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Fairfax sheriff warns mandatory overtime and pay gap are creating staffing crisis at detention center
Summary
Sheriff Stacy Kincaid and senior Sheriff's Office staff told the board that mandatory overtime has more than doubled since 2021, vacancy patterns and pay competition with the Fairfax County Police Department are driving resignations, and the office wants pay comparators and structural changes to reduce turnover and restore alternative sentencing options.
Sheriff Stacy Kincaid and senior deputies told the Fairfax Safety & Security Committee that chronic vacancies, a widening pay gap with the county police and escalating mandatory overtime are straining the adult detention center and eroding alternatives to incarceration.
"The trajectory is unsustainable," Lieutenant Colonel Nick Andres, chief deputy of operations for the Sheriff's Office, said after presenting data showing mandatory overtime hours rising from 33,839 in 2021 to a projected 79,000 in 2025. Andres said confinement squads that should be staffed with about 50 deputies are operating with roughly 32 each, creating a daily deficit he said amounts to about 36 deputies across a 24-hour period.
Casey Lingon, chief deputy of administration, and other leaders said the office has closed parts of the facility and eliminated programs such as the alternative incarceration branch, work release and electronic monitoring because of staffing shortfalls. Those program reductions, they warned, limit judges' ability to offer middle-ground sentencing alternatives and push the system toward more frequent lockdowns and reduced access to programs in custody.
The office reported an official vacancy rate of about 18 percent; Andres cautioned that the number understates the problem because some positions have remained vacant following budget reductions. He said exit interviews and hiring data show many deputies leave within about 16 months and that a large share of separations are resignations to other agencies, notably the Fairfax County Police Department, which the Sheriff's Office said offers starting pay roughly 12 percent higher than the Sheriff's Office.
Sheriff Kincaid and staff asked the board for support to revisit comparator peers, consider structural pay or positional reorganizations that restore career opportunities, and examine short-term and legislative options to shore up retention. Supervisors asked for follow-up reporting on the dollar cost of overtime, historic state support to the agency and possible near-term measures to reduce turnover at the critical roughly 16-month mark.
Sheriff presenters said they have taken immediate operational steps (civilianizing some administrative positions and focusing hiring efforts) and requested board and executive-level help to pursue sustainable pay and organizational changes. The meeting closed with board members urging continued work with the county executive and legislative advocacy at the state level; no binding decision or vote was taken at the committee meeting.
