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Sheriff's office flags jail-contract strain, asks to continue temporary admin role
Summary
Fisher County law-enforcement representatives told commissioners the sheriff's office handled 343 calls in March, has nine people incarcerated (two housed out of county), and asked the court to continue an administrative assistant position temporarily while deputies are hired and SB 22 funding is expected to create a permanent role.
The sheriff's office reported operational pressure and urged the Fisher County Commissioners Court to continue funding a temporary administrative assistant while the department finishes hiring deputies and works through jail-contract issues.
An agency official said the sheriff's office received 343 calls for service in March, including 39 emergency medical calls, and conducted 44 traffic stops. The office currently has nine incarcerated people, two of whom are being housed in Scurry County because local facilities could not accept them, the official said. The speaker described one case in which an arrestee could not be handcuffed due to a medical issue and said the county needs alternative jail contracts.
The same official asked the court to continue the administrative assistant's payroll through the current budget period, noting about $174,000 remains in the sheriff's total budget. The position was initially approved as a temporary dispatcher-related role for six months; the sheriff's office said that when the dispatcher portion of staffing was filled, the employee moved into an administrative role and later raised concerns about job continuity. "Once now that we know that you guys are are in the hiring process to deputies, does that mean that I'm gonna be out of a job?" the official said, describing how the question surfaced.
Commissioners pressed for specifics on the assistant's duties and whether the person could help the county's backlog of open case reports. The official said the assistant performs bond paperwork intake, maintains inmate files, compiles jail-credit packets for prosecutors and handles related filings; she lacks the security clearance to view full criminal-history records, so she cannot process some prosecutorial elements that require officer-level access. The sheriff's office said the assistant's pay runs about $26,000 (figure referenced in discussion) and that SB 22 funding could be used to create a new permanent "sheriff's assistant" position in the future.
Other commissioners raised cost and operational questions, noting a backlog of 54 open reports in county records and asking whether moving the temporary pay into a deputy salary previously would have triggered different budget flags. The court discussed alternatives including continuing the temporary position through the current payroll cycle and budgeting for a permanent post later. No formal ordinance or payroll change was recorded in the transcript during the discussion.
The sheriff's representatives also alerted the court to vehicle shortages and mechanical problems: the patrol fleet was described as three patrol units plus a Tahoe with a failing transmission or frame damage, and several units were out of service; replacements were on order but delivery timing was unclear. Commissioners discussed insurance claims and budgeting for new vehicles.
Next steps: commissioners did not record a formal vote on creating a permanent position during the meeting; the transcript shows discussion of continuing payroll through the budget and using SB 22 funds when available.
