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Sheriff proposes $43.5M 2026 budget; committee presses vendor, overtime and village-contract details
Summary
The Kenosha County Sheriff’s Office presented a $43.5 million 2026 budget (9.8% increase) driven by personnel, overtime, medical contracts (VitalCORE) and potential new vendor arrangements for bodycam storage; committee approved forwarding the budget and requested detailed vendor comparisons and reconciliation of village contracts.
Kenosha County’s Sheriff’s Office presented a proposed 2026 operating budget of $43.5 million — described in the meeting as a 9.8% increase over the adopted 2025 budget — which the Judiciary & Law Enforcement Committee voted to forward to Finance after detailed questioning.
Major drivers
- Personnel and overtime: Staff said payroll and benefit updates drove a roughly $1.8 million personnel increase, about $900,000 of which was attributed to salary/benefit changes and $900,000 to an overtime increase aligned with historical actuals. The department also set aside $100,000 to backfill overtime related to an officer wellness program.
- Contractual services and medical care: Contractual services were projected to rise about 20.6% (approximately $1.7 million), driven by higher medical provider costs under the county’s VitalCORE arrangement and a $160,000 Sea Dog grant built into contractual lines with offsetting revenue. The department reported a $200,000 decrease in pharmaceutical expenses from prior year assumptions due to contract changes.
- Revenue changes and ARPA: Staff described reduced expected revenue from U.S. Marshals federal-inmate contracts and the cessation of certain ARPA-funded line items in 2026, which together change the revenue profile and offset some expense increases.
Body cameras and evidence storage
Committee and staff spent significant time on evidence storage and vendor choices. IT staff noted the county has more than 250 terabytes of existing data that would require migration if the county changed vendors; a quoted temporary migration/storage cost was approximately $100,000. The Sheriff’s Office said it is negotiating with Axon and will present comparative package proposals that could include body cameras, squad cams, tasers and AI-enabled evidence-management features.
Officer wellness
The department introduced an officer wellness and peer-support program led by Ashley Gunther (officer of wellness), Sergeant Marion and Dr. Gethner. Presenters described a peer-support policy, critical-incident debrief protocols, referral pathways to clinical services and early debriefs as preventive interventions for first responders’ mental health.
Committee requests and vote
Supervisors asked the Sheriff’s Office to reconcile village contract revenue and spending (to ensure revenue estimates match actuals), to provide detailed vendor cost comparisons for data storage and to monitor overtime closely. Following discussion, the committee voted to forward the Sheriff’s Office proposed budget to Finance.
What’s next
Sheriff's staff will return with vendor comparisons and detailed reconciliations for village contracts; the proposed budget will be considered by Finance and the County Board.
Source: Sheriff’s Office presentation, officer wellness program presentation, and committee Q&A.
