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Prosecutor's detectives to pilot support for sheriff on county infrastructure assignments
Summary
The Board advanced an ordinance to pilot use of Essex County Prosecutor's Office detectives to fill certain sheriff infrastructure duties when sheriff personnel are unavailable; commissioners pressed for clarity on payroll accounting, insurance and billing to contractors.
The Board of County Commissioners advanced an ordinance to test whether detectives from the Essex County Prosecutor's Office can be made available to support the Sheriff's Office on county infrastructure and construction assignments when sheriff staff are unable to fill those shifts.
"The ordinance is in support of the Essex County Sheriff's Office," Mitchell McGuire, chief of detectives with the Essex County Prosecutor's Office, told the board as he described a pilot that would allow prosecutor investigators to step in when sheriff officers are unavailable. He said investigators would wear the office's uniform and follow sheriff payroll procedures while performing the assignments.
Commissioner MacInerney asked for fiscal guardrails: he sought confirmation that off-duty pay would be billed to contractors, that a dedicated fund or deposit would cover payroll so the county would not temporarily carry costs, and that payroll would be charged as outside employment. McGuire answered that the pilot would follow the sheriff's existing rules and regulations for payroll and that the prosecutor's investigators would be handled “by way of the sheriff's department.”
Commissioners also asked the administration to check liability and insurance to ensure the county's coverage would extend to prosecutor investigators performing these services.
A motion to advance the ordinance was made and approved by roll call. The board moved the measure forward for the next formal reading and any required legal review; no final ordinance adoption occurred during the session.
What happens next: the ordinance will be placed on a future agenda for formal consideration, and commissioners asked administration to provide written confirmation about fund management, billing practices to contractors, and insurance coverage before final adoption.
