Davis County authorizes strategic over‑fill hiring for Sheriff’s Office to address turnover

At a March 10 work session, Davis County Controller Scott Parke presented a strategic over‑fill staffing model authorizing the Sheriff’s Office to recruit above its annual budgeted full‑time equivalent (FTE) count to address high turnover and long lead times for training.

Parke said the policy — described in Attachment A1 — authorizes the Sheriff to recruit additional positions that would be funded using attrition savings and that hiring would stop once the office was fully staffed. The memo attached to the minutes further describes contingencies, monitoring and an agreement that the Sheriff would consult with the Controller if payroll spend is projected to exceed the annual appropriation.

Commissioners John Crofts and Bob Stevenson expressed support for the proposal during the work session. Parke emphasized the approach is a budgeting tool intended to maximize budget utilization while providing oversight; he said the Sheriff would not be penalized for variances caused by unforeseen shifts in retention if the authorized strategy is followed.

The Controller’s memo (Attachment A1) sets out monitoring steps: consult the Controller if total payroll spend is projected to exceed the annual appropriation and cease over‑filling if retention stabilizes enough that the fiscal year‑end budget is at risk. The memo also anticipates that the Controller’s Office and Commissioners would prioritize supplemental appropriations or transfers only if an overage is directly tied to the authorized over‑fill strategy.

Next steps: Controller Parke said he will provide a formal memo to the Sheriff outlining the policy and monitoring expectations. The Board recorded agreement during the work session but did not conduct a formal recorded vote during this meeting.