Sheriff's office seeks rank reclassification, annual face‑recognition subscription and grant matches

Mr. Pornex, speaking for the sheriff's department at the Harrison County commissioners' budget workshop, said the sheriff wants one narcotics sergeant position reclassified to lieutenant — a change in rank and pay rather than a new headcount. "The sheriff is asking for is our narcotic sergeant. We have two narcotic sergeant. He would like one of those positions to be moved to lieutenant," Mr. Pornex said.

He also described a proposed subscription to an investigative AI service identified in the transcript as "Clear View AI," telling commissioners the county would pay about $7,240 per year. "It will help them in their daily duties when they need to try to find we just have a picture note and don't know who the person is they can run it through the clear view AI and that's $7,240," Mr. Pornex said.

Mr. Pornex further summarized two grant opportunities and the potential local matches. He said Lieutenant Maize had applied for a plate‑reader grant and that "our matching part if we're awarded is $53,432." He also said the county's portion for a COPS grant would be $37,500. Mr. Pornex told the court that if grants are not awarded, the matching funds would not be needed and the line items would be removed from the budget.

Why it matters: the rank change affects salary allocations but not headcount; the AI subscription and hardware grants would expand investigative tools but require recurring subscription costs or local matches that commissioners must budget for. The sheriff's presentation did not include a formal motion or vote; commissioners were asked to consider the requests as part of the coming budget approval process.