Sheriff's Office reports large drug seizures, near-full staffing and rising data-request workload
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Summary
Sheriff staff told the board the office is nearly fully staffed, K-9 and task-force units made major drug seizures in 2025 (local operations reported nearly 60 pounds of methamphetamine; task force reported 628 pounds), jail bookings numbered 2,230 with increased female bookings, and records staff are spending substantial time on data requests and redaction that fees do not cover.
Sheriff's Office leaders presented a 2025 overview to the Clay County Board of Commissioners, detailing law enforcement operations, drug-seizure totals, corrections statistics and growing demands for public-records handling.
"We are currently fully staffed with the sheriff's office, which is great to say," the sheriff told the board, while also noting coverage challenges when deputies take comp time or other leave. The sheriff credited recent hires for operational improvements and recognized awards for deputies and K-9 teams.
On enforcement activity, the sheriff described substantial local drug seizures for 2025: operations removed roughly 91 grams of marijuana (local operations), nearly 60 pounds of methamphetamine, 5,273 counterfeit M30 pills, 1.55 pounds of cocaine and 2.25 pounds of fentanyl powder. The sheriff also noted that a regional task force reported 628 pounds of methamphetamine in 2025. "For 2025, just methamphetamine for that task force for our area, they did see 628 pounds of methamphetamine," the sheriff said.
Investigations and patrol totals were presented: the investigations division handled about 209 cases; the operations division recorded 202 total arrests, 79 warrant arrests and 20 gang-related arrests. The sheriff said joint federal and regional partnerships continue to be a significant element of narcotics enforcement.
Jail administrator Carrie provided corrections statistics: the detention center booked 2,230 individuals in 2025, with 25.5% female bookings (the highest percentage recorded to date). The jail generated about $110,000 in revenue in 2025 by housing medium and maximum-classification inmates from other jurisdictions.
Commissioners raised the increasing burden of public-records and body-worn-camera requests. Staff said redaction requirements mean counties can charge only limited amounts for collecting records, and not for the time-intensive redaction work. "When we are redacting the data, which takes a significant amount of time, we're not able to charge for that portion," the sheriff's staff explained, noting that fees typically cover only the lowest-paid staff time for collection and not redaction.
Emergency management Lieutenant Gabe Tweeden, who spoke as part of the Sheriff's Office update, said 2025 was focused on multi-agency training: active-threat (ASHA) exercises, a full-scale emergency operations center exercise, a commercial-airliner crash exercise with cross-border partners and school-mapping work to support next-generation 911. "If someone calls in 911, say from a cell phone, it'll show that that caller is Room 301 on the 3rd Floor," Tweeden said describing improved location mapping for first responders.
The presentation highlighted both operational successes and resource pressures; commissioners thanked the department and noted the presentations would inform upcoming budget and legislative priorities.