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Undersheriff says jail staffing plan was submitted but not processed into county budget
Summary
Public comment and county officials at a meeting said jail command staff prepared a staffing proposal to address high turnover, but county officials say it was not submitted in the required form or timeline; commissioners said they may revisit it at next week’s budget meeting.
An undersheriff and a public commenter told county leaders that a staffing proposal intended to address high turnover at the county jail was prepared by jail command staff but was not formally processed into the Kootenai County budget.
A board member opened the discussion by asking why turnover and attrition at the jail had not been included as a recurring budget item and questioning why retention measures were not given higher priority than some items currently in the budget. The board member said the issue had not been brought before the board and urged staff to make it part of the budget review.
“My name is Waker Doraski. I just wanted to clear up the fact that the command staff of the jail, Captain Hyle, did put in the budget,” Waker Doraski said, adding that lieutenants had built a presentation and supplied most of the numbers but that the submission had been “stopped above them.”
An undersheriff told the meeting the material had been submitted to the overall budget but “it was not submitted in the proper manner as requested by the sheriff and I, nor was submitted in a timely manner for HR requirements and the auditor's office to conduct things,” and said that, for that reason, it was not formally presented through the county’s process this year. The undersheriff also said the sheriff’s office would pursue the matter in cooperation with the board.
The board member said the staffing proposal had not been presented prior to the meeting and noted a budget session scheduled for next week where additional cuts could be made and the proposal could be added if the board so chose. The board member cautioned that there was a fiscal constraint — describing the county’s available funds this year as a 3% physical capacity — and urged staff to work diligently to bring a balanced budget forward.
No formal motion or vote was recorded during the exchange. The discussion concluded with an instruction that staff and the sheriff’s office coordinate with the board to determine whether the staffing request can be included in the upcoming budget review.
The county will revisit the budget at the scheduled meeting next week, where board members may decide whether to allocate funds for the jail staffing proposal.
