Cooke County sheriff asks commissioners to match donation, funds jail camera overhaul and add dispatcher

At the Cooke County Commissioners Court FY2027 department budget hearing, the sheriff announced a $4,000 donation from forfeiture funds to the Cooke County Lost Team and asked that the county match the contribution while detailing multiple jail and law-enforcement budget changes.

"I just uh donated $4,000 from our forfeiture funds," the sheriff said, and asked the commissioners to consider matching that amount. Johna Green, who established the local Lost Team, told the court the volunteer organization has provided postvention and prevention services countywide for five years and now conducts school outreach, veteran support and long-term follow-up for families affected by suicide: "This is our fifth year... Cooke County's got the only one that is 100% volunteer right now." The sheriff and speakers emphasized the county role in sustaining the group's services.

Beyond the donation request, the sheriff reviewed line items and capital needs for the sheriff's office and jail. He reported a $50,000 increase in jail food costs tied to transportation and fuel. For the first time the budget includes a computer-maintenance line tied to the eForce records system (line 561-455), which team members said amounts to roughly $28,474 as an annual maintenance obligation. The sheriff also corrected a machinery/equipment figure and said the updated total for specific 561-570 equipment requests is $226,930.

The sheriff described a larger security automation project for the jail — replacing cameras, door automation, intercoms and related controls — with a total price tag of $246,372. He proposed funding the project with $63,000 from an $80,000 ICE-related grant (used to support immigration-hold processing stipends), $61,124 from commissary funds and $122,248 from county general-fund dollars or capital-improvement accounting. "Out of that $246,000 project, we're we're 120 that we're going to fund from non-county dollars," the sheriff said while explaining the breakdown and noting questions about whether some costs should be classified as capital improvements.

The sheriff also asked the court to approve personnel and pay adjustments. He proposed raising jailer certification pay to parity with law-enforcement pay tiers at an estimated annual cost of $10,308 to equalize certification stipend levels. On dispatching, he described persistent vacancies that have driven overtime spending to roughly $50,000–$56,539 in recent years and recommended adding one full-time dispatcher at an estimated fully loaded cost of about $77,359 to reduce overtime and improve coverage. "When we have 10 dispatchers, we got to keep two in there 24 hours a day, 365. Ten is not enough," the sheriff said, urging that one new hire would materially reduce overtime and morale problems.

The sheriff also addressed fleet management and equipment: he said the department cut one vehicle request and will replace fewer marked units in the coming cycle, citing prior supply delays. Vehicle replacements planned include two Tahoes and one pickup for patrol, and a Tahoe for jail transport; he noted tradeoffs in vehicle type, maintenance and warranty coverage.

The commissioners did not take a formal vote on the sheriff's requests in the hearing; the budget details and proposed funding sources will be reconciled as the court continues budget deliberations.

Next steps: the court will consider these line-item clarifications and project funding sources during ongoing budget sessions and may request further accounting guidance on whether large repairs should be charged to capital-improvement funds rather than the sheriff's operating total.