Sheriff's office seeks multi-year Axon lease as deputies remain short-staffed

Chair (S1) opened budget review by moving the sheriff's office to the top of the agenda, setting the stage for a detailed look at equipment and personnel costs.

An agency official (Sheriff's office representative (S6)) told commissioners that the biggest change in the sheriff's budget is a consolidated Axon body-camera contract. "Nobody allowed next to police without body cameras this day and age," the sheriff's office representative said, explaining the county moved from two separate contracts into a single five-year lease that bundles cameras, cloud storage and replacement guarantees. Staff estimated the new agreement will cost roughly $64,000 to $70,000 per year over five years.

The sheriff's office representative also described technology upgrades required by state and GCIC rules, including replacing in-car PCs so dispatch and criminal-history checks run on a supported platform. "We have to have computers to be able to source that," they said, adding that a new five-year lease for mobile units and laptops would be necessary for compliance.

Commissioners pressed staff on staffing shortfalls and revenue assumptions. The sheriff's office representative said the department is "7 deputies down" in patrol and cited retention pressures from neighboring counties that pay more or offer stronger longevity incentives. Commissioners asked whether expected declines in inmate-phone revenue (driven by federal guidelines) had been factored into projections; staff said the impact is uncertain and they had used conservative baseline numbers in the draft budget.

The board asked staff to return detailed line-item cost breakdowns for the Axon contract and the mobile-unit leases and to provide modeling showing how different revenue scenarios would affect the sheriff's office budget.