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Sheriff urges transfers to cover detention payroll as board questions use of capital funds
Summary
Cleveland County officials approved transfers moving tens of thousands of dollars into the sheriff's detention personnel account; Chairman Rod Cleveland questioned using capital accounts for payroll while Sheriff Chris Amason said the funds were needed to pay staff and noted limited floor staffing. Two members voted 'no' on one capital-to-payroll transfer.
The Cleveland County Budget Board on April 14 approved several transfers shifting money into the sheriff's detention personnel account to cover payroll and staffing costs.
Chairman Rod Cleveland pushed back on using capital funds for operating payroll, saying capital dollars should address facility repairs. Sheriff Chris Amason responded that "the funds are needed to pay staff," and reported the department has 73 detention-related employees but typically only eight to 13 staff on the floor at any one time. The board approved a $34,000 transfer from detention capital to personnel with two 'no' votes recorded (Rod Cleveland and Jacob McHughes).
The board also approved smaller transfers into detention personnel accounts totaling hundreds of thousands across multiple motions, including $28,000 from building security capital and several travel-to-personnel shifts. Motions on these items were made by Chris Amason and seconded by Douglas Warr; votes were recorded individually in the minutes.
Board members did not vote to block the transfers, but Cleveland emphasized capital needs for facility repairs and urged staff to present options that would not reduce capital allocations for infrastructure work. The board took no separate action to reallocate specific repair dollars during the meeting.
The transfers and vote tallies appear in the official minutes; the clerk's record lists the motions and the roll-call votes for each transfer.
