Sheriff urges modest pay increases, more dispatch and animal-control support to maintain public safety

Sheriff Gary Hash told the Grayson County Board of Supervisors on April 2 that his budget request for FY2027 is focused on maintaining core public-safety functions rather than expanding operations. "This proposal isn’t designed to expand operations, but preserve the stability/safety/effectiveness of essential public services in our county," he said, and described personnel as the department’s most fundamental component.

Hash said a 2% salary increase included in the request is a state-mandated adjustment to comply with compensation standards and to avoid pay compression within the agency. He argued that cuts in sworn personnel do not yield proportional savings because they increase overtime, maintenance and liability risks over time. He said dispatcher staffing needs attention as call volumes and service expectations increase and current staffing places dispatchers in a reactive posture that can cause burnout and coordination errors.

The sheriff also asked the board to create a part-time animal control officer (ACO) position to relieve combined duties. He said current ACO duties include animal-control calls, civil-division support and inmate transports. Hash noted an upcoming personnel change: one ACO will retire Oct. 1 and Deputy Haga will transfer out of ACO duties; the part-time hire would attend June 2026 ACO training and be ready to move to full-time by October 2026. According to the sheriff, a part-time position would "provide necessary relief/improve response times/allow for more efficient allocation of duties without the cost of a full-time position."

The sheriff framed the requests as cost-avoidance: reducing salaries or fleet would shift costs into overtime, maintenance and diminished service quality, he said. The board discussed dispatcher shifts, call increases and the ACO timing but did not take a final vote on the sheriff’s request during the work session.