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Precinct 3 constable urges extra deputy and asks court to fund policy subscription
Summary
Constable Williams told commissioners his precinct is under‑resourced and asked for a full‑time deputy, cited hundreds of writs and high paper counts, and joined other constables in urging the court to consider a Lexipol-style policy subscription to ease audit burdens.
Constable Williams (speaker 12) told the court Aug. 7 that his precinct needs an additional full‑time deputy because routine writs of possession and repeated attempts to serve papers are stretching a single‑deputy operation.
"I am here to ask for a full time deputy constable," Williams said, describing several instances when he executed lengthy writs alone and recounting that his office counted roughly 1,000 papers over the audit period. He said having additional deputies is a safety and service issue: "Normally, a writ of possession takes at least 2 people."
Several commissioners acknowledged the workload but questioned whether precinct‑specific schedules (many constables work four 10‑hour days) and a countywide parity in staffing could complicate awarding an extra line this fiscal year. The court signaled sympathy but noted budget limits in a "lean year." Commissioner discussion also emphasized verifying workload numbers because county accounting systems sometimes record dates differently — a factor commissioners said had complicated past staffing decisions.
On policy management, several constables and staff described a cloud‑based policy manual service that centralizes agency policies and provides training and audit documentation. A presenter (speaker 13) said the service would reduce liability and help with TCOLES and CJIS audits; staff gave a first‑year onboarding figure for three precincts combined (around $13,421.80) and recurring annual subscriptions for individual precincts.
Why it matters: Constables provide civil process and court functions that are time‑sensitive and, court members said, sometimes undercounted by existing workload tracking. Commissioners asked staff to check whether ballistic vests and fuel lines were inadvertently omitted from presentations and said safety equipment would not be intentionally removed from police budgets.
What’s next: The court asked staff to verify recurring vs. one‑time coding in the spreadsheet and said the Lexipol‑style subscription will be considered and, if needed, could be funded from small, targeted funds (JP tech funds or similar) if the shortfall is minimal.
