconciliation of line items and to process any necessary budget transfers or amendments to ensure bills can be paid on time. The meeting ended with staff instructed to provide follow-up documentation and to prepare refined budget details for the next meeting.