Sheriff outlines plan to separate dispatch and jail duties, seeks four correctional officers and new staffing pattern

The sheriff’s office presented a staffing and implementation plan to separate jail and dispatch functions and to hire additional personnel to support the change.

Staff said the county budgeted 26 combined positions that can be allocated to separate functions: a target staffing level of 10 dedicated dispatchers to maintain two dispatchers on duty 24/7 (with a fifth float position per rotation to cover leave) and 16 correctional officers to allow four jailers per shift. The implementation plan calls for hiring two correctional officers this fall, training them, then hiring two more at the start of the next year so the separation can proceed once the four new hires are fully trained and certified. Sheriff/detention leadership explained training timelines (several weeks to certification and multi-week in-service) and argued that separation requires the full staffing complements because dispatchers will not be available to step into jail duties after separation.

Committee members eyed a phased approach and questioned whether the county could run the separated operations immediately with the existing complement; staff said doing so would leave insufficient jail coverage. The committee reiterated that the separation project had already been approved at the county board level (budgeted positions) and that hiring would move forward, with further updates to be provided as recruitment and training progress.

What happens next: the sheriff’s office will recruit and train the planned hires, with two to start this fall and two more after the first year, and will return to the committee with updates on staffing and the timing of the separation.