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Sheriff warns of understaffing, asks commissioners to consider more deputies
Summary
The county sheriff told commissioners the department is understaffed — one deputy vacancy and multiple deployments — and said overtime is increasing; he requested two to three additional deputies to restore staffing closer to national norms and to relieve overtime pressure.
The sheriff’s representative told the Morgan County Commission on March 4 that the department is operating well below national staffing averages and is straining under overtime. The speaker said the county has about nine deputies on patrol, with one vacancy and several personnel temporarily out (extended sick, school details, and pending deployments). He compared local ratio — roughly one deputy per 1,976 residents given an 18,000 population estimate — to a national average of 2.8 deputies per 1,000 residents.
Commission discussion centered on how salary increases and mid‑year pay adjustments affected budget lines and whether recorded budget numbers fully captured recent raises. Staff noted some figures in the packet reflect partial‑year data and committed to provide detailed spreadsheets to reconcile differences. Commissioners also flagged the effect of higher retirement contributions and holiday overtime on line‑item increases.
The sheriff said equipment and training costs are rising (uniforms, ammo for qualifications, radio batteries) and that some vacancies are hard to fill at current starting wages; he suggested two to three additional deputies would materially reduce overtime and sustain patrol coverage if personnel are deployed or temporarily unavailable.
There was no formal motion to alter the sheriff’s budget at the meeting; commissioners instructed staff to reconcile the department’s expense spreadsheets and to return with clarified numbers during the budget sessions next week.
