Sheriff requests authority to fill deputies and civilian vacancies and to overlap key staff departures

Sheriff Brad Thurman told commissioners the sheriff’s office currently faces five open positions in addition to three deputies recently hired who will enter the academy in July. He requested authorization to hire three additional deputies (to fill expected openings), an administrative assistant (promotional), and to replace a records position vacated by an employee who left for another agency.

Thurman said the three academy hires are a separate pipeline and the three requested deputies would replace retirements and persistent vacancies rather than increase headcount: “This isn’t to increase the number of deputies. It’s just to keep status quo currently because of retirements,” he said.

He also asked for early hiring (three months overlap) to replace Katrina Harris, the sheriff’s finance/budget manager, and Larry Embry, the public-outreach coordinator in emergency management, who anticipate leaving later in the year. Thurman argued overlap would preserve institutional knowledge—especially for the finance role, which handles grants and complex budget tasks—and ease transitions for DEM outreach responsibilities.

Commissioners discussed the possibility of relocating the finance/budget function to the Office of Finance & Management (OFM) to increase county-wide utility and redundancy; OFM staff said a re-centralized model could be feasible but requires further analysis. The sheriff updated the board on progress assembling a 1/10 sales-tax package for criminal-justice training commission review that could provide future revenue to support public-safety needs.

Several commissioners signaled support for filling the immediate vacancies and for overlap hiring of the finance position, while expressing caution about adding FTEs without a broader staffing plan. Thurman reiterated that current hires are budgeted and aimed at restoring baseline staffing levels to reduce overtime and maintain minimum shift coverage.